Restoration Ecology seminars

Jürgen Breuste examines what urban nature conservation should protect and how it should work. The talk contrasts safeguarding rare remnants with sustaining the many forms of nature through which residents experience cities. Wetlands surviving earlier development illustrate the importance of restoration, but inventories also show protected plants and animals throughout urban areas, beyond designated reserves. Their survival therefore requires conservation to engage with residents and the wider urban landscape. The IOER Forum also includes Gerd Lintz’s contribution on how ecological knowledge becomes urban-regional policy through the Multiple Streams Framework, followed by discussion. Hybrid attendance: IÖR-Saal, Leibniz Institute of Ecological Urban and Regional Development, Weberplatz 1, 01217 Dresden, Germany, and online via the organizer page’s Zoom-Link. The forum is open to all, free, and requires no registration. English-language session, Friday 9 October, 14:00–15:30 CEST (Europe/Berlin).

Cary Institute lecture with environmental historian Stephen Pyne (professor emeritus, Arizona State University) in conversation with Cary forest ecologist Winslow Hansen, on humanity's evolving relationship with fire, why destructive megafires have increased, the role of climate and land-use decisions, and pathways toward restoring ecological fire balance.

Agriculture and urban development threaten soil processes that sustain biodiversity, nutrient cycling, water regulation and climate resilience. The seminar examines how ecosystem-based interventions can restore soils, and why soil health must itself be built into the design of those interventions. Examples from the SOLU-BIOD research programme in France and abroad connect ecological restoration with food and water security. The discussion also considers practical barriers to adoption and the public policies needed to support implementation.