Duration of farming is an indicator of natural restoration potential of sedge meadows

Guodong Wang,Ming Jiang,Ming Wang,Xianguo Lu

doi:10.1038/s41598-017-11429-0

Abstract

Soil seed banks can be important components of ecological restoration, particularly if the species remain viable in the soil for long periods of time. A germination experiment was conducted in the greenhouse to determine seed bank viability based on length of time farmed. Soils from sedge meadows farmed between 0 and 50 years were collected in Sanjiang Plain, China. Most dominant sedges (e.g., Carex schmidtii, C. lasiocarpa) and grasses (e.g. Calamagrostis angustifolia) survived as seeds if farmed for less than 5 years, therefore fields farmed for short periods of time are the best candidates for wetland restoration. Certain important structural components (tussock-forming Carex spp.) are not retained in seed banks when farmed for 6–15 years, but the seed banks still contained viable seeds of other important sedge meadow species, which could contribute to the restoration of wetland communities. However, most sedge meadow species were missing in fields farmed for more than 16 years, which make these fields difficult to restore via natural recolonization. We conclude that the duration of farming can be used as a general indicator of the potential of natural restoration for sedge meadows. This information could be used to determine which wetlands might be targeted for restoration.

Highlights

Vast tracts of the wettest agricultural fields have been abandoned world-wide, and an understanding of their restoration potential as nature conservation areas is becoming increasingly important[1]
The objectives of this study were to examine whether the duration of farming could be used as an indicator of the natural restoration potential of sedge meadows converted to farm fields in Sanjiang Plain, northeast of China
This study examined the composition of seed banks of soybean fields farmed between 1 and 50 years to determine the utility of soil seed banks for the restoration of sedge meadows

Summary

Introduction

Vast tracts of the wettest agricultural fields have been abandoned world-wide, and an understanding of their restoration potential as nature conservation areas is becoming increasingly important[1]. In Europe, more than 50% of original wetlands have been lost in France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain, mostly due to land drainage and agricultural intensification[3] Some of these converted floodplains are no longer farmed, in part because they may be unsuitable for cultivation but partly due to the recognition of the national and global environmental significance of wetlands and of the rich biodiversity that they support[4, 5]. Because studies related to the impact of various durations of cultivation on seed banks are generally lacking, little is known about whether a time threshold exists that defines the boundary between the possibility of natural recovery and the need for artificial restoration of sedge meadows converted to farm fields. The objectives of this study were to examine whether the duration of farming could be used as an indicator of the natural restoration potential of sedge meadows converted to farm fields in Sanjiang Plain, northeast of China. We hypothesized that the species richness and density of seeds in the seed bank would decrease as the length of time of farming increased

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Conclusion