Exam 1 Study Guide
Sessions 1 to 11
Session 1: Intro
It’s the Decade on Ecosystem Restoration!
o 2021-2030
What’s the difference between restoration ecology and ecological restoration?
o Restoration ecology tells us about what we can achieve
o Ecological restoration is ACTION and INTERVENTION: we manipulate, create, disturb,
protect, etc., the process of assisting the recovery of an ecosystem that has been damaged,
degraded, destroyed.
Why is “systems thinking” important in restoration?
o Holistic approach that focuses on understanding how the components of a system interact,
influence one another, and contribute to the behavior of the whole.
o Emphasizes relationships, feedback loops, and dynamics within a system rather than
isolating individual parts
o Can help integrate across scales, appreciate context, design better research, and solve
complex problems.
o We as humans are part of systems: time and change
Restoration integrates science and values.
o Different fields grow different trees.
o Things we all hold as “true” may differ
o Science explains cause and effect- ecology tells us what WILL happen
o Values tell us what SHOULD happen
Sessions 2 & 3: Restoration & Systems Thinking
“Traditional” restoration goals are historical, functional, and sustainable ecosystems. How has
thinking today shifted from those goals? (Look at what’s new in SER principles/standards & UN
Decade.)
o Traditional: historical (attempts to return to historical state), functional (self replicating),
sustainable (take care of itself post-restoration)
o NEW SER is social->manage->function->recovery->partially native->fully native, where each
degree has different goals, approaches, and impacts
o Rigor, scale, and who has a voice are what have changed
o UN- different from primer and has
More social aspect
Broad for global perspective
Big policy world
What is the “restorative continuum”? Continuum of different strategies reflecting different goals
o social->manage->function->recovery->partially native->fully native, where each degree has
different goals, approaches, and impacts
o reducing societal impacts
o improving ecosystem management
o repairing ecosystem function
o initiating native recovery
o partially recovering native ecosystems
o fully recovering native ecosystems
Reduced impacts-> reclamation/remediation-> rehabilitation->ecological restoration
How does systems thinking differ from reductionist or linear thinking?
o Reductionist: Scales interact, patterns emerge
, o Linear: misses contingent independent factors and decision; the system is not deterministic.
o Structural thinking is dynamic and, misses the moving parts
Why is systems thinking important in restoration?
o Helps us integrate across levels and think about dynamics and change
o Form bigger picture
o Understand the way things change
o Include many different attributes to the complex system and allow them to be accounted for
What are the 3 attributes of complex adaptive systems that give rise to emergent properties?
o Diverse components, localized interactions, selection.
o Diverse components refreshing supply
o Localized interactions: All interactions are not equal
o Selection some will outcompete others
How would you define an emergent property?
o A system-level pattern or behavior that arises from complex interactions within the
system
o Examples: complex organization, cascading effects, feedback, thresholds, adaptation
Box and arrow diagrams of interaction networks – can you connect variables (things that go up or
down) and label the arrows?
o Increase in vegetation cover= increase in shade (+)
o Land degradation increases= vegetation cover decreases (-)
o Objects are the state variables; arrows are the effects (+ or -)
o Increase in lynx = decrease in hares (-)
o Decrease in hares= decrease in lynx (+)
What are positive and negative feedbacks? Can you follow a lecture example feedback loop and
determine if it’s a + or - loop?
o Positive= when the increase in one variable increases another variable, same direction
o Negative = when one increases, the other decreases or vice versa, opposite direction
o X->y
o X= hare population size, y= lynx population size
o += reinforcing or amplifying
o - = stabilizing or dampening
Why do systems thinkers believe that causal loop diagrams are useful?
o Yocanto visualizes the complexity and sees what impacts what variable
o You see more assumptions and side effects. Actions of others, opportunities, leverage
points, but still a mystery
o Analyzing things at different scales creates different systems and issues
How does Bug World differ from cog world? Why does that matter in studying or practicing
restoration?
o Bugs more independently adapt and actively modify their behavior based on changing
environment
o Cog= 1 effect directly onto next cog, doesn’t change
o Cogs have no capacity for self-organization, while bugs have complex activities and patterns
Leverage points opportunities to make cascading impacts
o Change a step along a cause-effect chain
o An entry point to disturb undesirable positive feedback
o Interventions add, remove, or alter variables
+ feedback = self- reinforcing
Sessions 1 to 11
Session 1: Intro
It’s the Decade on Ecosystem Restoration!
o 2021-2030
What’s the difference between restoration ecology and ecological restoration?
o Restoration ecology tells us about what we can achieve
o Ecological restoration is ACTION and INTERVENTION: we manipulate, create, disturb,
protect, etc., the process of assisting the recovery of an ecosystem that has been damaged,
degraded, destroyed.
