Aktuelle Schwerpunkte und Aufgaben der Renaturierungsökologie

Ecological restoration was established in response to the global degradation of biodiversity, and has become a significant tool of biological conservation. The demand for restoration has increased steeply in recent years. This is due to various factors, such as legal stipulations under the EU Habitats Directive. The question of which fields future efforts in restoration ecology should concentrate on is less clear. Therefore, a literature review was performed to identify the topics and ecosystems marked by high activity and substantial progress in the past decade. The results show that studies on ecological restoration with a focus on climate change and ecosystem services have been prominent. The restoration of forests and grasslands has also received much attention. The functional traits and multifunctionality of restored ecosystems are emerging topics. Developments in urban and marine restoration are particularly dynamic. Research on heathlands and wetlands has been less prominent, and biological invasions and seed banks are not attracting as much attention as they did some years ago. There is currently a need for research to address the restoration of species-rich agroecosystems, with their currently particularly endangered habitat-typical species.