Restoration ecology studies at Cazarils (southern France): Biodiversity and ecosystem trajectories in a mediterranean landscape

Restoration ecology (RE) offers a conceptual meeting ground and methodological approaches for all those concerned with the past, present and future of ecosystems and landscapes. It combines ecological theory, nature conservation concerns and recognition of the need to develop new management tools for ecosystems and landscapes. In our approach, ‘vital ecosystem attributesʹ (VEAs) of ecosystems and landscapes are monitored along transects permitting detailed assessment of the impact of economic and RE interventions at the scale of whole landscapes. This also enables quantitative and qualitative comparisons among ecosystems and/or among landscapes. At a new long-term ecological research site (LTER) at Cazarils, southern France, we are studying ecosystem and landscape responses to past and present human uses and perturbations, and to contemporaneous interventions aimed at restoration, rehabilitation and landscape reintegration. In this paper, we present selected baseline data of landscape-wide ranges concerning several different VEAs of both above- and below-ground components of biodiversity as well as soils. The purpose is to describe an approach to landscape research planning and ecosystem management in areas with complex geomorphological, ecological and cultural–historical features such as the Mediterranean region, and surrounding arid or semiarid lands.