The use of vegetation as a natural strategy for landfill restoration

Abstract

AbstractIt is well‐known that the disposal of municipal solid waste in landfills has adverse effects on the environment and human health. Restoration of closed landfills is essential to compensate for disturbances in the ecosystem, minimize negative impact on the environment, and ensure safety in further use. It was hypothesized that specific plant succession knowledge can present nature‐based solutions to restore and rehabilitate degraded ecosystems at municipal solid waste landfills. The goal of the 8‐year study was to identify restoration strategies based on vegetation succession. For the vegetation survey, we recorded the vegetation over the period 2007–2015. The study was carried out on the surface of the landfill site. We also used four mathematical models to analyze the increase of plant species over time. During the study period, 195 vascular plant species were recorded. There was a progressive change in plant communities and an increase in biodiversity. What is more, the growth prediction models show that the diversity of plant species over time at the landfill site has an increasing tendency, which has beneficial implications for landfill restoration. During the vegetation survey period, there was no evidence to suggest that the landfill site had a significant impact on the biotic composition of the environment. We can conclude that the health status of plants occurring in the landfill was good. Plants both contributed to and indicated the health of the landfill site and were found to be a convenient and natural component of landfill restoration.