Why is “systems thinking” important in restoration?
o Holistic approach that focuses on understanding how the components of a system interact,
influence one another, and contribute to the behavior of the whole.
o Emphasizes relationships, feedback loops, and dynamics within a system rather than
isolating individual parts
o Can help integrate across scales, appreciate context, design better research, and solve
complex problems.
o We as humans are part of systems: time and change
Restoration integrates science and values.
o Different fields grow different trees.
o Things we all hold as “true” may differ
o Science explains cause and effect- ecology tells us what WILL happen
o Values tell us what SHOULD happen
Sessions 2 & 3: Restoration & Systems Thinking
“Traditional” restoration goals are historical, functional, and sustainable ecosystems. How has
thinking today shifted from those goals? (Look at what’s new in SER principles/standards & UN
Decade.)
o Traditional: historical (attempts to return to historical state), functional (self replicating),
sustainable (take care of itself post-restoration)
o NEW SER is social->manage->function->recovery->partially native->fully native, where each
degree has different goals, approaches, and impacts
o Rigor, scale, and who has a voice are what have changed
o UN- different from primer and has
More social aspect
Broad for global perspective
Big policy world
What is the “restorative continuum”? Continuum of different strategies reflecting different goals
o social->manage->function->recovery->partially native->fully native, where each degree has
different goals, approaches, and impacts
o reducing societal impacts
o improving ecosystem management
o repairing ecosystem function
o initiating native recovery
o partially recovering native ecosystems
o fully recovering native ecosystems
Reduced impacts-> reclamation/remediation-> rehabilitation->ecological restoration
How does systems thinking differ from reductionist or linear thinking?
o Reductionist: Scales interact, patterns emerge
, o Linear: misses contingent independent factors and decision; the system is not deterministic.
o Structural thinking is dynamic and, misses the moving parts
Why is systems thinking important in restoration?
o Helps us integrate across levels and think about dynamics and change
o Form bigger picture
o Understand the way things change
o Include many different attributes to the complex system and allow them to be accounted for
What are the 3 attributes of complex adaptive systems that give rise to emergent properties?
o Diverse components, localized interactions, selection.
o Diverse components refreshing supply
o Localized interactions: All interactions are not equal
o Selection some will outcompete others
How would you define an emergent property?
o A system-level pattern or behavior that arises from complex interactions within the
system
o Examples: complex organization, cascading effects, feedback, thresholds, adaptation
Box and arrow diagrams of interaction networks – can you connect variables (things that go up or
down) and label the arrows?
o Increase in vegetation cover= increase in shade (+)
o Land degradation increases= vegetation cover decreases (-)
o Objects are the state variables; arrows are the effects (+ or -)
o Increase in lynx = decrease in hares (-)
o Decrease in hares= decrease in lynx (+)
What are positive and negative feedbacks? Can you follow a lecture example feedback loop and
determine if it’s a + or - loop?
o Positive= when the increase in one variable increases another variable, same direction
o Negative = when one increases, the other decreases or vice versa, opposite direction
o X->y
o X= hare population size, y= lynx population size
o += reinforcing or amplifying
o - = stabilizing or dampening
Why do systems thinkers believe that causal loop diagrams are useful?
o Yocanto visualizes the complexity and sees what impacts what variable
o You see more assumptions and side effects. Actions of others, opportunities, leverage
points, but still a mystery
o Analyzing things at different scales creates different systems and issues
How does Bug World differ from cog world? Why does that matter in studying or practicing
restoration?
o Bugs more independently adapt and actively modify their behavior based on changing
environment
o Cog= 1 effect directly onto next cog, doesn’t change
o Cogs have no capacity for self-organization, while bugs have complex activities and patterns
Leverage points opportunities to make cascading impacts
o Change a step along a cause-effect chain
o An entry point to disturb undesirable positive feedback
o Interventions add, remove, or alter variables
+ feedback = self- reinforcing
