, 2008, Simmons et al., 2012 and Jarzemsky et al., 2013), or using novel outplanting techniques that ensure riparian plants have access to the water table during the establishment phase (e.g., Dreesen and Fenchel, 2010). Restoration paradigms differ in terms of their desired endpoints,

in effect how each defines success (Stanturf et al., 2014). Ecological restoration seeks a return to a pre-disturbance state (SERI, 2004); forest landscape restoration defines success as a functioning landscape that meets livelihoods needs of local communities and provides ecosystem services (Lamb et al., 2012). Functional restoration looks to the future with incremental adaptations to altered climate and other conditions driving global change (Choi, 2007 and Stanturf et al., 2014). Intervention selleckchem ecology goes further and seeks transformative adaptation to future conditions (Hobbs et al., 2011 and Kates et al., 2012). The key difference PD0325901 solubility dmso among these views is whether to look to the past or the future to define success (Clement and Junqueira, 2010). Reconciling these views is a foray into

the realm of social preference (Daniels et al., 2012 and Emborg et al., 2012) and beyond the scope of this review. Once preferences are expressed, however, they will be translated into goals and objectives that can be implemented. We conclude by describing some of the elements of a successful forest restoration program. Well-defined expectations have long been recognized as an essential element of a restoration project (Hobbs and Norton, 1996 and Hallett et al., 2013) and lack of well-defined expectations has been a leading cause of failure (Kapos et al., 2008 and Dey and Schweitzer, 2014). Expectations may be implicit rather than explicit; one common implicit expectation has been termed the “foster” (Munro et al., 2009) or “Field of Dreams” paradigm (Palmer et al., 1997) that attempts to create the necessary

biophysical conditions such that a desired system will spontaneously develop. In wet forests, this often means restoring hydroperiod or at least matching crotamiton expectations to the existing site hydrology (Stanturf et al., 2001, Gardiner and Oliver, 2005 and Lewis, 2005). Alternatively, another implicit expectation comes from the initial floristics successional model. This paradigm assumes that all desired species must be reintroduced; this may be true especially of understory and ground cover species (Munro et al., 2009). Explicit criteria are necessary, however, not only for monitoring and evaluation (critical to assessing whether efforts have been successful) but also for effectively communicating to stakeholders. The current emphasis on evidence-based conservation by donor agencies (Pullin et al., 2004, Sutherland et al., 2004 and Ferraro and Pattanayak, 2006) and performance monitoring by governments (Peppin et al., 2010) also demands well-defined expectations (Crow, 2014).