Active restoration in South African fynbos – A long-term perspective from the Agulhas Plain

Boxriker, Michael; Privett, Sean; Richardson, David M.; Gaertner, Mirijam

doi:10.1080/0035919x.2022.2087116

Cited by 5 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…Native plants that recovered at both sites were mostly pioneers favored by human activities and disturbances, while dune plants were seldom represented. Nonetheless, it was not possible to fully understand the effect of physical, mechanical, or chemical control methods on the restoration of the native vegetation cover as that would take more than 3 years (Boxriker et al, 2022).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Managing an invasive tree in coastal dunes: The importance of follow-up treatments to improve the recovery of protected habitats

Duarte

Marchante

2023

Front. Environ. Sci.

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Conservation of biodiversity in protected areas is often threatened by invasive alien plants (IAPs), and its successful management requires proper planning, resources, and monitoring to adjust future interventions. Although follow-up controls and evaluation of different management actions through monitoring programs are crucial in an adaptive management strategy, they are often neglected. Acacia longifolia is one of the most widespread IAPs in the Portuguese coastal areas, causing several negative impacts. This study reports the results of different control methods of A. longifolia in two forest plantations over coastal dunes in two protected sites in Portugal, under different management regimes and for over 4 years. The best results were achieved after hand pulling, but due to its high cost, this method is not suitable for large areas. Mechanical cuts, which include the use of brush hogs, brush cutters, and chainsaws, resulted in variable levels of resprouting of A. longifolia stumps. Follow-up treatments, whether mechanical and/or chemical, reduced the number of A. longifolia resprouts and kept its cover below 20% and height below 50 cm. Furthermore, controlling with brush cutters/hogs reduced the seed bank of A. longifolia by 74% while that with a disc harrow allowed an even greater reduction (91%). In areas where no follow-up treatments were carried out, A. longifolia started producing flowers two and a half years after the initial treatment, restarting the cycle of seed production. Nevertheless, a biological control agent that reduces A. longifolia seed production (Trichilogaster acaciaelongifoliae) establishment was confirmed in the controlled areas, suggesting that new seed production by these plants will be soon controlled. Although species characteristic of the protected habitats are currently poorly represented, it is expected that they begin to emerge with the reduction of A. longifolia. Our results stress the importance of persistence of follow-up treatments if higher success in IAPs control is to be achieved, not only because of the resprouting ability of many species (despite this not being very common in A. longifolia) but also because invasive plants can produce extensive persistent seed banks. The role of the management regime on the level of success in controlling IAPs will be discussed.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Managing an invasive tree in coastal dunes: The importance of follow-up treatments to improve the recovery of protected habitats

Duarte

Marchante

2023

Front. Environ. Sci.

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“…The increase in pine pollen most likely corresponds to a signal of an increase in pine as well as other Prader et al 10.3389/fcosc.2024.1357711 introduced species in the region. Pines are among the many invasive species that have largely been eradicated from Grootbos but are still abundant in the broader Agulhas Plain region, where their uncontrolled spread is a widespread problem (Gaertner et al, 2011;Boxriker et al, 2022).…”

Section: The Decline Of the Asteraceous Component Of Fynbos Vegetatio...mentioning

confidence: 99%

A paleoecological context for forest distribution and restoration in Grootbos Nature Reserve, Agulhas Plain, South Africa

Prader,

Gillson,

Strauss

et al. 2024

Front. Conserv. Sci.

