Within the burgeoning field of restoration ecology, defining the concept of reclamation relative to rehabilitation and ecological restoration is important to enhance comparability between studies, as well as to enable clear communication of project specific methods and goals. The Society for Ecological Restoration's international standards (SER Standards), second edition, defines reclamation as “the process of making severely degraded land fit for cultivation or a state suitable for some human use.” However, we posit that this definition, and its anthropogenic focus, does not well match how the term is often used by practitioners, and in some legal or agency documents. Further, the relationship between restoration, rehabilitation, and reclamation is unclear. We propose a more specific term and definition, ecological reclamation: “the process of assisting the recovery of severely degraded ecosystems to benefit native biota through the establishment of habitats, populations, communities, or ecosystems that are similar, but not necessarily identical to surrounding and naturally occurring ecosystems.” This definition emphasizes that the objective of a reclamation project may not be direct human use, and begins to better distinguish between ecological reclamation, rehabilitation, and ecological restoration; however, more work and discussion on these relationships is required. Distinguishing these terms will result in better comparisons between studies, improving current and future literature reviews. Further, this term will also enable practitioners to better define project goals, and enhance communication to stakeholders, practitioners, and researchers.

中文翻译：

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恢复、复垦和复垦：关于生态复垦的必要性和定义

在恢复生态学的新兴领域中，定义与恢复和生态恢复相关的复垦概念对于增强研究之间的可比性以及明确沟通项目的具体方法和目标非常重要。生态恢复协会的国际标准（SER 标准）第二版将开垦定义为“使严重退化的土地适合耕种或适合某些人类使用的状态的过程”。然而，我们认为这个定义及其人为关注点与从业者经常使用的术语以及在某些法律或机构文件中的使用方式不太匹配。此外，恢复、复原和复垦之间的关系尚不清楚。我们提出了一个更具体的术语和定义，生态复垦：“通过建立与周围和自然发生的生态系统相似但不一定相同的栖息地、种群、社区或生态系统，帮助恢复严重退化的生态系统以造福本地生物群的过程。” 这个定义强调了复垦项目的目标可能不是直接人类使用，并开始更好地区分生态复垦、复垦和生态恢复；然而，需要对这些关系进行更多的工作和讨论。区分这些术语将导致研究之间更好的比较，改进当前和未来的文献综述。此外，该术语还将使从业者能够更好地定义项目目标，并加强与利益相关者、从业者和研究人员的沟通。