ECOLOGICAL THEORY AND COMMUNITY RESTORATION ECOLOGY

Community ecological theory may play an important role in the developm ent of a science of restoration ecology. Not only will the practice of restoration benefit from an increased focus on theory, but basic rese arch in community ecology will also benefit. We pose several major the matic questions that are relevant to restoration from the perspective of community ecological theory and, for each, identify specific areas that are in critical need of further research to advance the science o f restoration ecology. We ask, what are appropriate restoration endpoi nts from a community ecology perspective? The problem of measuring res toration at the community level, particularly given the high amount of variability inherent in most natural communities, is not easy, and ma y require a focus on restoration of community function (e.g., trophic structure) rather than a focus on the restoration of particular specie s. We ask, what are the benefits and limitations of using species comp osition or biodiversity measures as endpoints in restoration ecology? Since reestablishing all native species may rarely be possible, resear ch is needed on the relationship between species richness and communit y stability of restored sites and on functional redundancy among speci es in regional colonist ''pools.'' Efforts targeted at restoring syste m function must take into account the role of individual species, part icularly if some species play a disproportionate role in processing ma terial or are strong interactors. We ask, is restoration of habitat a sufficient approach to reestablish species and function? Many untested assumptions concerning the relationship between physical habitat stru cture and restoration ecology are being made in practical restoration efforts. We need rigorous testing of these assumptions, particularly t o determine how generally they apply to different taxa and habitats. W e ask, to what extent can empirical and theoretical work on community succession and dispersal contribute to restoration ecology? We disting uish systems in which succession theory may be broadly applicable from those in which it is probably not. If community development is highly predictable, it may be feasible to manipulate natural succession proc esses to accelerate restoration. We close by stressing that the scienc e of restoration ecology is so intertwined with basic ecological theor y that practical restoration efforts should rely heavily on what is kn own from theoretical and empirical research on how communities develop and are structured over time.