A study of the rationale, principles, practices, and legal, social, economic, and ethical issues associated with restoring the structure and function of degraded ecological systems. Restoration ecology draws heavily from ecological theory, and the process of restoring a site can in fact provide unique experimental opportunities to test how well ecological theories predict the responses of natural systems. Important ecological concepts applied in restoration include disturbances, succession, fragmentation, system function, as well as, emerging areas such as assembly theory and alternative stable states. Formerly offered as EHI 310; not for credit in addition to EHI 310.