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Grootbos Nature Reserve falls within the Cape Floristic Region of South Africa and comprises fynbos and forest vegetation elements, which exist as alternate stable states and are naturally maintained by feedbacks between vegetation, fire, topography and climate. The objective of this study was to investigate changes in forest extent in the Baviaansfontein valley in Grootbos Nature Reserve in order to understand whether current forest coverage was greater or lesser prior to colonial settlement. Incorporating paleoecology has the potential to define historical ranges of landscape variability that can guide forest restoration programs that are aligned to historical forest occurrence. Not all landscapes are suited for tree planting initiatives as they harbor indigenous open vegetation, which is of conservation value. Historical and palaeoecological information is especially valuable as tree planting initiatives and reforestation programs are becoming more popular. Here we present a combined palynological (pollen, spores, charcoal) and geochemical approach (X-ray fluorescence elemental ratios, Loss-on-ignition), to evaluate the historic extent and distribution of forest and fynbos vegetation for the past ~250 years at Baviaansfontein in the Grootbos Nature Reserve. The start of the record was dominated by pollen typical of asteraceous fynbos, with evidence of forest elements also present, though in low abundance. After 200 years (c.1750 CE–1950 CE) of increased input of micro- and macrocharcoal, the subsequent decline in charcoal indicates a decrease in fire occurrence. This decline coincides with increased input of forest pollen taxa, suggesting that fire suppression most likely triggered forest expansion and perhaps initiated the beginning of a biome boundary shift. The continued decline in fire promoted the development of the present-day proteoid fynbos type around ~1980 CE and was responsible for the replacement of the previously more asteraceous-dominated fynbos type. The results show that changes in fire occurrence have driven compositional changes over time within fynbos but also contributed to the expansion of forest at the expense of fynbos. Considering the palaeoecological record and the expected warmer climate with more fires, forest expansion at Baviaansfontein is not recommended. The proteoid-dominated fynbos biome might be similarly negatively affected by warmer climate and a shift to an asteraceous fynbos community could occur in the future.

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“…Natural regeneration has been suggested as a cost‐effective strategy for tropical rainforest restoration but is unlikely to succeed in nutrient‐poor ecosystems (Boxriker et al 2022). In campo rupestre , the available data suggest that poor seed banks and poor seed quality are major bottlenecks for recruitment (Le Stradic et al 2018).…”

Section: The Ecology Threats and Challenges To Campo Rupestre Restora...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Principle 2: Implement Active Restoration Natural regeneration has been suggested as a cost-effective strategy for tropical rainforest restoration but is unlikely to succeed in nutrient-poor ecosystems (Boxriker et al 2022). In campo rupestre, Restoration strategies should combine the use of widespread species connecting modules and endemics that form the core of interaction networks.…”

Section: Principle 1: Include Socioeconomic Dimensions Into Restorati...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Ten principles for restoring campo rupestre, a threatened tropical, megadiverse, nutrient‐impoverished montane grassland

Arruda

Medeiros

Fiorini

et al. 2023

Restoration Ecology

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To achieve the ambitious goals of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, restoration frameworks should embrace the diversity of ecosystems found on Earth, including open‐canopy ecosystems, which have been largely overlooked. Considering the paucity of scientific foundations promoting restoration science, policy, and practice for open tropical ecosystems, we provide overarching guidelines to restore the campo rupestre, a Neotropical, open megadiverse grassland that has been increasingly threatened by multiple human activities, especially mining. Restoration techniques for tropical grasslands are still at its infancy, and attempts to restore campo rupestre have had, so far, low to moderate success, highlighting the need for a tailored restoration framework. In a scenario of increasing degradation and scarcity of on‐site restoration experiments, we propose 10 principles to improve our ability to plan, implement, and monitor restoration in campo rupestre: (1) include socioeconomic dimensions, (2) implement active restoration, (3) keep low soil fertility, (4) restore disturbance regimes, (5) address genetic structure and adaptation potential, (6) restore geographically restricted and specialized ecological interactions, (7) incorporate functional approaches, (8) use seed‐based restoration strategies to enhance biodiversity, (9) translocation is inevitable, and (10) long‐term monitoring is mandatory. Our principles represent the best available evidence to support better science and practice for the restoration of campo rupestre and, to some extent, can be useful for other megadiverse, fire‐prone, and nutrient‐poor ecosystems.

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Active restoration in South African fynbos – A long-term perspective from the Agulhas Plain

Cited by 5 publications

References 42 publications

Managing an invasive tree in coastal dunes: The importance of follow-up treatments to improve the recovery of protected habitats

Managing an invasive tree in coastal dunes: The importance of follow-up treatments to improve the recovery of protected habitats

A paleoecological context for forest distribution and restoration in Grootbos Nature Reserve, Agulhas Plain, South Africa

Ten principles for restoring campo rupestre, a threatened tropical, megadiverse, nutrient‐impoverished montane grassland

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