Rewilding plants and vegetation
Ecological restoration has traditionally had a bottom-up focus on plants and vegetation, but rewilding has been the opposite, and the impacts of rewilding carnivores and large herbivores on plant species and vegetation are largely unknown. The aim of this perspective, therefore, is to clarify what r...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Cambridge University Press
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Cambridge Prisms: Extinction |
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| Online Access: | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2755095825000014/type/journal_article |
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| author | Richard T. Corlett |
| author_facet | Richard T. Corlett |
| author_sort | Richard T. Corlett |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Ecological restoration has traditionally had a bottom-up focus on plants and vegetation, but rewilding has been the opposite, and the impacts of rewilding carnivores and large herbivores on plant species and vegetation are largely unknown. The aim of this perspective, therefore, is to clarify what rewilding means for plants and vegetation, to assess progress in achieving this, to identify research needs and to make recommendations for rewilding practice. Land-use legacies and dispersal limitation are major challenges for plant rewilding, and the slowness of vegetation recovery makes success hard to evaluate on a human timescale. On the other hand, wild vegetation develops spontaneously wherever human pressures are released, regardless of the state of the site. For plant conservation, the key issue is ensuring that all plant species that can be restored are present, including rare and threatened species. Long-term species-level monitoring and, where necessary, continued intervention should be part of all projects that aim to rewild plants and vegetation. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-59bb5cd4bbe94428a2d7a8045fb855db |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2755-0958 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Cambridge University Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Cambridge Prisms: Extinction |
| spelling | doaj-art-59bb5cd4bbe94428a2d7a8045fb855db2025-08-20T02:51:00ZengCambridge University PressCambridge Prisms: Extinction2755-09582025-01-01310.1017/ext.2025.1Rewilding plants and vegetationRichard T. Corlett0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2508-9465Center for Integrative Conservation and Yunnan Key Laboratory for the Conservation of Tropical Rainforests and Asian Elephants, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yunnan, China Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, London, UKEcological restoration has traditionally had a bottom-up focus on plants and vegetation, but rewilding has been the opposite, and the impacts of rewilding carnivores and large herbivores on plant species and vegetation are largely unknown. The aim of this perspective, therefore, is to clarify what rewilding means for plants and vegetation, to assess progress in achieving this, to identify research needs and to make recommendations for rewilding practice. Land-use legacies and dispersal limitation are major challenges for plant rewilding, and the slowness of vegetation recovery makes success hard to evaluate on a human timescale. On the other hand, wild vegetation develops spontaneously wherever human pressures are released, regardless of the state of the site. For plant conservation, the key issue is ensuring that all plant species that can be restored are present, including rare and threatened species. Long-term species-level monitoring and, where necessary, continued intervention should be part of all projects that aim to rewild plants and vegetation.https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2755095825000014/type/journal_articledispersal limitationecological restorationhabitat lossland-use legaciesreintroduction |
| spellingShingle | Richard T. Corlett Rewilding plants and vegetation Cambridge Prisms: Extinction dispersal limitation ecological restoration habitat loss land-use legacies reintroduction |
| title | Rewilding plants and vegetation |
| title_full | Rewilding plants and vegetation |
| title_fullStr | Rewilding plants and vegetation |
| title_full_unstemmed | Rewilding plants and vegetation |
| title_short | Rewilding plants and vegetation |
| title_sort | rewilding plants and vegetation |
| topic | dispersal limitation ecological restoration habitat loss land-use legacies reintroduction |
| url | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2755095825000014/type/journal_article |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT richardtcorlett rewildingplantsandvegetation |