New RNS Newsletter Posted

admin — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 17:46:05 +0000

*SER BC news

Contents
*

*Conferences, Lectures, Courses & Events*

Restoration 2012 will be BIG!

“Creatively United for the Planet”

Summer 2012 RNS Courses

Recognizing local restoration efforts

*Restoration News, Articles & Books*

Shrub-Steppe and Grassland Restoration Manual for the Columbia River Basin

Can an Ecoregion Serve as a Seed Transfer Zone? Evidence from a Commons
Garden Study with Five Native Species

Creating Wetlands: Primary Succession, Water Quality Changes, and
Self-Design over 15 Years

Insights from a Cross-Disciplinary Seminar: 10 Pivotal Papers for
Ecological Restoration

No Evidence-Based Restoration Without a Sound Evidence Base: A Reply to
Guldemond et al

Repeat Photography: Methods and Applications in the Natural Sciences

An Evaluation of the Short-Term Progress of Restoration Combining
Ecological Assessment and Public Perception

Plant Reintroduction in a Changing Climate

Special Issue "Terrestrial Ecosystem Restoration"

*Jobs & Volunteer Opportunities*

Spring Ridge Commons

Robin Lane Project

Garry Oak Ecosystem talk on Hornby Island

*Join SER BC & volunteer with SER BC*

Conferences, Lectures, Courses & Events

Restoration 2012 will be BIG !

More than 140 great presentations have been accepted for the event, plus a
lot of posters, workshops and special events, films, field trips…

As a result it’s taking us longer to get the program finalized than we
expected. Recognizing that some of you may be holding off registration
until we post the schedule, we’ve extended the early registration deadline
to April 17th.

A big thank you to those who have already registered!

See you there!
*“**Creatively United for the Planet”*

VICTORIA: Earth Day is coming, and as you may know, GOERT is one of 17
non-profits selected to be a part of a new, huge Earth Week festival in
Victoria called “Creatively United for the Planet”. The idea is to bring
art and environmental organizations together to engage people and stir
action. The funds that are brought in through raffles on-site will be
shared among the participating non-profits.

This will probably be our biggest outreach event of the season, with a
great opportunity to reach new audiences. Our booth will be open for the
whole event, Friday night, Saturday and Sunday, April 20-22.

It would be great to see some of you there—and if you have any time to
volunteer at our booth to give us a break, we’d really appreciate it! See
http://creativelyunitedfortheplanet.com/.

Many thanks,

Carolyn
*Summer 2012 RNS Courses*

There are still a few spots available in ER312A – Field Study with Val
Schaefer. The class is held from May 9th to 13th on campus.

There are also a few spots available in ER332 Selection & Propagation of
Native Plants with Fiona Hamersley Chambers. This course is available in
distance format from May 7th to August 3rd.

If you would like to register for either course, please call 250-472-4747.
*Recognizing local restoration efforts*

The Small Change Fund (SCF) has selected five grassroots projects
throughout the nation to profile during Canada's Water Week celebrations.

Water Week is celebrated in collaboration with World Water Day March 22.

The Central Westcoast Forest Society's (CWFS) watershed monitoring program
is one of these five projects.

*
http://www.canada.com/Recognizing+local+restoration+efforts/6341111/story.html
*
Restoration News, Articles & Books *Shrub-Steppe and Grassland Restoration
Manual for the Columbia River Basin*

This manual was prepared to help shrub-steppe and grassland restoration
practitioners capitalize on the experiences of their predecessors and
colleagues within the Columbia River Basin. It also identifies potential
resources, and provides tools for documenting work and sharing information.
This manual is intended to be a work in progress, and will be updated
periodically as new information becomes available.

*http://wdfw.wa.gov/publications/01330/*
*Can an Ecoregion Serve as a Seed Transfer Zone? Evidence from a Commons
Garden Study with Five Native Species*

S. Mille and others

Prairie restoration is often limited by the availability of appropriate
local plant materials. Use of locally adapted seed is a goal in
restoration, yet little information to inform seed transfer guidelines is
available for native plant species.

...

Ecoregions in general may be useful boundaries for seed transfer zones,
especially in regions with relatively little topographical or climatic
variation.

*http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1526-100X.2010.00702.x/abstract

*<http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1526-100X.2010.00702.x/abstract%20>
*Creating Wetlands: Primary Succession, Water Quality Changes, and
Self-Design over 15 Years*

Mitsch et al.

The succession of vegetation, soil development, water quality changes, and
carbon and nitrogen dynamics are summarized in this article for a pair of
1-hectare flow-through-created riverine wetlands for their first 15 years.

*
http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.1525/bio.2012.62.3.5?uid=3739392&uid=2&uid=3737720&uid=4&sid=47698741139997
*
*Insights from a Cross-Disciplinary Seminar: 10 Pivotal Papers for
Ecological Restoration*

Eitzel et al

Restoration ecology is a deepening and diversifying field with current
research incorporating multiple disciplines and infusing long-standing
ideas with fresh perspectives. We present a list of 10 recent pivotal
papers exemplifying new directions in ecological restoration that were
selected by students in a cross-disciplinary graduate seminar at the
University of California, Berkeley. We highlight research that applies
ecological theory to improve restoration practice in the context of global
change (e.g. climate modeling, evaluation of novel ecosystems) and discuss
remaining knowledge gaps.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1526-100X.2011.00840.x/abstract
*No Evidence-Based Restoration Without a Sound Evidence Base: A Reply to
Guldemond et al.*

Ntshotsho and others

To answer the question whether restoration is evidence-based would require
the assessment of all stages from generation to use. We chose to start at
the beginning, a logical place to start.

