Exploiting the attributes of regional ecosystems for landscape design: The role of ecological restoration in ecological engineering

The application of the principles of ecological restoration has been underutilized by landscape designers. The reliance on a small palette of often non-native plant species combined with limited application of sound ecological principles both limits design potential and poses significant environmental risk. The principles of ecological restoration, which examine regional native ecology to guide landscape design, need not be limited to reparation or restoration projects, but may equally apply to parks, parking lots, detention ponds, green roofs, and roadsides, just as they do to re-establishing a prairie or wetland. We propose that environmental designers, whether landscape architects, civil engineers or restoration practitioners, investigate and exploit the ecological attributes of their native landscapes to provide smarter tools for solving design problems. This will improve ecological value of the project and reduce any collateral ecological damage caused by poor plant selection. We suggest that this calls on the landscape design industry to focus on three core areas: