A reference ecosystem, also known as an ecological reference, is a "community of organisms able to act as a model or benchmark for restoration." Reference ecosystems usually include remnant natural areas that have not been degraded by human activities such as agriculture, logging, development, fire suppression, or non-native species invasion. Reference ecosystems are ideally complete with natural flora, fauna, abiotic elements, ecological functions, processes, and successional states. Multiple reference ecosystems may be pieced together to form the model upon which an ecological restoration project may be based.
References
McDonald, T.; Gann, G. D.; Jonson, J.; Dixon, K. W. (2016). International Standards for the Practice of Ecological Restoration - Including Principles and Key Concepts (PDF) (Report). Society for Ecological Restoration. Retrieved 2018-08-20. https://c.ymcdn.com/sites/www.ser.org/resource/resmgr/docs/SER_International_Standards.pdf ↩
"Ecological restoration practice is based on an appropriate local indigenous reference ecosystem". www.seraustralasia.com. Retrieved 2018-08-20. http://www.seraustralasia.com/standards/principle1.html ↩
Miller, Sarah. "Reference Concepts in Ecosystem Restoration and Environmental Benefits Analysis (EBA): Principles and Practices" (PDF). Defense Technical Information Center. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 2, 2017. Retrieved 21 August 2018. http://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a571264.pdf ↩