Restoration

Habitat for wildlife, plants and people is of vital importance for maintaining ecosystem functions, biological diversity, and human health. However, habitats and wildlands are in decline both locally and globally. The spread of invasive species degrades habitat quality and diversity. Climate change habitats and the connections between organisms, and many species are losing their ability to thrive in place. As urbanization, development, human population growth, land conversion to agriculture, invasive species and climate change threaten the ability of many ecosystems to provide services on which the natural world and people rely, IAE is responding by restoring degraded habitat and enabling others to do the same.

Individual species are the building blocks of ecosystems and provide the diversity that make these ecosystems resilient to climate change and resistant to invasive species. Species have intrinsic and aesthetic value and may also provide economic and medicinal benefits to people. However, many species are now at risk of disappearing and the rate of extinction is accelerating. About 940 of the plant species in the U.S. (5% of the country’s flora) are listed as Threatened or Endangered. Loss of habitats, competition from invasive species, and shifting climates are together reducing the viability of many species. Today the need is urgent to protect species from extinction, including managing their habitats and rewilding species that have become so rare that they are now largely absent from the landscape. Techniques for successful introductions of populations are largely unique across species and habitats, so research is needed to develop methods that are efficient and effective for each species. For some species, information on their basic biology is lacking, and assessments of optimal methods for habitat management to support population growth are unavailable. At IAE, we focus on reducing extinction risk and promoting population and range expansion of at-risk species.

IAE creates and manages habitat for plants and wildlife. Our goal is to restore habitats in the Pacific Northwest and Southwest by conducting on-the-ground restoration, developing ecologically appropriate seed sources, cultivating partnerships that promote regional conservation, and advancing innovative and research-based restoration techniques. We also develop and implement site specific management and restoration plans.