Abstract
Ecological restoration seeks to modify current conditions to more closely approximate conditions deemed to be more desirable within a given landscape. While substantial resources have been dedicated to advance ecological restoration efforts, limited research has investigated how ecological restoration is conceptualized by restoration practitioners. These conceptualizations are important because they likely inform goal-setting and selected management approaches, while different conceptualizations may contribute to conflicts that inhibit restoration efforts. This paper reports results from a mental model analysis completed at three USDA Forest Service Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program (CFLRP) sites. We found that decision-makers across several disciplinary groups and organizations expressed a depth of knowledge of ecological principles related to restoration consistent with the body of ecological literature we reviewed. However, despite broad recognition of social and economic constraints, participant responses suggested limited consideration of how restoration may incorporate and achieve social and economic goals. There was also less emphasis placed on longer-term and more difficult to quantify management topics, such as monitoring and adaptive management. Literature and history both suggest that these components are critical for the long-term success of ecological restoration efforts, and so their lack of salience to participants point to these as potential areas of improvement. Our management and policy recommendations include taking steps to more effectively integrate social scientific input in restoration planning, which may be supported by incorporating decision-aiding tools such as Structured Decision Making to guide restoration-planning efforts.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Allen CR, Gunderson LH (2011) Pathology and failure in the design and implementation of adaptive management. J Environ Manage 92:1379–1384. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2010.10.063
Altman DG (1991) Mathematics for kappa. Chapman and Hall, London
Barro SC, Bright AD (1998) Ecological restoration a snapshot from the Chicago area. Restor Manag Notes 16:59–65
Bostrom A, Morgan MG, Fischhoff B, Read D (1994) What do people know about global climate change? 1. Mental models Risk Anal 14:959–970
Bright AD, Barro SC, Burtz RT (2002) Public attitudes toward ecological restoration in the Chicago Metropolitan Region. Soc Nat Resour 15:763–785. https://doi.org/10.1080/08941920290069344
Butler WH (2013) Collaboration at arm’s length: navigating agency engagement in landscape-scale ecological restoration collaboratives. J For 111:395–403. https://doi.org/10.5849/jof.13-027
Butler WH, Monroe A, McCaffrey S (2015) Collaborative implementation for ecological restoration on us public lands: implications for legal context, accountability, and adaptive management. Environ Manage 55:564–577. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-014-0430-8
Cannon-Bowers JA, Salas E, Converse S (1993) Shared mental models in expert team decision making. In: Castellan JN (ed) Individual and group decision making: current issues. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Hillsdale, NJ, pp 221–246
Clewell A, Aronson J, Winterhalder K (2004) The SER International primer on ecological restoration. Ecol Restor 2:206–207
Colavito MM (2017) The role of science in the collaborative forest landscape restoration program. J For 115:34–42. https://doi.org/10.5849/jof.15-142
Collins SL, Carpenter SR, Swinton SM et al (2011) An integrated conceptual framework for long-term social–ecological research in a nutshell. Front Ecol Environ 9:351–357. https://doi.org/10.1890/100068
Egan D, Hjerpe EE, Abrams J (2011) Human dimensions of ecological restoration. Island Press, Washington DC
Failing L, Gregory R, Higgins P (2013) Science, uncertainty, and values in ecological restoration: a case study in structured decision-making and adaptive management. Restor Ecol 21:422–430. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1526-100X.2012.00919.x
Gobster PH, Hull RB (2000) Restoring nature: perspectives from the Social Sciences and Humanities. Island Press, Washington DC
Gottschalk-Druschke C, Hychka K (2015) Manager perspectives on communication and public engagement in ecological restoration project success. Ecol Soc 20:58. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-07451-200158
Gregory R, Wellman K (2001) Bringing stakeholder values into environmental policy choices: a community-based estuary case study. Ecol Econ 39:37–52. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0921-8009(01)00214-2
Gregory R, Failing L, Harstone M et al (2012) Structured decision making: a practical guide to environmental management choices. Wiley, Hoboken
Hardisty DJ, Orlove B, Krantz DH et al (2012) About time: an integrative approach to effective environmental policy. Glob Environ Chang 22:684–694. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2012.05.003
Heeren A, Karns G, Bruskotter J et al (2017) Expert judgment and uncertainty regarding the protection of imperiled species. Conserv Biol 31:657–665. https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.12838
