Leland Werden

Restoration ecologist bridging science and practice

Senior Scientist, ETH Zurich

About

Restoration & conservation Ecosystem ecology Nature tech

I am a restoration ecologist who focuses on developing tools to conserve and restore degraded forests. My work has spanned ecosystems from the temperate forests of the Northeastern United States to the tropical wet and dry forests of Costa Rica, Hawaii, and Mexico.

I am committed to collaborating directly with restoration and conservation practitioners, which enables me not only to advance basic ecological and restoration theory, but also to apply effective approaches within large-scale projects.

I am currently a senior scientist at ETH Zurich, where I develop collaborative projects focused on understanding and improving global conservation and restoration outcomes, and determining how to optimize finance flows towards restoration. I also serve as the Chief Scientific Advisor for the Plant-for-the-Planet Foundation.

See more on my CV or Google Scholar profile, or watch a video of me discussing our work during the Funga speaker series.

Leland Werden

Research

Worldwide

Taking the pulse of the global restoration movement

At ETH Zurich my work focuses on synthesizing the results of global restoration outcomes and developing an experimental network of restoration sites across Central and South America to quantify the rates of ecosystem recovery under different restoration interventions. Our recent work has categorized the motivations, methods, and costs of restoration projects across Latin America and evaluated the potential of using emerging technology for restoration monitoring. Please don't hesitate to contact us if you are interested in being involved.

Costa Rica

Developing tools to restore tropical forests

In collaboration with Estación Experimental Forestal Horizontes, I have developed projects using native trees to restore degraded tropical dry forests. Results thus far have enabled us to determine which tree species are suitable for restoration plantings on degraded Vertisol soils, and that ecophysiological and root traits are the best predictors of seedling performance. With these results in hand we used a functional trait-driven approach to design species mixes for 6 hectares of restoration planting, which we are using to test successional and restoration theory. Haga clic aquí para una descripción en español.

Costa Rica

Determining the impacts of abiotic conditions on restoration outcomes

I am currently undertaking projects focused on uncovering how abiotic conditions at reintroduction and restoration sites contribute to outcomes of tropical forest restorations. The goal of these projects is not only to improve restoration practice, but also to further the understanding of how environmental filtering impacts plant establishment and persistence in degraded environments.

Selected publications

For a complete list of my publications, see my Google Scholar profile or CV.

Media coverage

High monitoring costs seen hindering nature restoration efforts in Latin AmericaCarbon Pulse · May 7, 2024 Can agroforestry chocolate help save the world's most endangered rainforest?Mongabay · September 12, 2023 Study finds bears react, then habituate, to dronesMongabay · January 29, 2019 Finding a recipe for forest restorationUniversity of Minnesota press release · September 22, 2017 Re-peeling the effects of degradation: low-tech application of orange crop waste shows potential to restore tropical forestsMongabay · August 25, 2017 Drones could be stressing out wildlife, scientists suggestThe Washington Post · August 13, 2015 American Voices: Drones Could Be Causing Stress To WildlifeThe Onion · August 17, 2015

Outreach

I develop and implement outreach activities that engage with a wide range of audiences. In collaboration with Estación Experimental Forestal Horizontes, I led interactive field trips to restoration sites in English and Spanish for university faculty, college and high school students, and restoration and forestry professionals.

To share my passion for forest restoration and ecophysiology with the general public, I co-designed and co-led sessions for Market Science, a volunteer organization that creates and teaches hands-on science curricula in Minnesota with the goal of making science exciting and accessible.

I have also edited the blog for the NSF-funded PARTNERS (People and Reforestation in the Tropics, a Network for Education, Research, and Synthesis) Research Coordination Network.