Abstract: Aimed at the decline of protective forest in China, and applying the key principlesof restoration ecology, such as ecological succession, disturbance, and population density, etc., this paper assessed the rationality of designing elements of protective forest in decision-making level, and analyzed its relationships with the decline of the forest, taking Pinus sylvestris var. mongolica plantation in Zhanggutai sandy land as an example. It was considered that the disagreementof large-scale afforestation with succession climax in regional scale was aberrant to the ecological principles, and resulted in the aberrancy of the objectives, steps, species composition, and stand density of protective forest establishment, being the main cause of protective forest decline. Mismanagement and frequent natural and human disturbances were also the important causes for the decline. Three strategies for preventing the decline, i . e. , better understanding damaged ecosystems, increasing material and energy input, and overcoming disturbances were put forward, and the objectives of restoring vegetation, judgment of climax for ecological succession, and application of plagioclimax in establishing artificial vegetation were discussed.

Key words: Spartina alterniflora, Emergy analysis, Added loop, Ecological engineering