Abstract
Excerpt: While there have been many successful engineering designs, larger, ecosystem-level designs have suffered due to a limited understanding of ecosystem processes and connectivity across system boundaries. Levees that were built in the Mississippi Delta offer an example. While the levees were successful in securing navigation and limiting flood damage, they also diminished the delivery of river sediments to coastal marshes. As a result, the coverage of these marshes, which serve as nursery grounds for a rich fishery and dissipate storm energy, have declined dramatically (Martin et al., 2002). The field of ecological engineering aims to address these limitations by incorporating more holistic approaches, similar to systems ecology, to enhance, protect, and restore ecosystem services. Ecological engineers rely on an understanding of ecological processes and principles such as self-organization and positive feedback to design ecosystems to benefit both society and the natural environment.