Assessment of the Ecosystem Service Function of Sandy Lands at Different Times Following Aerial Seeding of an Endemic Species

Lei Zhang,Zhuofan Li,Pingping Wang,Xiaojiang Wang,Yongzhi Wu,Xiaowei Gao,Jie Yang,Guangyu Hong

doi:10.3390/su10040902

Lei Zhang, Zhuofan Li + Show 6 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/su10040902

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Abstract

Desertification is a global and pressing environmental problem in the course of environmental changes, and considerable efforts have been made to restore these degraded ecosystems. Aerial seeding has been widely used to accelerate ecological restoration around the world. However, few efforts have been made to assess the ecosystem service function after aerial seeding has occurred. In this study, we analyzed variations in the ecosystem service function after varying periods of elapsed time after aerial seeding of Hedysarum laeve Maxim. (14a, 30a and 38a) in the Mu Us Sandy Land, China. We also assessed the carbon sequestration ability, biodiversity, soil properties, wind-break and sand-fixation ability on a typical windward slope. We found that the overall assessment value of ecosystem services had generally increased with the elapsed time after aerial seeding. Additionally, the assessment values increased as the slope position moved downwards. Moreover, we observed a gradual replacement of H. laeve by Artemisia ordosica Krasch and grass species with the increase in elapsed years after aerial seeding, indicating a positive succession towards locally native vegetation. Compared with the local natural vegetation, our results suggest that the practice of aerial seeding stimulated vegetation restoration without the need for follow-up field interventions, and the practice of aerial seeding might fit more ecosystems with similar vegetation degradation problems.

Highlights

Desertification is a global environmental problem, and the expansion of desertified land has threatened the sustainable development of human society [1]
With the increase in aerial seeding duration, the importance value of H. laeve decreased from 0.9502 (14a) to 0.6255 (30a), and to 0.4994 (38a), while the importance value of A. ordosica increased from 0.0498 (14a) to 0.3745 (30a), and to 0.5006 (38a) (Table 3), succession after aerial seeding was moving in the direction towards native vegetation (A. ordosica community, Table 3)
With the increase in aerial seeding duration, the grass species that appeared in the herb layer, such as Poa sphondylodes (30a) and Leymus chinensis (38a), were signs of a more stable community, resembling to the local natural vegetation

Summary

Introduction

Desertification is a global environmental problem, and the expansion of desertified land has threatened the sustainable development of human society [1]. Restoration of the degraded vegetation will improve the ecosystem services [2,3,4]. In harsh environments with very few seeds, such as sandy areas, natural regeneration and subsequent forest succession may take much longer time [7,8]. To overcome this issue, aerial seeding is commonly applied to promote vegetation recovery and shorten the time required for ecosystem restoration. Aerial seeding as a means of vegetation recovery, and its effectiveness on the restoration of ecosystem service function, has been rarely examined [9]

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