Understanding how ecosystems are assembled -- how the species that make up a particular biological community arrive in an area, survive, and interact with other species -- is key to successfully restoring degraded ecosystems. Yet little attention has been paid to the idea of assembly rules in ecological restoration, in both the scientific literature and in on-the-ground restoration efforts.
Assembly Rules and Restoration Ecology, edited by Vicky M. Temperton, Richard J. Hobbs, Tim Nuttle, and Stefan Halle, addresses that shortcoming, offering an introduction, overview, and synthesis of the potential role of assembly rules theory in restoration ecology. It brings together information and ideas relating to ecosystem assembly in a restoration context, and includes material from a wide geographic range and a variety of perspectives.
Assembly Rules and Restoration Ecology contributes new knowledge and ideas to the subjects of assembly rules and restoration ecology and represents an important summary of the current status of an emerging field. It combines theoretical and practical aspects of restoration, making it a vital compendium of information and ideas for restoration ecologists, professionals, and practitioners.
Contents
Preface
PART I. Assembly Rules and the Search for a Conceptual Framework for Restoration Ecology
Chapter 1. Introduction: Why Assembly Rules Are Important to the Field of Restoration Ecology
Chapter 2. Advances in Restoration Ecology: Insights from Aquatic and Terrestrial Ecosystems
Chapter 3. The Search for Ecological Assembly Rules and Its Relevance to Restoration Ecology
Chapter 4. Assembly Models and the Practice of Restoration
PART II. Ecological Filters as a Form of Assembly Rule
Chapter 5. Ecological Filters, Thresholds, and Gradients in Resistance to Ecosystem Reassembly
Chapter 6. The Dynamic Environmental Filter Model: How Do Filtering Effects Change in Assembling Communities after Disturbance?
Chapter 7. Beyond Ecological Filters: Feedback Networks in the Assembly and Restoration of Community Structure
PART III. Assembly Rules and Community Structure
Chapter 8. Self-Organization of Plankton Communities: A Test of Freshwater Restoration
Chapter 9. Functional Group Interaction Patterns Across Trophic Levels in a Regenerating and a Seminatural Grassland
Chapter 10. Structure, Dynamics, and Restoration of Plant Communities: Do Arbuscular Mycorrhizae Matter?
Chapter 11. Modeling of Plant Community Assembly in Relation to Deterministic and Stochastic Processes
Chapter 12. Application of Stable Nitrogen Isotopes to Investigate FoodWeb Development in Regenerating Ecosystems
PART IV. Assembly Rules in Severely Disturbed Environment
Chapter 13. The Roles of Seed Dispersal Ability and Seedling Salt Tolerance in Community Assembly of a Severely Degraded Site
Chapter 14. Order of Arrival and Availability of Safe Sites: An Example of Their Importance for Plant Community Assembly in Stressed Ecosystems
Chapter 15. Are Assembly Rules Apparent in the Regeneration of a Former Uranium Mining Site?
Chapter 16. The Role of Nutrients and the Importance of Function in the Assembly of Ecosystems
PART V. Disturbance and Assembly
Chapter 17. Disturbance, Succession, and Community Assembly in Terrestrial Plant Communities
Chapter 18. Disturbance, Assembly Rules, and Benthic Communities in Running Waters: A Review and Some Implications for Restoration Projects
Chapter 19. How Structure Controls Assembly in the Hyporheic Zone of Rivers and Streams: Colmation as a Disturbance
Chaper 20. Assembly Rules and Ecosystem Restoration: Where to from Here?
