Sean Connell1
1University of Adelaide, Australia
Multispecies restorations across coastal areas spanning kilometres and tens of thousands of hectares is a reasonable goal. In South Australia, passive restoration through improved water quality and active measures such as reef building have led to habitat recovery. Kelp forests are regrowing at hectare scales, oyster reefs at kilometre scales, and seagrass meadows now cover 11,000 hectares—among the largest restorations worldwide. The potential inter-dependencies among these habitats, which form complex mosaics at landscape scales, are being assessed. To scale up such restoration efforts, a deeper understanding of these interconnections could prove to be of value.
Biography
Sean Connell has an interest in old-fashioned things; historical ecology and rigorous experimental ecology. He was an early recogniser of global kelp and oyster reef losses. In partnership with policy-developers, his work became central to public support (legitimacy) and business conformity to regulations (legality) to improve coastal water quality and reef restorations. Relieved that the >$900,000 investment has been successful, he looks forward to returning to small-scale experimental ecology.