*
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1526-100X.2011.00846.x/abstract
*
*Repeat Photography: Methods and Applications in the Natural Sciences*

White

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1526-100X.2012.00870.x/abstract
*An Evaluation of the Short-Term Progress of Restoration Combining
Ecological Assessment and Public Perception*

Petursdottir and others

Ecological restoration centers on the reestablishment of ecological
processes and the integrity of degraded ecosystems, but its success also
depends on public acceptance and support. In this study, we evaluated the
short-term ecological effects of different restoration treatments in
Iceland. Furthermore, we tested the public perception of aesthetic and
recreational values of these revegetated areas.

…

The results indicate that the design of restoration projects should be
based on both an analysis of sociocultural priorities and an understanding
of possible trajectories of ecosystem development associated with the
available restoration methods to avoid results that are neither socially
acceptable nor ecologically feasible.

*
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1526-100X.2011.00855.x/abstract
*
*Plant Reintroduction in a Changing Climate*

Promises and Perils

This volume presents a comprehensive review of reintroduction projects and
practices, the circumstances of their successes or failures, lessons
learned, and the potential role for reintroductions in preserving species
threatened by climate change. Contributors examine current plant
reintroduction practices, from selecting appropriate source material and
recipient sites to assessing population demography.

Edited by Joyce Maschinski and Kristin E. Haskins

*http://islandpress.org/ip/books/book/islandpress/P/bo8073733.html*<http://islandpress.org/ip/books/book/islandpress/P/bo8073733.html>
*Special Issue "Terrestrial Ecosystem Restoration"*

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 August 2012

This special issue of Sustainability addresses this question: How do we
move forward rather than backward towards ecosystem restoration for
sustainability in today’s anthropogenically-influenced systems? Recent work
in restoration practice confirms that a major conceptual restoration flaw
is the assumption that terrestrial systems are orderly and static rather
than dynamic. Hence current restoration success criteria perhaps are not in
fact realistic or sustainable. Furthermore, how do we incorporate future
disturbance regimes into criterion for sustainability—be they natural or
anthropogenic, small scale or large scale? This special issue will publish
papers that address questions such as how do we define, promote, and
evaluate science, practice, and policy-based sustainability success
criteria into the field of restoration ecology? It is a goal of this
special issue to publish papers that span restoration sustainability
objectives that may range from mandated restoration (i.e., endangered
species recovery), to reversing biodiversity loss, to the recovery of
ecosystem function. In addition, this special issue aims to publish papers
investigating these questions across trophic levels, geographic origins,
disturbance regimes, and/or conflicting multi-use perspectives. Papers that
evaluate progress and explore novel approaches towards the sustainability
of restoration theory or practice are encouraged.

*
http://www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability/special_issues/ecosystem_restoration/
*<http://www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability/special_issues/ecosystem_restoration/>
Jobs & Volunteer Opportunities *Spring Ridge Commons*

The days are nice and warm at Spring Ridge Commons. Spring is coming…time
to help out in this beautiful community permaculture garden / food forest
by helping to control couch grass by using a kama/sickle to cut down the
grass and sheet –mulch with cardboard. Everyone welcome. No experience
needed. Tools and gloves provided. Info: http://springridgecommons.ca
*Robin Lane Project*

Robin Lane is an unmarked Saanich street between 2681 and 2695 Queenswood
Drive, across Queenswood from the building site at 2690 Queenswood Drive.
It is about 500 meters north of Telegraph Bay Road, on the left. Lamium
(dead nettle) and English ivy are being removed by community volunteers.
Contact Sylvia and Ron Samborski sylviaandron@telus.net if you would like
to help.
*Garry Oak Ecosystem talk on Hornby Island*

The Young Naturalists Club on Hornby Island is looking for someone with
knowledge about the remnant Garry Oak forests on the island to give a
walk/talk this summer to elevate local knowledge about this important
ecosystem. Travel costs would be covered and accommodation could probably
be arranged, but there are no funds to pay a wage. Contact Kayt Chambers
kaytc@hotmail.com if you are interested.
Join SER BC & volunteer with SER BC

Are you interested in the projects and opportunities you learn about in
this newsletter? Then support our work by joining the Society for
Ecological Restoration, BC Chapter, and our parent organization, SER
International. Learn more about us, and how to join, at www.ser.org/serbc.

There are also many ways that you can volunteer with SER BC, and get to
know many interesting members of the BC restoration community. We could use
your help with organizing events, pushing forward our certification for
restoration projects proposal, submitting content for our website or this
newsletter – and many other tasks! If you would like more information about
volunteering with SER BC, just contact Eva Johansson by replying to this
email.

For more information about SER BC see: www.ser.org/serbc

*SER-BC posts this newsletter on “an information only” basis. SER-BC does
not necessarily support or endorse the notices included here, but provides
them for information only.*

SER-BC Society for Ecological Restoration BC Chapter

New RNS Newsletter Posted