As the world focuses on repairing damaged ecosystems, especially with the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration and new EU Nature Restoration law in place, a new study sounds a clear message: when it comes to restoring nature, one size doesn't fit all. A team of scientists, led by the University of Göttingen and Freie Universität Berlin, found that even ecosystems that look similar on the surface can respond very differently to the same restoration methods. If we want to bring back nature in a way that helps absorb carbon, keep water in the ground, and recycle nutrients, policy makers need to think locally. The findings were published in the journal Ecography.
In 2019, researchers from around the world joined forces to study how to best restore dry, Mediterranean-style landscapes – places with wet winters and dry summers, like parts of the Mediterranean, California, Chile, South Africa, and Australia. These regions are under serious environmental stress and urgently need support. The team wanted to find out which combinations of native plants could best bring back the land's natural functions. Because these ecosystems are so vast and varied, they built a computer model – which works like a strategy computer game for scientists – to test how different plant mixes would perform in different soils and climates.
The model matched up well with real-world results from a large restoration project in southwestern Australia. In addition, it showed that trying to achieve all goals at once – storing more carbon, saving water, and holding on to nitrogen – is tough. Compromises are often needed, and what works best depends a lot on local soil and climate conditions. "The great news is that this tool can help us choose the best plants for a local area, depending on what we want to achieve," said Dr Sebastian Fiedler, Postdoctoral Researcher at Technische Universität Berlin, who led this research at Göttingen University and Freie Universität Berlin.
Fiedler continues: "But we're not done yet – right now, the model doesn't include things like wildfires, which are becoming more common and could change everything. That's our next step."
Original publication: Fiedler, S. et al. (2025). Trade-offs among restored ecosystem functions are context-dependent in Mediterranean-type regions. Ecography. DoI: 10.1002/ecog.07609
