Equity in ecosystem restoration

The importance of equity has been emphasized in climate change, biodiversity loss, land degradation, and ecosystem restoration. However, equity implications are rarely considered explicitly in restoration projects. Although the role of equity has been studied in the context of biodiversity conservation and environmental governance, environmental variables are often ignored in equity studies, and spatial analyses of equity are lacking. To address these gaps, we use a mixed methods approach, integrating spatially explicit ecological and social data to evaluate, through an equity lens, a restoration project in a semi-arid rangeland socioecological system in Kenya. We use questionnaires and semi-structured key informant interviews to explore four dimensions of equity: distributional, procedural, recognitional, and contextual. Our results show that restoration employment and distance to the restoration site strongly influence perceived distributional and procedural equity. Employment and distance to restoration site can interact in counterintuitive ways in their influence on aspects of perceived equity, in this case, the fairness of site selection. Our findings exemplify that equity dimensions are intimately linked, and trade-offs can occur between equity dimensions, across socio-temporal scales, and in choosing the ethical framework to apply. Our work demonstrates how restoration is influenced by different dimensions of equity and we opine that incorporating equity in project planning and implementation processes can improve restoration outcomes. We emphasize the importance of respecting plurality in the values systems and ethical frameworks that underlie what is considered equitable, while negotiating trade-offs between diverse ethical positions in the design and implementation of ecosystem restoration projects

The importance of long‐term social‐ecological research for the future of restoration ecology

In the face of rapid environmental and cultural change, long‐term ecological research (LTER) and social‐ecological research (LTSER) are more important than ever. LTER contributes disproportionately to ecology and policy, evidenced by the greater proportion of LTER in higher impact journals and the disproportionate representation of LTER in reports informing policymaking. Historical evidence has played a significant role in restoration projects and it will continue to guide restoration into the future, but its use is often hampered by lack of information, leading to considerable uncertainties. By facilitating the storage and retrieval of historical information, LTSER will prove valuable for future restoration

At high stocking rates, cattle do not functionally replace wild herbivores in shaping understory community composition

Over a quarter of the world's land surface is grazed by cattle and other livestock, which are replacing wild herbivores, potentially impairing ecosystem structure and functions. Previous research suggests that cattle at moderate stocking rates can functionally replace wild herbivores in shaping understory communities, but it is unclear whether this is also true under high stocking rates. It is also unclear whether wild herbivore effects on plant communities moderate, enhance, or are simply additive to the effects of cattle at high stocking rates. To evaluate the influence of cattle stocking rates on the ability of cattle to functionally replace wild herbivores and test for interactive effects between cattle and wild herbivores in shaping understory vegetation, we assessed herbaceous vegetation in a long-term exclosure experiment in a semi-arid savanna in central Kenya that selectively excludes wild mesoherbivores (50-1000 kg) and megaherbivores (elephant and giraffe). We tested the effects of cattle stocking rate (zero/moderate/high) on herbaceous vegetation (diversity, composition, leafiness) and how those effects depend on the presence of wild mesoherbivores and megaherbivores. We found that herbaceous community composition (primary ordination axis) was better explained by the presence/absence of herbivore types than by total herbivory, suggesting that herbivore identity is a more important determinant of community composition than total herbivory at high cattle stocking rates. The combination of wild mesoherbivores and cattle stocked at high rates led to increased bare ground and annual grass cover, reduced perennial grass cover, reduced understory leafiness, and enhanced understory diversity. These shifts were weaker or absent when cattle were stocked at high stocking rates in the absence of wild mesoherbivores. Megaherbivores tempered the effects of cattle stocked at high rates on herbaceous community composition but amplified the effects of high cattle stocking rate on bare ground and understory diversity. Our results show that, contrary to previous findings at moderate stocking rates, cattle at high stocking rates do not functionally replace wild herbivores in shaping savanna herbaceous communities. In mixed-use rangelands, interactions between cattle stocking rate and wild herbivore presence can lead to non-additive vegetation responses with important implications for both wildlife conservation and livestock production

Innovative Technologies for Sustainable Textile Coloration, Patterning, and Surface Effects

The environmental impact of textile dyeing and finishing is of paramount concern in the textile industry. Enzyme and laser processing technologies present attractive alternatives to conventional textile coloration and surface patterning methods. Both technologies have the capability to reduce the impact of manufacturing on the environment by reducing the consumption of chemicals, water and energy, and the subsequent generation of waste. Two emerging textile processing technologies, laser processing and enzyme biotechnology, were investigated as a means of applying surface design and color to materials with a focus on improving the efficiency and sustainability of existing textile design and finishing methods. Through industrial stakeholder engagement and interdisciplinary research involving textile design, fiber and dye chemistry, biotechnology and optical engineering, this design-led project brought together design practice and science with a commercial focus. Each technology was used to modify targeted material properties, finding and exploiting opportunities for the design and finishing of textiles. The work resulted in a catalog of new coloration and design techniques for both technologies making it possible to achieve: selective surface pattern by differential dyeing, combined three-dimensional and color finishing and novel coloration of textile materials. The chapter provides a literature review mapping the use of enzyme biotechnology and laser processing technology within textile design and manufacturing to date, identifying current and future opportunities to reduce environmental impacts through their application. The methodological approach, which was interdisciplinary and design-led, will be introduced and the specific design and scientific methods applied will be detailed. Each of the techniques developed will be discussed and examples of the design effects achieved will be presented. And, an indication of the reductions in chemical effluent, efficiencies in resource use, and design-flexibility in comparison with traditional textile coloration and surface patterning techniques will be given