Restoration ecology.

In the United States various federal laws require some form of ecological restoration following strip and surface mining, construction, and other activities that alter the natural landscape. In the management of natural areas that have been disturbed to some degree, several options are available. One is to do nothing but protect the property, allowing nature to take its course. In the absence of further disturbances, one would expect the area to undergo the process of ecological succession. Theoretically, an ecosystem similar to that typical of the region, and including an array of organisms, would be expected to return.