Understanding species traits offers ‘common language’ for restoring ecosystems
by the University of Alberta
April 8, 2026
A new study shows that understanding the traits, or characteristics, of species can help practitioners restore damaged ecosystems across a wide range of environments, as well as predict and translate success from one part of the world to another.
With the climate rapidly changing, restoration means not just replacing what was lost, but making sure species have the characteristics and behaviour to survive harsh conditions and function in ecosystems.
“Restoration has traditionally focused on the recovery of focal species in isolated systems; trait‐based methods can provide a common language that extends beyond species‐ or system‐specific contexts,” says University of Alberta biologist Julia Briand, lead author of the study published in Ecological Applications by an international team of biologists including Stephanie Green of the Faculty of Science.
Read the Ecological Applications paper: https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/eap.70193