I Didn't Know That!: Ecosystem Restoration

When you step outside, whether in your backyard or in a national park, you’re stepping into an ecosystem.

Ecosystems are complex interconnected systems. They include living things like plants, animals, tiny organisms, and even humans. They also include non-living things like the physical environment and weather. People need healthy, intact ecosystems to survive and thrive. Healthy ecosystems provide clean air, food, and water. They also:

• Provide opportunities for recreational activities,

• Influence our economies,

• Prevent or slow the spread of disease, and

• Boost resilience to the effects of climate change.

Ecosystems often need a delicate balance between all the interacting parts. Both large and small changes to the environment can have big, often negative, impacts. Many of these impacts are human caused. These are things like habitat loss, introduced invasive species, and pollution. Other impacts may be due to changes in the natural environment, like as a result of climate change.

The National Park Service uses science to preserve and restore ecosystems to ensure they function properly.

What is Ecosystem Restoration?

Ecosystem restoration is the process of helping damaged or destroyed ecosystems recover. It is important to understand the complicated relationships between physical, biological, and cultural resources in ecosystems to help restore them.

Park managers help restore ecosystems through a variety of actions including activities like:

• Prescribed burning,

• Removing invasive species and installing native ones, and

• Ensuring habitats are connected so species can freely migrate to access essentials, like food and breeding grounds.

The National Park Service preserves ecosystems that often extend beyond protective park boundaries. So, it is essential to work with partners and local communities to succeed in restoring ecosystems.

Why Restore Ecosystems?

The National Park Service is committed to protecting the health of natural resources. With millions of visitors annually and over 400 national parks across all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and territories, it is no easy feat! But it's worth it! Ecosystem restoration helps improve not only the health of our parks, but our own health too.

People depend on nature in many ways. Natural environments improve mental, physical, and community health. Nature provides us with food, clean water, medicines, and clothing. For our entire existence, humans have been part of nature and nature part of us.

What You Can Do

Ecosystems are as varied as the meadows, glaciers, rivers, canyons and other features that make up the National Park Service landscape, but your actions can help!

Here’s what you can do:

• Grow native plants in your yard.

• Identify and remove invasive plants from your yard.

• Stop or reduce your use of pesticides.

• Clean off boots, gear, and boats before and after you recreate to prevent the spread of invasive species.

• When recreating, leave no trace: dispose of waste responsibly, leave behind treasures you find, respect wildlife, and be considerate of other visitors.

But that’s not all! Check out more ways you can make a difference for our ecosystems.

Pass it On!

Did you learn something new? Pass it on! There is so much to learn about the natural world and how to explore it, but there's no way for everyone to be an expert in everything. That's why sharing knowledge is so important. When you visit parks, keep an eye out for ecosystem restoration in action and let others know why it’s so important!

Check out other I Didn’t Know That! topics.