Hill SD, Thompson D (2006) Understanding managers’ views of global environmental risk. Environ Manage 37:773–787. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-004-0238-z
Hjerpe E, Abrams J, Becker DR (2009) Socioeconomic barriers and the role of biomass utilization in southwestern ponderosa pine restoration. Ecol Restor 27:169–177. https://doi.org/10.3368/er.27.2.169
Hobbs RJ, Norton DA (1996) Towards a conceptual framework for restoration ecology. Restor Ecol 4:93–110. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1526-100X.1996.tb00112.x
Jones NA, Ross H, Lynam T et al (2011) Mental models: an interdisciplinary synthesis of theory and methods. Ecol Soc 16:46
Katz E (2000) Another look at restoration: technology and artificial nature. In: Gobster P, Hull B (eds) Restoring nature: perspectives from the social sciences and humanities. Island Press, Washington DC, pp 37–48
Keele DM, Malmsheimer RW, Floyd DW, Perez JE (2006) Forest service land management litigation 1989–2002. J For 104:7
Klenk N, Bull G, Cohen D (2008) What is the “END” (emulation of natural disturbance) in forest ecosystem management? An open question. Can J For Res 38:2159–2168. https://doi.org/10.1139/X08-054
Kramer DB, Hartter J, Boag AE et al (2017) Top 40 questions in coupled human and natural systems (CHANS) research. Ecol Soc 22(2):44
Langan-Fox J, Wirth A, Code S et al (2001) Analyzing shared and team mental models. Int J Ind Ergon 28:99–112. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0169-8141(01)00016-6
Leach WD (2006) Public involvement in USDA Forest Service policymaking: a literature review history of public participation in. J For 104(1):43–49
Maguire LA, Albright EA (2005) Can behavioral decision theory explain risk-averse fire management decisions? For Ecol Manag 211:47–58. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2005.01.027
Marcot BG, Thompson MP, Runge MC et al (2012) Recent advances in applying decision science to managing national forests. For Ecol Manage 285:123–132. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2012.08.024
Margerum RD (2008) A typology of collaboration efforts in environmental management. Environ Manag 41:487–500. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-008-9067-9
Margerum RD (2011) Beyond consensus: improving collaborative planning and management. MIT, Cambridge
Mascia MB (2003) The human dimension of coral reef marine protected areas: recent social science research and its policy implications. Conserv Biol 17:630–632
Mathieu JE, Heffner TS, Goodwin GF et al (2000) The influence of shared mental models on team process and performance. J Appl Psychol 85:273–283
Monroe AS, Butler WH (2016) Responding to a policy mandate to collaborate: structuring collaboration in the collaborative forest landscape restoration program. J Environ Plan Manag 59:1054–1072. https://doi.org/10.1080/09640568.2015.1053562
Moote A, Lowe K (2008) What to expect from collaboration in natural resource management: a research synthesis for practitioners. Ecological Restoration Institute, Flagstaff
Morgan MG, Fischhoff B, Bostrom A, Atman CJ (2002) Risk communication: a mental models approach. Cambridge University Press, New York
Olsen CS, Shindler BA (2010) Trust, acceptance, and citizen–agency interactions after large fires: influences on planning processes. Int J Wildl Fire 19:137–147
Olsen CS, Mazzotta DK, Toman E, Fischer AP (2014) Communicating about smoke from wildland fire: challenges and opportunities for managers. Environ Manag 54:571–582. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-014-0312-0
Perring MP, Standish RJ, Price JN et al (2015) Advances in restoration ecology: rising to the challenges of the coming decades. Ecosphere 6:131. https://doi.org/10.1890/ES15-00121.1
Sample VA, Bixler RP, McDonough MH et al (2015) The promise and performance of forestry education in the United States: results of a survey of forestry employers, graduates, and educators. J For 113(6):528–537. https://doi.org/10.5849/jof.14-122
Schuett MA, Selin SW, Carr DS (2001) Making it work: keys to successful collaboration in natural resource management. Environ Manage 27:587–593. https://doi.org/10.1007/s002670010172
Schultz CA, Coelho DL, Beam RD (2014) Design and governance of multiparty monitoring under the USDA Forest Service Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program. J For 112:198–206. https://doi.org/10.5849/jof.13-070
Shindler B, Resources F, Cramer LA (1999) Shifting public values for forest management: making sense of wicked problems. West J Appl For 14:1–7
Shindler BA., Brunson M., Stankey GH. (2002) Social acceptability of forest conditions and management practices: a problem analysis. USDA Forest Service – Gen. Tech. Rep. PNW, pp 1–68
Society of American Foresters (2016) Accreditation handbook: procedures: procedures, standards, and guidelines for accrediting educational programs in professional forestry, urban forestry, natural resources and ecosystem management, and in forest technology. Society of American Foresters, Bethesda, MD
