The United Nation has this year launched “The Decade on Ecosystem Restoration”, as a way of galvanising action to combat biodiversity loss, but also as a means of sequestering carbon. But what do we mean by “ecosystem restoration” and how can we assess if the restoration has been successful? Restoring Resilient Ecosystems (visit project website here: RestREco) is an innovative partnership project, funded by NERC, that aims to unpick and examine the essential elements required for ecosystem restoration, focusing on UK woodlands and grasslands. RestREco considers complexity and resilience as fundamental aims for restoration projects, rather than attempting to re-create specific target ecosystems (Bullock et al. 2022).
Whilst this project has now been completed, work is on-going to publish our findings and consider the practical and policy implications from this. Key findings to date are below, and more will be added as publications come out.
1. Drivers of complexity in ecosystem restoration
This study examined ecological complexity across 54 calcareous grasslands and 60 broadleaved woodlands undergoing restoration. Complexity indices were derived for multiple ecosystem attributes — soil bacteria, soil fungi, habitat structure, plants, invertebrates, and species networks — and Structural Equation Models were used to quantify the effects of key drivers (site age and size, surrounding landscape composition, former land-use, establishment method, and ongoing management) on complexity, and the relationships between different aspects of it.
Key findings:
The practical implication is that while structural complexity appears foundational and can guide management efforts, a broader "syndrome-focused" framework — using a set of complexity measures together — is needed to adequately assess and promote ecological complexity in restoration contexts (Waddell et al. in press).
2. Restoration of ecological interactions: The influence of site and landscape factors
Here, we evaluated how restoration age, site size, and landscape proximity to similar habitats affect the re-establishment of trophic interactions in two ecosystem types: plant-pollinator networks across 60 grassland sites (1–76 years old) and plant-herbivore networks across 60 woodland sites (13–67 years old). Sites were selected along chronosequences to maximise variation across temporal and spatial gradients.
Key findings:
The main practical takeaway is that focusing on interaction networks rather than species identity alone offers clearer guidance for restoration policy — particularly the value of increasing site size and maintaining older, continuous sites to restore ecosystem function in agricultural landscapes (Woodcock et al. 2025).
1. Drivers of complexity in ecosystem restoration
This study examined ecological complexity across 54 calcareous grasslands and 60 broadleaved woodlands undergoing restoration. Complexity indices were derived for multiple ecosystem attributes — soil bacteria, soil fungi, habitat structure, plants, invertebrates, and species networks — and Structural Equation Models were used to quantify the effects of key drivers (site age and size, surrounding landscape composition, former land-use, establishment method, and ongoing management) on complexity, and the relationships between different aspects of it.
Key findings:
- Early decisions matter — Choices made at the onset of restoration, such as grassland establishment method and former land-use in woodlands, had a large influence on how complexity subsequently developed.
- Structural complexity is a key driver — High structural complexity positively drove invertebrate complexity in both habitat types, though causal relationships between other aspects of complexity were generally limited.
- Complexity is multi-faceted — Ecological complexity could not be reduced to a few simple indicators; measuring multiple aspects was necessary to gain a holistic picture of ecosystem status and resilience.
The practical implication is that while structural complexity appears foundational and can guide management efforts, a broader "syndrome-focused" framework — using a set of complexity measures together — is needed to adequately assess and promote ecological complexity in restoration contexts (Waddell et al. in press).
2. Restoration of ecological interactions: The influence of site and landscape factors
Here, we evaluated how restoration age, site size, and landscape proximity to similar habitats affect the re-establishment of trophic interactions in two ecosystem types: plant-pollinator networks across 60 grassland sites (1–76 years old) and plant-herbivore networks across 60 woodland sites (13–67 years old). Sites were selected along chronosequences to maximise variation across temporal and spatial gradients.
Key findings:
- Age and size — Older and larger sites consistently supported higher levels of network connectance, nestedness, and generality in both grasslands and woodlands.
- Landscape proximity — Proximity to similar habitats had contrasting effects between the two ecosystems: it promoted network metrics in woodlands but had the reverse effect in grasslands.
- Shared patterns — Despite these differences, the broadly similar responses to local environmental drivers across both ecosystem types suggest common mechanisms underpin trophic community re-establishment.
The main practical takeaway is that focusing on interaction networks rather than species identity alone offers clearer guidance for restoration policy — particularly the value of increasing site size and maintaining older, continuous sites to restore ecosystem function in agricultural landscapes (Woodcock et al. 2025).