Abstract: Ecological restoration has become a very popular field of applied ecology in recent years, but the use and understanding of the term “ecological restoration” has been obscured in Chinese. Thus, the translation and scientific use of the term “ecological restoration” should be further discussed. Based on the definition analysis of the Society for Ecological Restoration (SER), the rational use of the scientific term “ecological restoration” in Chinese was determined to include the reason for damaged ecosystem, measures, theory, practice application, public using. It is found that Chinese scholars are all basically in agreement with the definition from SER about the term “ecological restoration.” As the understanding of and research on ecological restoration were not systematic, and there is no accurate corresponding vocabulary in Chinese, the term “ecological restoration” was translated into different Chinese expressions. Our opinion is that in determining a suitable Chinese translation and use of the term “ecological restoration”, theoretical basis and academic development should be considered besides etymological meaning and Chinese conventional expression habits. But above all, the basic principle for a suitable Chinese translation of the term “ecological restoration” must be consistent with the definition of SER.

Key words: soil nutrient, environmental factor, stoichiometry, wild fruit forest, ecological conservation.