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Ecological Restoration
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Trees, shrubs, and herbaceous vegetation are planted
within forest gaps where buildings and parking lots once stood.
© NPS photo.
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Overview
After a century of human use and development, the forest
ecosystem in Giant Forest had changed in several ways.
Paved roads, trails, and parking lots changed drainage
patterns, allowing water to concentrate and create erosion
gullies. Vehicle and foot travel compacted the soil and
quickly broke down needles and twigs on the soil surface,
depleting the topsoil of organic matter. Groups of mature
trees were cleared for buildings and parking lots. Fire, on
which giant sequoias depend for regeneration, could not be
used in Giant Forest Village. There were very few grasses,
wildflowers, shrubs, or tree seedlings in the Village
because of lack of fire and human trampling.
Ecological restoration is the process of assisting the
recovery and management of ecological integrity. In Giant
Forest, the goals of ecological restoration were to:
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Regrade roads, trails, parking lots, and other altered
landforms to approximate original topography and drainage
patterns.
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Restore soil properties to approximate those
of surrounding, undisturbed soils.
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Restore the
vegetation in the short term by reproducing the species
composition, density, and spatial pattern of regeneration
that would result from a natural fire event
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Restore the vegetation in the long term by integrating the
site into the natural fire regime typical of surrounding
areas of Giant Forest.
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