Using long-term data to inform a decision pathway for restoration of ecosystem resilience

Landscapes change over time in response to multiple interacting drivers, including climate, disturbance, and land-use, which all leave a lasting legacy on ecosystem structure and function. As the dynamic nature of ecosystems is increasingly recognised, long-term data is essential to contextualise recent changes and provide a frame of reference for planning appropriate restoration responses. Knowledge of ecological function and process can underpin management thresholds and decision pathways that consider the history and resilience of ecosystems. This paper reviews and synthesizes literature relevant to process-based approaches to restoration ecology that incorporates a long-term perspective. In doing so, we identify alternative descriptors to frame reference conditions, useful theoretical principles for restoration ecology, and a management decision-support framework based on these principles. Such tools enable exploration of possible future scenarios and adaptation pathways for social-ecological resilience in a no-analogue future.