Successional Trajectory Over 10 Years of Vegetation Restoration of Abandoned Slope Croplands in the Hill‐Gully Region of the Loess Plateau

Abstract

Revegetation has been the primary management approach for solving the problems caused by severe soil erosion in the Loess Plateau. The objectives of this work were to explore the successional trajectory of the different types of restoration and discuss their potential effectiveness for the control of soil erosion. The presence and coverage of plants in 40 permanent plots were investigated during two periods (2003-2006 and 2013). The naturally and artificially revegetated communities studied in the two surveys were classified using two-way indicator species analysis, and their relationships were analyzed using detrended correspondence analysis. Under natural revegetation, the communities succeed in the following order: annual plants → perennial plants → short rhizome tufts and subshrubs. Under artificial revegetation, succession was interrupted by artificial planting, and a Gramineae herb layer persisted through the years with few changes in species composition. Additionally, species richness, diversity, and evenness increased, while ecological dominance decreased during succession in both revegetation types. Succession rate was rapid at the initial stage and then slowed down gradually. Succession followed different trajectories under natural and artificial revegetation, and based on the potential effects of the two approaches on soil erosion and soil desiccation, we suggest that natural revegetation is preferable over artificial revegetation. Figure 7. Changes in relative species cover between the first and second surveys in different natural revegetation communities. This figure is available in colour online at wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/ldr 926 M. KOU ET AL.

Integrating Extensive Livestock and Soil Conservation Policies in Mediterranean Mountain Areas for Recovery of Abandoned Lands in the Central Spanish Pyrenees. A Long‐Term Research Assessment

“…The structure and composition of vegetation cover are basically a consequence of the length of abandonment, showing a stage of plant succession with a high presence of shrubs (Errea et al ., ), similar to other Mediterranean mountain areas (Mottet et al ., ; Gellrich et al ., ; Tasser et al ., ; Tzanopoulos et al ., ; Sluiter & de Jongs, ; Chauchard et al ., ). Similar response to abandonment was found in other regions and under different climatic conditions (Kou et al ., ; Tarhouni et al ., ), and this is resulting in an increase in the soil recovery because of the litter decomposition (Novara et al ., ).…”

The effect of Robinia pseudoacacia afforestation on soil and vegetation properties in the Loess Plateau (China): A chronosequence approach

“…These herbaceous communities had relatively complex structure and high biological diversity, and maintain forming permanent grassland. Sometimes, shrub species like S. viciifolia gradually invaded the grassland communities but without becoming dominant species (Jiao et al, 2007;Kou et al, 2015).…”

“…Significantly, to date, researchers have been put the attention more on the effects that R. pseudoacacia has on soil properties of these hilly areas in the Loess Plateau than on its effects on biodiversity and vegetation of the area, and then in the services that this ecosystem provides to the local people communities (Liu, 2008;Kou et al, 2015). In its native range and also in other places where mature vegetation is dominated by shade-tolerant trees, the black locust is an important early step in forest succession because of its ability fixing nitrogen and providing shade that promotes the establishment and growth of late successional tress (Boring and Swank, 1984;Cierjacks et al, 2013).…”

Vegetation greenness response to water availability in northern China from 1982 to 2006

“…Grassland phenology dynamics are closely related to spring precipitation and increasing temperature at the early growing period (Gong et al, 2015). Also, the vegetation changes are affected by other factors, such as anthropogenic activity (Kou et al, 2015;Russell and Ward, 2016).…”