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Grassland Restoration (grassland + restoration)
Selected AbstractsThe Influence of Historical Land Use and Water Availability on Grassland RestorationRESTORATION ECOLOGY, Issue 2010Zhuwen Xu The ecological role of historical land use has rarely been explored in the context of grassland restoration. We conducted a 4-year field experiment in a steppe and an old field in Inner Mongolia in northern China to examine the influence of historical land use and water availability on ecosystem restoration. Species richness, evenness, and plant cover were higher in the steppe than in the old field. The steppe was more temporally stable compared with the old field in terms of species richness, evenness, plant density, and cover. Water addition increased peak aboveground biomass, belowground net primary productivity, species richness, plant density, and cover in both the steppe and the old field. Water addition also enhanced the stability of ecosystems and the restoration of grassland. Our findings suggested that historical land use determines community structure and influences the process of grassland restoration. Converting grasslands to farmland in semiarid areas can cause the long-term loss of biodiversity and instability of ecosystem with consequent impacts on ecosystem services. The amendment of limited resources is an effective practice to increase the success of ecosystem restoration. [source] Land use history and site location are more important for grassland species richness than local soil propertiesNORDIC JOURNAL OF BOTANY, Issue 6 2009Sara A. O. Cousins Lately there has been a shift in Sweden from grazing species-rich semi-natural grasslands towards grazing ex-arable fields in the modern agricultural landscape. Grazing ex-arable fields contain a fraction of the plant species richness confined to semi-natural grasslands. Still, they have been suggested as potential target sites for re-creation of semi-natural grasslands. We asked to what extent does fine-scale variation in soil conditions, management history and site location effect local plant diversity in grazed ex-arable fields. We examined local soil conditions such as texture, pH, organic carbon, nitrogen (N) and extractable phosphate (P) and effects on plant richness in ten pairs of grazed ex-fields and neighbouring semi-natural grasslands in different rural landscapes. Each grassland pair where in the same paddock. A multivariate test showed that site location and land use history explained more of differences in species richness than local soil property variables. Plant species richness was positively associated to grazed ex-fields with low pH, low N and P levels. Sites with high plant richness in semi-natural grasslands also had more species in the adjacent grazed ex-fields, compared to sites neighbouring less species-rich semi-natural grasslands. Although both soil properties and species richness were different in grazed ex-fields compared to semi-natural grassland, the site location within a landscape, and vicinity to species-rich grasslands, can override effects of soil properties. In conclusion, if properly located, ex-arable fields may be an important habitat to maintain plant diversity at larger spatio-temporal scales and should considered as potential sites for grassland restoration. [source] The Restoration of Phytophagous Beetles in Species-Rich Chalk GrasslandsRESTORATION ECOLOGY, Issue 5 2010Ben A. Woodcock This study focuses on the restoration of chalk grasslands over a 6-year period and tests the efficacy of two management practices, hay spreading and soil disturbance, in promoting this process for phytophagous beetles. Restoration success for the beetles, measured as similarity to target species,rich chalk grassland, was not found to be influenced by either management practice. In contrast, restoration success for the plants did increase in response to hay spreading management. Although the presence of suitable host plants was considered to dictate the earliest point at which phytophagous beetles could successfully colonized, few beetle species colonized as soon as their host plants became established. Morphological characteristics and feeding habits of 27 phytophagous beetle species were therefore tested to identify factors that limited their colonization and persistence. The lag time between host plant establishment and colonization was greatest for flightless beetles. Beetles with foliage-feeding larvae both colonized at slower rates than seed-, stem-, or root-feeding species and persisted within the swards for shorter periods. Although the use of hay spreading may benefit plant communities during chalk grassland restoration, it did not directly benefit phytophagous beetles. Without techniques for overcoming colonization limitation for invertebrate taxa, short-term success of restoration may be limited to the plants only. [source] The Influence of Historical Land Use and Water Availability on Grassland RestorationRESTORATION ECOLOGY, Issue 2010Zhuwen Xu The ecological role of historical land use has rarely been explored in the context of grassland restoration. We conducted a 4-year field experiment in a steppe and an old field in Inner Mongolia in northern China to examine the influence of historical land use and water availability on ecosystem restoration. Species richness, evenness, and plant cover were higher in the steppe than in the old field. The steppe was more temporally stable compared with the old field in terms of species richness, evenness, plant density, and cover. Water addition increased peak aboveground biomass, belowground net primary productivity, species richness, plant density, and cover in both the steppe and the old field. Water addition also enhanced the stability of ecosystems and the restoration of grassland. Our findings suggested that historical land use determines community structure and influences the process of grassland restoration. Converting grasslands to farmland in semiarid areas can cause the long-term loss of biodiversity