Stankey GH, Bormann BT, Ryan C et al (2003) Adaptive management and the northwest forest plan. J For 101:40–46
Stern MJ, Baird TD (2015) Trust ecology and the resilience of natural resource management institutions. Ecol Soc 20:14. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-07248-200214
Stern MJ, Coleman KJ (2015) The multidimensionality of trust: applications in collaborative natural resource management. Soc Nat Resour 28:117–132. https://doi.org/10.1080/08941920.2014.945062
Toman E, Shindler B (2006) Wildland fire and fuel management: principles for effective communication. In: Detrani JR (ed) Mass communication: issues, perspectives and techniques. Apple Academic Press, Oakville, pp 46–59
Tversky A, Kahneman D (1974) Judgment under uncertainty: heuristics and biases. Science 185:1124–1131. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.185.4157.1124
United States Congress (2009) Omnibus Land Management Act of 2009. Section IV, United States Congress, Washington DC
Urgenson LS, Ryan CM, Halpern CB et al (2017) Visions of restoration in fire-adapted forest landscapes: lessons from the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program. Environ Manage 59:338–353. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-016-0791-2
U.S. Forest Service (2015) Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program 5-Year Report, FY 2010–2014. US Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC
Vining J, Tyler E, Kweon BS (2000) Public values, opinions, and emotions in restoration controversies. In: Gobster P, Hull B (eds) Restoring nature: perspectives from the social sciences and humanities. Island Press, Washington DC, pp 143–161
Walpole EH, Toman E, Wilson RS, Stidham M (2017) Shared visions, future challenges: a case study of three Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program locations. Ecol Soc 22(2):35. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-09248-220235
Wilson RS, Hooker N, Tucker M et al (2009) Targeting the farmer decision making process: a pathway to increased adoption of integrated weed management. Crop Prot 28:756–764. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cropro.2009.05.013
Wilson RS, Winter PL, Maguire LA, Ascher T (2011) Managing wildfire events: risk-based decision making among a group of federal fire managers. Risk Anal 31:805–818. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1539-6924.2010.01534.x
Wilson RS, Ascher TJ, Toman E (2012) Communicating risk and managing forest health theoretical framework. J For 110:337–341
Wilson RS, Hardisty DJ, Epanchin-Niell RS et al (2016) A typology of time-scale mismatches and behavioral interventions to diagnose and solve conservation problems. Conserv Biol 30:42–49. https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.12632
Wondolleck JM, Yaffee SL (2000) Making collaboration work: lessons from innovation in natural resource managment. Island Press, Washington DC
Yaffee SL (1994) The wisdom of the spotted owl: policy lessons for a new century. Island Press, Washington DC
Zaksek M, Arvai JL (2004) Toward improved communication about wildland fire: mental models research to identify information needs for natural resource management. Risk Anal 24:1503–1514. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0272-4332.2004.00545.x
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank our participants for their time and insight during our data collection. This project was sponsored by USDA Forest Service Northern Research Station, Award Number 11-JV-11242309-075.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Electronic supplementary material
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Appendix 1: Literature used in development of the technical model
Appendix 1: Literature used in development of the technical model
Author | Title | Year | Application |
|---|---|---|---|
Franklin JF, Johnson KN | A Restoration Framework for Federal Forests in the Pacific Northwest | 2012 | The Process of Restoration |
Hobbs RJ, Norton DA | Towards a Conceptual Framework for Restoration Ecology | 1996 | The Process of Restoration |
Jentsch A | The challenge to restore processes in face of nonlinear dynamics–on the crucial role of disturbance regimes | 2007 | The Process of Restoration |
Kabrick JM, Dey DC, Gwaze D (eds) | Shortleaf Pine Restoration and Ecology in the Ozarks: Proceedings of a Symposium | 2007 | The Process of Restoration |
Stanturf JA | What is forest restoration? | 2005 | The Process of Restoration |
Agee JK | Fire Ecology of Pacific Northwest Forests | 1993 | Historic and Current Forest Conditions |
Agee JK | Steward's Fork: A Sustainable Future for the Klamath Mountains | 2007 | Historic and Current Forest Conditions |
Baker WL | Fire Ecology in Rocky Mountain Landscapes | 2009 | Historic and Current Forest Conditions |
Bunn WA, Jenkins MA, Brown CB, Sanders NJ | Change within and among forest communities: the influence of historic disturbance, environmental gradients, and community attributes | 2010 | Historic and Current Forest Conditions |
Fiedler CE, Friederici P, Petruncio M | Monitoring Old Growth in Frequent-fire Landscapes | 2007 | Historic and Current Forest Conditions |
