For ecological restoration to be effective it takes more than just planting a seed or protecting a threatened plant. Research and training are prerequisites for dealing with degraded ecological systems. Before restoration is possible, recognition of what once was the specific ecology of a given site is paramount. Interdependence of native plants and animals, soils and climate, complicate understanding. Natural phenomena such as weather and earthquakes play a role in the evolution of site ecology.
Human populations impact the land through timbering, mining, farming, urbanization.
Passage of time and natural migration of organisms on the winds, ocean currents or hitchhiking on animals and birds, further obscures the picture. Identifying an achievable restoration goal approaches the difficulty inherent in reaching that goal. Cultural changes will be needed to develop broad societal appreciation for the problem and to develop the human resources needed to deal with it. The sites will undergo study by naturalists and others. They will gather data that will allow plant diversity maps of each site to be developed.