Where Is More Important Than How in Coastal and Marine Ecosystems Restoration

Abstract

Restoration is considered an effective strategy to accelerate the recovery of biological communities at local scale. However, the effects of restoration actions in the marine ecosystems are still unpredictable. We performed a global analysis of published literature to identify the factors increasing the probability of restoration success in coastal and marine systems. Our results confirm that the majority of active restoration initiatives are still concentrated in the northern hemisphere and that most of information gathered from restoration efforts derives from a relatively small subset of species. The analysis also indicates that many studies are still experimental in nature, covering small spatial and temporal scales. Despite the limits of assessing restoration effectiveness in absence of a standardized definition of success, the context (degree of human impact, ecosystem type, habitat) of where the restoration activity is undertaken is of greater relevance to a successful outcome than how (method) the restoration is carried out. Contrary to expectations, we found that restoration is not necessarily more successful closer to protected areas (PA) and in areas of moderate human impact. This result can be motivated by the limits in assessing the success of interventions and by the tendency of selecting areas in more obvious need of restoration, where the potential of actively restoring a degraded site is more evident. Restoration sites prioritization considering human uses and conservation status present in the region is of vital importance to obtain the intended outcomes and galvanize further actions.

When Scientists and Industry Technologies Mitigate Habitat Loss: The First Bioconstruction Relocation in the Mediterranean Sea

“…As highlighted by Fraschetti et al (2021) in their recent analysis, the knowledge of the structure and state of ecosystems affected by anthropogenic disturbances, and the understanding of the disturbances, play a key role in the development (and effectiveness) of actions aiming at the recovery of biological communities. We accurately mapped and characterized the benthic assemblages within the area affected by the pipeline installation through the preliminary surveys carried out in 2017.…”

“…The nuclei were designed as expansion patches that will colonize the pipeline themselves (Rouse et al, 2019). Furthermore, the presence of several taxa on the nuclei reflected the complexity of the ecological interaction within the mesophotic reefs, overcoming the limitations of an intervention conducted on a single species (Fraschetti et al, 2021) and transferring to the pipeline, as less altered as possible, the assemblages found on the interfered outcrops.…”

Science and Dissemination for the UN Ocean Decade Outcomes: Current Trends and Future Perspectives

“…Basically, it seems that the context (i.e., where the action is performed) is more important than the way the restoration is carried out. Furthermore, for a successful restoration, the re-establishment of previous habitats and the removal (if possible) of any stressor is more important than the creation of new areas (full details in (Fraschetti et al, 2021)).…”

The Blue Restoration Contribution to Face the Challenging Scaling-Up Issue of Marine Conservation Strategies in the Next Decade

“…MPA coverage increase ≈ 10% year −1 since 60's, Figure 3a), the systematic inclusion of blue restoration within the management plans of MPAs could represent a significant step forward to make feasible the timebound challenges of sustainable development policies (i.e. UN, 2019;CBD, 2020;Fraschetti et al, 2021). Thoughtful and smart planning of restoration interventions can improve the performance of reserves even beyond their boundaries and, at the same time minimize the costs (both economic and social), often recognized as one of the main barrier limiting investments in this direction.…”