Fiedler CE, Friederici P, Petruncio M, Denton C, Hacker WD | Managing for Old Growth in Frequent-fire Landscapes | 2007 | Historic and Current Forest Conditions |
Franklin JF, Hemstrom MA, Van Pelt R, Buchanan JB | The case for active management of dry forest types in eastern Washington: Perpetuating and creating old forest structure and functions | 2008 | Historic and Current Forest Conditions |
Gagnon PR | Fire in floodplain forests in the Southeastern USA: Insights from disturbance ecology of native bamboo | 2009 | Historic and Current Forest Conditions |
Gragson TL, Bolstad PV | Land use legacies and the future of southern Appalachia | 2006 | Historic and Current Forest Conditions |
Johnson EA, Miyanishi K (eds) | Plant Disturbance Ecology: The Process and the Response | 2007 | Historic and Current Forest Conditions |
Perry DA | Forest Ecosystems | 1994 | Historic and Current Forest Conditions |
Perry DA et al | The ecology of mixed severity fire regimes in Washington, Oregon, and Northern California | 2011 | Historic and Current Forest Conditions |
Pickett STA, White PS | The Ecology of Natural Disturbance and Patch Dynamics | 1985 | Historic and Current Forest Conditions |
Schmidt KM, Menakis JP, Hardy CC, Hann WJ, Bunnell DL | Development of coarse-scale spatial data for wildland fire and fuel management | 2002 | Historic and Current Forest Conditions |
Turner MG | Disturbance and landscape dynamics in a changing world | 2010 | Historic and Current Forest Conditions |
Turner MG, Gardner RH, O'Neill RV | Landscape Ecology in Theory and Practice: Pattern and Process | 2001 | Historic and Current Forest Conditions |
Thompson JR, Duncan SL, Johnson KN | Is There Potential for the Historical Range of Variability to Guide Conservation Given the Social Range of Variability? | 2009 | Historic and Current Forest Conditions and Social Influences |
Wuerthner G (ed) | Wildfire: A Century of Failed Forest Policy | 2006 | Historic and Current Forest Conditions and Social Influences |
111th Congress | Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 | 2009 | Social Influences |
Balliet D | Communication and Cooperation in Social Dilemmas: A Meta-Analytic Review Journal of Conflict Resolution | 2010 | Social Influences |
Carpenter SR, Westley F, Turner MG | Surrogates for resilience of social-ecological systems | 2005 | Social Influences |
Duncan SL, McComb BC, Johnson KN | Integrating Ecological and Social Ranges of Variability in Conservation of Biodiversity: Past, Present, and Future | 2010 | Social Influences |
Kerr NL, Kaufman-Gilliland CM | Communication, commitment, and cooperation in social dilemmas | 1994 | Social Influences |
Lynam T et al | The Group Discussion Effect: Integrative Processes and Suggestions for Implementation | 2013 | Social Influences |
Olsson P, Folke C, Berkes F | Adaptive management for building resilience in social-ecological systems | 2004 | Social Influences |
Schoon ML, Cox ME | Understanding disturbances and responses in social-ecological systems | 2012 | Social Influences |
Schultz CA, Jedd T, Beam RD | The Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program: A History and Overview of the First Projects | 2012 | Social Influences |
Vosick D, Ostergren DM, Murfitt L | Old-growth Policy | 2007 | Social Influences |
Bostrom A, Fischhoff B, Morgan MG | Characterizing Mental Models of Hazardous Processes: A Methodology and an Application to Radon | 1992 | Mental Model Processes |
Bostrom A, Morgan MG, Fischhoff B, Read D | What Do People Know About Global Climate Change? 1. Mental Models Risk Analysis | 1994 | Mental Model Processes |
Cone J, Winters K | Mental models interviewing for more effective communication: A primer | 2011 | Mental Model Processes |
Jones NA, Ross H, Lynam T, Perez P, Leitch A | Mental Models: An Interdisciplinary Synthesis of Theory and Methods | 2011 | Mental Model Processes |
Lynam T et al | Waypoints on a Journey of Discovery: Mental Models in Human–Environment Interactions | 2012 | Mental Model Processes |
Lynam T, Brown K | Mental Models in Human–Environment Interactions: Theory, Policy Implications, and Methodological Explorations | 2012 | Mental Model Processes |
Morgan MG, Fischhoff B, Bostrom A, Atman CJ | Risk Communication: A Mental Models Approach | 2002 | Mental Model Processes |
Wilson RS, Hooker NH, Tucker MA, LeJeune JT, Doohan D | Targeting the farmer decision making process: A pathway to increased adoption of integrated weed management | 2009 | Mental Model Processes |
Wilson RS, Tucker MA, Hooker NH, LeJeune JT, Doohan D | Perceptions and Beliefs about Weed Management: Perspectives of Ohio Grain and Produce Farmers | 2008 | Mental Model Processes |
Zwickle SL | Weeds and Organic Weed Management: Investigating Farmer Decisions with a Mental Models Approach | 2011 | Mental Model Processes |
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Walpole, E.H., Toman, E., Stidham, M. et al. The science and practice of ecological restoration: a mental models analysis of restoration practitioners. Environ Syst Decis 40, 588–604 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10669-020-09768-x
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10669-020-09768-x