How We Restore Habitats

Helping native plants to reclaim lost habitat

 

Photo credit: Bob Byrnes

We use a simple method known as "Recruitment Restoration," also referred to as the "Bradley Method"

Steps of the Recruitment Restoration method
  1. Identify the habitat type for restoration (e.g., Coastal Sage, Chaparral, etc.).
  2. Methodically remove all plants that do not belong to the target habitat type.
  3. Allow the target species to naturally expand into the cleared area.
  4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 as necessary.
Key considerations
  • Recruitment Restoration can be successful in areas where there are existing native plant populations. While it does not necessarily need a habitat that is mostly native, having some native plants is important for its effectiveness.
  • This method can be used in various vegetation types, including forests, deserts, riparian areas, sagebrush, chaparral, dune habitats, vernal pools, etc. A single area may contain multiple native plant communities.
  • If there are important target species missing after the existing vegetation has grown back, we can use seeds or plants to add them.
  • This method will not work in places without any native plants, like areas that have been used for mining or landfills that have been capped. In those cases, there need to be nearby native plants so that they can expand naturally.

The Recruitment Restoration Method Explained

copyright: Artefact Design
Begin

Islands of native vegetation are identified as desirable starting points.

Year 1

Clear weeds from in and around the best stand of natives (orange line).  Do no more than six feet around the stand or up to the width of the stand, whichever is less.

Go to the next best and treat weeds.  (You can do many such areas but limit the work to what you can come back to periodically.  New weeds will likely grow along with new natives.)

Come back in three to four weeks to see what is growing back.  Remove any unwanted seedlings.

Repeat process for a growing season

Subsequent Years

Repeat the process each subsequent year until desired state is achieved for the entire area.