Educating nature preserve advocates: Critical ecological principles concerning nature preserve management

Background/Question/Methods

Several entities in southwestern Illinois near St. Louis, MO have designated lands as nature preserves or passive green space.  These parties all face a common set of problems, e.g., identifying management goals, improving habitat, and repelling / removing invasive species.  They do so with limited personnel and monetary resources.  As a participant in several nature preserve initiatives, it has become clear that well-known principles of landscape ecology and demography are not always understood by environmentally-minded members of the public.  I present examples of principles which should be brought to public attention as preserves are contemplated, and provide suggestions on how ecologists can assist preserve managers. 

Results/Conclusions

Often there is a weak knowledge of ecological history.  Much of the public cannot visualize the native landscape as it appeared to European settlers ca. 200 ybp, much less the world of Native Americans 500 ybp.  For some, restoration targets correspond to what is familiar in the countryside.  This begets a laissez faire attitude toward management that has dire consequences.  The principles of island biogeography are central to preserve planning.  Preserves are typically relatively small fragments of the larger landscape.  Historical disturbances, small population sizes, and long distance from seed sources have depleted characteristic tree species (Quercus, Carya, etc.) and less common plants and animals.  Species reintroductions are required simply to reinstate normal forest dynamics.  High ratios of forest edge to interior are associated with excessive deer populations and plant invasions, frustrate maintenance of forest interior conditions, and impoverish biodiversity.  Extensive trail development within a preserve exacerbates these problems.  Invasive plant removal is a disturbance in itself, potentially releasing habitat to new invaders or reinvasion.  A first step in invasive plant removal should be to target important seed sources that will drive reinvasion.  This advice runs counter to the desire to first clear entire populations that harm native species.  Control of deer which damage native vegetation must be done at a scale above the size of the preserve.  In the southwestern Illinois landscape, preserve management is necessarily more akin to gardening and zoo-keeping than classical natural resource management.