Agriculture students can learn about restorative ecology with these environmental flash cards.
There are 12 flash cards in this set (2 pages to print.)
To use:
1. Print out the cards.
2. Cut along the dashed lines.
3. Fold along the solid lines.
Sample flash cards in this set:
| Questions | Answers |
|---|---|
| Reclamation | - the engineering and nominal revegetation of derelict terrain for some future land use |
| Rehabilitation | - improves a site ecologically without attaining full-fledged ecological restoration |
| Enhancement | - a form of rehabilitation that alters a site for the improvement of a specific ecosystem value |
| Creation | - the initial establishment of an ecosystem on a site essentially devoid of organic matter under conditions that would otherwise favor the process of primary ecological succession |
| Mitigation | - the reclamation, rehabilitation, creation, or restoration that compensates for losses caused by intentional adverse environmental impacts |
| Sustainability | - The vegetation should maintain and replace itself over time. The vegetation should not be dependent upon artificial inputs such as water, fertilizer, or labor. |
| Resistance to invasion | - Natural communities resist invasion by non-native, weedy species. Well-executed restoration projects build resistance to invasion as they mature. |
| Nutrient retention | - Native ecosystems cycle nutrients internally, with little loss form the system. |
| Biotic interactions | - The whole range of species in a community should be present. These include mycorrhizae (fungi associated with plant roots that help phosphorus cycling), root nodule bacteria (bring in atmospheric nitrogen), leaf endophytes (protect leaves from herbivores), and various kinds of pollinators. |
| Productivity | - A restored site should have productivity similar to the natural model or site upon which its design is based. |
| Assembly | - you place plants where you believe they should be (assembling the fledgling community) |
| Successional | - the long-term evolution of a community that develops gradually, going through shifts in dominant species in a plant community (grassland becomes shrubland, for example) - usually based on a seeding approach to colonization |
