[2026] PTE Academic Reading - Multiple Choice, Single Answer

For decades, restoration ecology focused on returning degraded landscapes to a specific historical baseline, often a pre-industrial state. This traditional approach assumes that ecosystems are static entities that can be 'fixed' by meticulously reintroducing native species. However, a growing movement known as rewilding challenges this paradigm by advocating for the restoration of natural processes rather than specific species compositions. Rewilders argue that by reintroducing apex predators or large herbivores, we can initiate self-sustaining ecological cascades that require minimal human intervention. While this hands-off approach is conceptually appealing, it introduces a significant degree of unpredictability that alarms many conservationists. Critics worry that without careful management, rewilding could lead to unintended consequences, such as the displacement of existing endangered species or conflicts with human communities. Ultimately, the debate between restoration and rewilding reflects a deeper tension between our desire for control and our willingness to let nature take its own, often chaotic, course.