Applying spatial ecology principles in riparian restoration and design

摘要

The Poster this paper describes illustrates how an ecological design approach was used to re-establish riparian habitat for six open-nesting species of birds along a channelized stream in a former agricultural field in a suburban area of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. This example of riparian habitat restoration at a micro-scale, associated with a channelized stream in an urban environment, focuses on the design and re-establishment of riparian-specific spatial patterns, relationships and processes. A '4factors' (structure, function, behaviour and inter-relationships) approach is demonstrated as a method for establishing ecological performance criteria for spatial habitat design. The project identifies and incorporates cross-scalar landscape ecology principles important to restoration design at a micro-scale in an urban 'streamscape'. An ecological design process using a 4 factors approach is consistent with Wiens's (2002) framework for integrating the central themes of landscape ecology and their effects on ecological systems.