Assembly Rules and Restoration Ecology: Bridging the Gap Between Theory and Practice (Volume 5)

by Vicky M. Temperton (Editor), Richard Hobbs (Editor), Tim Nuttle (Editor)

Understanding how ecosystems are assembled -- how the species that make up a particular biological community arrive in an area, survive, and interact with other species -- is key to successfully restoring degraded ecosystems. Yet little attention has been paid to the idea of assembly rules in ecological restoration, in both the scientific literature and in on-the-ground restoration efforts.
Assembly Rules and Restoration Ecology, edited by Vicky M. Temperton, Richard J. Hobbs, Tim Nuttle, and Stefan Halle, addresses that shortcoming, offering an introduction, overview, and synthesis of the potential role of assembly rules theory in restoration ecology. It brings together information and ideas relating to ecosystem assembly in a restoration context, and includes material from a wide geographic range and a variety of perspectives.
Assembly Rules and Restoration Ecology contributes new knowledge and ideas to the subjects of assembly rules and restoration ecology and represents an important summary of the current status of an emerging field. It combines theoretical and practical aspects of restoration, making it a vital compendium of information and ideas for restoration ecologists, professionals, and practitioners.

464 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Adam · Rating 1 out of 5]

I stuck with this one a lot longer than I really should have. Assembly rules are occasionally billed as a competing or at least counterpart theory to Hobbs' state/transition model. I found it odd that they got so little press in comparison throughout the restoration lit I'd been reading, so I was hoping this book would fill the gap.

Unfortunately, the whole field of study doesn't seem to have much to offer yet. The intro makes some comment about how the editors want assembly rules to be a just-right balance of generality, not so site- and ecotype-specific that they aren't generalizable, but not so general as to be entirely abstract and impossible to apply. The actual content of the book doesn't come close to this mythical Goldilocks zone, and instead seems cobbled together from old-school succession theory and common-sense ecological principles through a heavy emphasis on a single early succession weed field site in Germany. It's unclear if the whole thing is just a valuable framework or if it just isn't being investigated competently or perhaps if the competent work is taking place under other frameworks, but there's not much of value in this book.

[Anna Funk · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a thrill! Just kidding. It was interesting to me as a restoration ecologist, that's for sure!