and instability of ecosystem with consequent impacts on ecosystem services. The amendment of limited resources is an effective practice to increase the success of ecosystem restoration. [source] Soil Organism and Plant Introductions in Restoration of Species-Rich Grassland CommunitiesRESTORATION ECOLOGY, Issue 2 2009Paul Kardol Abstract Soil organisms can strongly affect competitive interactions and successional replacements of grassland plant species. However, introduction of whole soil communities as management strategy in grassland restoration has received little experimental testing. In a 5-year field experiment at a topsoil-removed ex-arable site (receptor site), we tested effects of (1) spreading hay and soil, independently or combined, and (2) transplanting intact turfs on plant and soil nematode community development. Material for the treatments was obtained from later successional, species-rich grassland (donor site). Spreading hay affected plant community composition, whereas spreading soil did not have additional effects. Plant species composition of transplanted turfs became less similar to that in the donor site. Moreover, most plants did not expand into the receiving plots. Soil spreading and turf transplantation did not affect soil nematode community composition. Unfavorable soil conditions (e.g., low organic matter content and seasonal fluctuations in water level) at the receptor site may have limited plant and nematode survival in the turfs and may have precluded successful establishment outside the turfs. We conclude that introduction of later successional soil organisms into a topsoil-removed soil did not facilitate the establishment of later successional plants, probably because of the "mismatch" in abiotic soil conditions between the donor and the receptor site. Further research should focus on the required conditions for establishment of soil organisms at restoration sites in order to make use of their contribution to grassland restoration. We propose that introduction of organisms from "intermediate" stages will be more effective as management strategy than introduction of organisms from "target" stages. [source] Importance of Hydrologic and Landscape Heterogeneity for Restoring Bank Swallow (Riparia riparia) Colonies along the Sacramento River, CaliforniaRESTORATION ECOLOGY, Issue 2 2005Kerry C. Moffatt Abstract Human activities have degraded riparian systems in numerous ways, including homogenization of the floodplain landscape and minimization of extreme flows. We analyzed the effects of changes in these and other factors for extinction,colonization dynamics of a threatened Bank Swallow population along the upper Sacramento River, California, U.S.A. We monitored Bank Swallow distributions along a 160-km stretch of the river from 1986,1992 and 1996,2003 and tested whether site extinctions and colonizations corresponded with changes in maximum river discharge, surrounding land cover, estimated colony size, temperature, and precipitation. Colonization probabilities increased with maximum discharge. Extinction probabilities decreased with proximity to the nearest grassland, decreased with colony size, and increased with maximum discharge. To explore the implications for restoration, we incorporated the statistically estimated effects of distance to grassland and maximum discharge into simple metapopulation models. Under current conditions, the Bank Swallow metapopulation appears to be in continued decline, although stable or increasing numbers cannot be ruled out with the existing data. Maximum likelihood parameters from these regression models suggest that the Sacramento River metapopulation could be restored to 45 colonies through moderate amounts of grassland restoration, large increases in discharge, or direct restoration of nesting habitat by removing approximately 10% of existing bank protection (riprap) from suitable areas. Our results highlight the importance of grassland restoration, mixed benefits of restoring high spring discharge, and the importance of within-colony dynamics as areas for future research. [source] The influence of seed addition and cutting regime on the success of grassland restoration on former arable landAPPLIED VEGETATION SCIENCE, Issue 2 2004Clare S. Lawson Abstract Questions: Can seed addition enhance the success of establishing species-rich grassland on former arable land? Are sowing date and cutting regime important in determining success? Location: Aberdeen and Elgin, northeast Scotland, United Kingdom. Methods: A field experiment was conducted at two sites to assess the effect of seed addition, sowing date and cutting regime on the vegetation developing on former arable land, the aim being to compare the success of different treatments at producing a species-rich grassland. Results: Sowing a seed mix resulted in the establishment of vegetation very distinct from the species-poor vegetation dominated by perennial grasses which otherwise developed, though establishment success of the sown grassland species was highly variable between sites. Where establishment of the sown species was poor, sowing date had no significant effect on species composition, whereas the cutting regime was very important. Cutting the vegetation significantly increased both the number and abundance of sown species compared with the uncut control. Conversely, where establishment had been good, the cutting regime in the first year had little effect on species composition. Cutting the vegetation at least twice a year appeared to be the most effective management over the length of the experiment. Conclusions: Sowing a seed mixture significantly reduced the abundance and number of naturally colonising species, effectively controlling problem weed species such as Senecio jacobaea and Cirsium vulgare, highlighting the agronomic value of sowing seed mixtures on fallow farmland. The sowing of a seed mix on former arable land has demonstrated that it is feasible to create vegetation similar in character to that of species-rich grasslands. [source] | ||||||||||