Can a mesotrophic grassland community be restored on a post-industrial sandy site with compost made from waste materials?

Tandy, Susan; Wallace, Hilary; Jones, Davey L.; Nason, M.A.; Williamson, J.C.; Healey, John R.

doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2010.10.004

Cited by 13 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…The last three outcomes were inferred from vegetation using Ellenberg's indicator values (Ellenberg et al., ), often used in restoration studies (e.g. Vercoutere, Honnay, & Hermy, ; Tandy et al., ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vegetation response to restoration management of a blanket bog damaged by drainage and afforestation

Hancock

Klein

Andersen

et al. 2018

Applied Vegetation Science

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Questions Does restoration management of a formerly afforested blanket bog lead to the vegetation, and the environmental conditions it indicates, becoming similar to intact bog? Location A 147‐ha blanket bog in Scotland's Flow Country, afforested in the 1980s but undergoing restoration since 1998. Methods Vegetation in the restoration area was surveyed in nine, 1.6–6.4‐ha plots, in 1998, 2003 and 2011. Each plot was matched to nearby plots that were either intact bog or remained afforested. Principal Response Curves were used to highlight the main axes of vegetation variation and test whether plant community trajectories in the restoration area differed from intact bog. The following restoration outcomes were assessed: floristic similarity to bog vegetation; and moisture, fertility and acidity, as inferred from vegetation using Ellenberg indicator values. Results In the 6 years after restoration began, vegetation developed towards bog‐like conditions. In the subsequent 8 years, overall vegetation change stalled, and spatial variability increased, reflecting diverging trajectories in wetter and drier parts of the site. Ellenberg's F‐values implied significant re‐wetting in the restoration area, reaching moisture levels similar to intact bog. Other restoration outcomes progressed in wetter microsites and areas (furrows and flat ground), but stalled in drier locations (plough‐ridges and steeper slopes). Conclusions Overall moisture conditions, as indicated by plants, have recovered. However, restoration progress has stalled in drier areas, where additional management may be needed. Long‐term vegetation monitoring has helped clarify barriers to recovery and the management needed to overcome them. The value of such monitoring schemes in guiding restoration should be reflected in their wider implementation, within an adaptive management framework.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vegetation response to restoration management of a blanket bog damaged by drainage and afforestation

Hancock

Klein

Andersen

et al. 2018

Applied Vegetation Science

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“…However, the dominance of grasses can lead to competitive exclusion of forb species [12] and can initiate a strong decline in plant species richness [10,13]. Additional soil factors including pH, electrical conductivity, water holding capacity, and available phosphorus have also been shown to impact plant community composition [14].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of Waste Materials and Organic Amendments on Soil Properties and Vegetative Performance

McGeehan

2012

Applied and Environmental Soil Science

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Waste materials, and materials derived from wastes, possess many characteristics that can improve soil fertility and enhance crop performance. These materials can be particularly useful as amendments to severely degraded soils associated with mining activities. This study evaluated biosolids, composts, log yard wastes, and two organic soil treatments for improved soil fertility and vegetative performance using side-by-side comparisons. Each plot was seeded with a standardized seed mix and evaluated for a series of soil chemical and physical parameters, total vegetation response, species diversity, ecological plant response, and invasion indices. All treatments were successful at improving soil fertility and promoting a self-sustaining vegetative cover. The level of available nitrogen had a strong impact on vegetative coverage, species distribution, and extent of unseeded vegetation. For example, high nitrogen treatments promoted a grass-dominated (low forb) plant community with a low content of unseeded vegetation. In contrast, low nitrogen treatments promoted a more balanced plant community with a mixture of grass and forb species and greater susceptibility to unseeded vegetation establishment.

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“…Indeed, it is known that compost application improves several physical and nutritional soil properties (Hargreaves et al 2008;Diacono and Montemurro 2010), that could affect positively seed germination, shoot emergence, and root growth ( Van-Camp et al 2004). An increase in biomass of spontaneous plant species following soil compost amendments was already reported and attributed to the positive effects of compost not only on the soil chemical properties, but also on the physical and biological ones (Cuevas et al 2000;Tandy et al 2011). Improvements in chemical and biological properties of the studied soil following compost amendments were already highlighted, together with a low pollution risk (e.g., heavy metal and NO 3 -) Saviello et al 2013).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 86%

“…Compost amendment represents thus an effective strategy that could be used not only for the recovery of agricultural soils, but also for the re-qualification of degraded areas subjected to different natural and anthropogenic impacts, such as post-fire (Larchevêque et al 2005;Tarrasón et al 2014) and post-industrial (Tandy et al 2011) ecosystems. Moreover, the enhancement of biodegradation of organic pollutants, often present in these soils, by compost addition (Parrish et al 2004;Megharaj et al 2011), further indicate the effectiveness of such strategy in degraded soil reclamation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The positive effects of compost amendments on the physical, chemical, and biological properties of soil are widely documented (Hargreaves et al 2008;Baldantoni et al 2010a, b;Diacono and Montemurro 2010;Morra et al 2010), as well as the interactions among compost amendments and soil properties (Bellino et al 2015). Known are also the effects of compost amendments on the growth of few spontaneous plant species (O'Dell et al 2007) or plant groups (Ohsowski et al 2012) in degraded soils, but much less investigated are the effects on the whole vegetation community (Cuevas et al 2000;Tandy et al 2011;Tarrasón et al 2014). The natural revegetation plays numerous key roles in the recovery of degraded soils, improving many soil chemical, physical, and biological properties, aiding to stabilize or biodegrade pollutants, and, from an ecological point of view, promoting the natural community successions needed for the sustainable recovery of such areas.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

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Compost Amendment Enhances Natural Revegetation of a Mediterranean Degraded Agricultural Soil

Baldantoni

Bellino

Morra

et al. 2015

Environmental Management

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A vegetation analysis was carried out on a degraded agricultural soil of the Mediterranean area (Campania region, southern Italy) in order to study the effects of different fertilization practices (quality compost, mineral fertilizers, mixed fertilization, and no fertilization) on the whole spontaneous vegetation community. The study was performed for two consecutive years at three different scales (species level, community structure, and community properties), using three different units of abundance (number of individuals, biomass, and cover of each species). The observations were carried out in spring, after 5 and 6 years of soil treatments, on a total area of 4 m(2) for each soil treatment and in each year. The different fertilization practices did not determine changes in species composition; however, the relative abundance of dominant species increased in compost and mixed fertilized soils, particularly in the second year of observation. Although the dominance and diversity were unaffected by the different fertilization practices, the total biomass and total number of individuals increased in compost-amended soils. These results indicate the effectiveness of soil quality compost amendments to enhance natural revegetation, a key step in the recovery of degraded areas.

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Can a mesotrophic grassland community be restored on a post-industrial sandy site with compost made from waste materials?

Cited by 13 publications

References 52 publications

Vegetation response to restoration management of a blanket bog damaged by drainage and afforestation

Vegetation response to restoration management of a blanket bog damaged by drainage and afforestation

Impact of Waste Materials and Organic Amendments on Soil Properties and Vegetative Performance

Compost Amendment Enhances Natural Revegetation of a Mediterranean Degraded Agricultural Soil

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