U.S. Department of Agriculture: Agricultural Research Service, Lincoln, Nebraska
Date of this Version
2022
Citation
Restoration Ecology 2022
doi: 10.1111/rec.13841
Abstract
The United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration aims to prevent, halt, and reverse the degradation of ecosystems on every continent. Disturbances stemming from anthropogenic or natural causes make plant community restoration challenging. The introduction of fast-growing weeds that generate high biomass and produce copious seed is most threatening to plant communities. A paradigm shift in ecosystem restoration is needed that emphasizes traits and affected ecological processes similar to weeds. The repeated introduction of seed from native plants with weedy characteristics follows the propagule pressure and evolution of invasiveness hypotheses. In targeting areas with heavy weed populations, native plants could establish and more successfully develop into functioning plant communities.
Comments
This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.