Most Damaged Ecosystems Recover in Decades, New Study Finds

Nearly 75 percent of ecosystems that have been degraded by humans or damaged by hurricanes and other natural disturbances fully or partially recover within decades, a new analysis has found. Reviewing 240 studies of disturbed ecosystems from 1910 to 2008, researchers at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies found that most forest ecosystems recovered in an average of 42 years, while ocean bottoms recovered in less than 10 years. Recovery times ranged from as little as five years for some ecosystems damaged by oil spills or bottom trawling to 56 years for ecosystems damaged by multiple causes. The researchers found that ecosystems degraded by humans took longer to recover than ecosystems that suffered natural disturbances. While 72 percent of ecosystems did fully or partially recover, the remainder showed no recovery or were beyond recovery, according to the study, published in the journal PLoS One. Overall, said Yale professor and study co-author Oswald Schmitz, “The damages to these ecosystems are pretty serious. But the message is that if societies chose to become sustainable, ecosystems will recover. It isn’t hopeless.”