Inherent rarity in community restoration

We explore the implications of an often overlooked fact in community restor ation: most species, in real or synthetic communities, are infrequent or ra re, a phenomenon we call "inherent rarity." Whether from long-term interact ions of many factors affecting birth, death, and establishment within natur al communities or from short-term interactions of recently created communit ies species abundance distributions are roughly lognormal or even more atte nuated. The greater the predisturbance species diversity of remnants or the planting diversity of restorations, and the smaller the area of a habitat patch, the more likely a large proportion of species will exist in populati ons so small that they are acutely or chronically vulnerable to local extin ction. We suggest that habitat fragmentation will inevitably favor plants a nd animals that are highly mobile, early successional species, including ma ny exotic weeds among plants, or,species that are historically organized as metapopulations that happen to be common enough to function as such. We fu rther explore rationales for countering the effects of Inherent rarity, inc luding connectivity from buffers, corridors, and stepping stones, and domin ance suppression from seasonally appropriate mowing, grating or fire.