Because of this human component, attempts find more to formulate a universal definition of restoration or its various aspects continue to generate discussion

and elude consensus (Stanturf, 2005 and Hobbs et al., 2011). The process of setting restoration objectives, conditioned by the scale, social context, and level of restoration desired, translates vague goals into feasible, measurable targets and ultimately actions on the ground. Given the large areas in need of restorative treatments, landscape-level approaches that emphasize functional ecosystems may be more effective than traditional approaches focusing on historical composition and structure of small areas, such as forest stands (Lamb et al., 2012 and Oliver, 2014). A defining feature of functional restoration is its focus on sustainability of multi-scale ecosystem processes, including hydrologic cycles, ecosystem productivity, food web interactions, rather than particular compositions and structures.

The focus prevalent in many restoration programs has been (and often still is) on restoring stands to some previous, putatively “natural” state (Burton and Macdonald, 2011 and Stanturf et al., 2014). A functional perspective, as a primary objective of restoration, becomes more urgent and logical given unprecedented rates of change in global drivers of ecosystems, including climate change and changing land use. Given these changes, a focus on historic compositions and

structures becomes less achievable because the characteristics deemed GDC-0973 purchase desirable now may become unsustainable in the not too distant future. A focus on restoring function avoids this pitfall and is still directly related to achieving stakeholder goals of ecosystem sustainability, economic efficiency, and social wellbeing, as derived from functioning landscapes. HSP90 In most landscapes, broadening the scope of a restoration beyond the site or stand will require integration of the restoration activity with other land uses, beyond that usually included in restoration planning (Stanturf et al., 2012a and Stanturf et al., 2012b). Further, restoration will have to accommodate the diverse management objectives of multiple owners, and explicitly incorporate human livelihood needs (Lamb et al., 2012, Maginnis et al., 2012 and Sayer et al., 2013). Achieving the ultimate restoration goal may require meeting subordinate, incremental objectives through sound ecological principles, applied dynamically with flexibility to meet the scope and limitations of each unique project (Pastorok et al., 1997, Ehrenfeld, 2000 and Joyce et al., 2009). Where restoration will occur, how much will be restored, and what methods will be used to achieve it are choices that must be made (Clement and Junqueira, 2010, Wilson et al., 2011 and Pullar and Lamb, 2012).