Foreword: Ecological Restoration - Global Challenges, Social Aspects and Environmental Benefits

As outlined in the Scope and Purpose (pp. xxiii) this book consists of 14 chapters covering important aspects in regards to various terrestrial ecosystems, wetlands, river systems, mine site rehabilitation, marsh ecology and heavy metals pollution. Human exploitation of ecosystems, both terrestrial and aquatic has created the need to preserve, restore and rehabilitate. Ecology is the study of the interrelationships between organisms and their environment, including the biotic and abiotic components. There are at least six kinds of ecology: ecosystem, physiological, behavioral, population, and community. Ecological degradation involves such perturbations as mining (Yeldell & Squires, this volume; Doley & Audet, this volume), overgrazing (Squires, this volume) and chemical pollution of soil and water (Abdullah et al., this volume). Also included is a presentation of the need for restoration and rehabilitation projects developed according to an ecological theory considering species life history, habitat template and spatio-temporal scope, the bidirectional effect of self-renaturalization processes on the environment and a study on how different typologies may alter the evaluations of biological quality (Squires, this volume).