NATURAL PROCESSES FOR THE RESTORATION OF DRASTICALLY DISTURBED SITES

by David Polster

ABSTRACT: Restoration programs based on the use of natural processes can reduce the costs of restoration while providing self-sustaining restored ecosystems that re-integrate with the local recovery trajectories. Natural processes have been restoring disturbance sites (Walker 2012) since the advent of terrestrial vegetation over 450 million years ago. By following how these processes operate these recovery processes can be harnessed for the restoration of drastically disturbed sites. The first step in developing a restoration program that uses natural processes is to identify the factors or filters that are preventing or constraining natural recovery. Polster (2009) listed eight filters that are common on many mine sites. Compaction, erosion and  steep slopes are three of the most common filters at large mines. How do natural processes solve  these problems? Using a model based on observation of these natural solutions to common  problems restoration systems for drastically disturbed sites can be developed.

Flattening slopes  and preparing the site using the rough and loose technique (Polster 2009) addresses these  issues. Pioneering species such as willows, poplars and alder can be used to initiate the natural successional processes that will restore the site (Polster 1989). In addition, the addition of  physical structures such as large woody debris and rock piles can aid in the return of the  functions that were associated with these structures (e.g. habitat). The use of natural processes  and the re-establishment of ecological functions associated with these processes can greatly  benefit the recovery of degraded sites at little or no cost to industry.

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