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Historicity and ecological restoration

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Abstract

This paper analyzes the relevance and interconnection of two forms of historicity in ecological restoration, namely historical fidelity and path dependence. Historical fidelity is the practice of attempting to restore an ecological system to some sort of idealized past condition. Path dependence occurs when a system can evolve in alternative local equilibria, and that the order and timing of the events that follow from the initial state influence which equilibrium is reached. Using theoretical examples and case studies, the following analysis shows that path dependence can seriously impinge the feasibility of historical fidelity, thus reinforcing the idea that restoration ecology needs to move away from a rigid reliance on historical fidelity and is sometimes justified to endorse an interventionist agenda. Yet, contra recent criticisms, I argue that ecological restoration, directed by prudential and evidence-based reasoning, should maintain historical fidelity as one of its guiding objectives.

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Notes

  1. Some reserve the term “restoration” for projects with structural goals, i.e., those which work toward the recovery of a given species composition. The expression “rehabilitation” is used to describe projects which set functional goals, like the restitution of nutrient cycles, air and water filtration, or any other ecosystem function or service that existed prior to degradation (van Andel and Aronson 2012; Callicott 2002). Unless otherwise specified, I will use “restoration” in a more encompassing sense and consider it an attempt to recover different elements including structure, function, services or processes.

  2. See Desjardins (2011a) for a more detailed discussion of path dependence and the different ways in which it can admit of degrees.

  3. One of the best philosophical analyses of the notion of balance of nature as developed in population ecology can be found in Cooper (2003). However, this paper will mostly address theories in community ecology.

  4. Technically, the equilibrium assumption is compatible with a transient form of path dependence. It would be possible, for example, and even perhaps likely that two communities reach the same equilibrium composition at different times. History would matter for some time but, ultimately, the outcome would be the same, at which point the processes can be qualified as path independent.

  5. Assumptions of balance and equilibrium were criticized relatively early in the history of scientific ecology. Gleason (1926) developed a concept of individualistic ecological assemblies, while (Davidson and Andrewartha 1948) and (Andrewartha et al. 1954) explored the distribution and abundance of animals. Yet, the few alternatives that emerged from these criticisms remained obscure for most of the 20th century. Clements's Plant Ecology, one of the most influential textbook at the time, completely ignored Gleason's critique (Egerton 1983). Although I have presented only one influential equilibrium approach, a large portion of the theoretical analysis in population and community ecology involves the mathematical study of equilibria and the determination of their (local) stability (e.g., Gause 1936; see also historical analyses by McIntosh (1986) and Kingsland (1991)). Not all of this research is incompatible with path dependence, but it took several years before ecologists started to seriously consider alternatives to (simplistic) equilibrium assumptions.

  6. I choose Diamond’s treatment of multi-equilibria in part because it rests on empirical evidence, but mostly because his presentation makes a connection with path dependence.

  7. There is now evidence that the assembly history of intestinal microbial colonies can be important because the first microbes to arrive have more sites and resources available to them. By gradually occupying and transforming the intestinal milieu, these early colonists make it harder for latecomers to establish themselves; essentially, the later arrivals do not have enough time to grow on the remaining surface area before being washed away. As we mature, our intestinal microbiota become increasingly complex. By the time we reach adulthood, the composition of microbiota in our intestines will vary greatly depending on the vagaries of our microbe exposure history.

  8. For quite some time now, the tradition in North America has been to take the era immediately preceding European settlement as the default benchmark. But this benchmark has been challenged on the ground that humans had already profoundly altered ecosystems before the arrival of Europeans, thus making it relatively arbitrary. Callicott (2002) offers one of the best responses to this argument. He argues that we can have principled reasons for favoring the more recent past (the traditional pre-European settlement) over the more distant past (such as the Pleistocene). We can disagree that the era immediately preceding European settlement should be the baseline for all restoration projects, but the reasons for choosing this benchmark are convincing (e.g., the possibility of assessing the state of the system at that point and the increased probability that the state before the mass arrival by Europeans will be viable given actual human occupation and climate change).

  9. I do not contend that ignoring the phenomenon of path dependence can account for all failed cases of restoration. My point is that path dependence can impose some general limitations on ecological restoration efforts and that ignoring these can be problematic for restorationists.

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Acknowledgments

I would like to thank John Beatty, Gillian Barker, Marc Ereshefsky, Ken Waters, Adrian Currie, Athony Belardo, the members of BiPED, and the reviewers from Biology and Philosophy for their comments and suggestions.

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  1. Department of Philosophy, Rotman Institute of Philosophy, The University of Western Ontario, Stevenson Hall Building 2137, London, ON, N6A 5B8, Canada

    Eric Desjardins

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Desjardins, E. Historicity and ecological restoration. Biol Philos 30, 77–98 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10539-014-9467-6

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