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coniferous forests
, plant species provide food and shelter for 
various animals. The forest ecosystem provides important services, such as 
nutrient cycling
, both 
for the animals that live there and for humans who use the forest for timber and recreation. To remain 
healthy, many forest species rely on periodic disturbances such as wildfires. However, some 
disturbances, such as 
deforestation
, are so damaging that they may instead impair the normal 
functioning of the forest by increasing soil erosion or by eliminating 
wildlife habitat
. Thus, 
restorationists must understand the ecosystem’s pattern of ecological disturbances. (Disturbance 
ecology is the subdiscipline of ecology that explores the causes and consequences of both natural and 
anthropogenic [human-caused] disturbances.) In order to restore a deforested site, restoration 
ecologists often attempt to reverse the ecological changes caused by the removal of trees and other 
plants, the displacement of animals, and changes to the now-exposed soil (which may be more prone 
to drying and erosion after deforestation). Ecological succession, the long-term evolution of the 
structure of an ecosystem’s biological community that follows a disturbance event, is also an 
important part of the restoration process. 
 

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Ongoing issues and debates 
Ecological restoration is not without issues. There is often debate about the appropriate goals 
of restoration. For example, while many applaud the return of wolves (
Canis lupus
) to areas from 
which they were extirpated, some livestock managers strongly disapprove. Sometimes restoring a 
landscape to a more natural but less aesthetically desirable state conflicts with long-established 
elements of cultural landscapes, such as mountain grasslands in the Alps, Scottish heaths, or pigs 
(family Suidae) in Hawaii. Controlled burning in the western U.S. is viewed as an essential restoration 
practice by the U.S. Forest Service but has been met with apprehension by local property owners. 
Involving such stakeholders early and often in restoration planning can help reduce such conflicts
129
.