Recovery Of Biodiversity Research Articles

A meta-analysis of functional group responses to forest recovery outside of the tropics.

Both active and passive forest restoration schemes are used in degraded landscapes across the world to enhance biodiversity and ecosystem service provision. Restoration is increasingly also being implemented in biodiversity offset schemes as compensation for loss of natural habitat to anthropogenic development. This has raised concerns about the value of replacing old‐growth forest with plantations, motivating research on biodiversity recovery as forest stands age. Functional diversity is now advocated as a key metric for restoration success, yet it has received little analytical attention to date. We conducted a meta‐analysis of 90 studies that measured differences in species richness for functional groups of fungi, lichens, and beetles between old‐growth control and planted or secondary treatment forests in temperate, boreal, and Mediterranean regions. We identified functional‐group–specific relationships in the response of species richness to stand age after forest disturbance. Ectomycorrhizal fungi averaged 90 years for recovery to old‐growth values (between 45 years and unrecoverable at 95% prediction limits), and epiphytic lichens took 180 years to reach 90% of old‐growth values (between 140 years and never for recovery to old‐growth values at 95% prediction limits). Non‐saproxylic beetle richness, in contrast, decreased as stand age of broadleaved forests increased. The slow recovery by some functional groups essential to ecosystem functioning makes old‐growth forest an effectively irreplaceable biodiversity resource that should be exempt from biodiversity offsetting initiatives.

Removal of competitive native species combined with tree planting can accelerate the initial afforestation process: an experiment in an old field in Japan invaded by dwarf bamboo and kudzu

Restoring natural forests after field abandonment is a land management objective that fosters the recovery of forest biodiversity. We performed seeding and transplanting of native tree species 40 years after the abandonment of an arable field that became dominated by a dwarf bamboo (Pleioblastus chino (Franch. et Sav.) Makino) and by kudzu (Pueraria lobata (Willd.) Ohwi). By permutation tests, the removal of competing vegetation (gap creation) significantly increased the survival of three seeded species of Fagaceae and of eight transplanted species. In contrast, intact vegetation prevented most individuals of all species from surviving for 1 year after planting. The lack of natural recruitment of Fagaceae in the nonseeded subplots indicated that seed limitation was a cause of the slow afforestation. Although litter accumulation in gaps at the time of seeding slightly increased survival for late-germinating Quercus myrsinifolia Blume and Castanopsis sieboldii (Makino) Hatus. ex T. Yamaz. et Mashiba, the effect was not consistent among plots and was not statistically significant. Our results suggest that for successful afforestation using native trees in abandoned fields, it will be necessary to remove competitive native species to avoid severe limitations on microsite availability and that simultaneous tree establishment by seeding or transplanting should be implemented to accelerate the establishment of native tree species.

Use of restored habitat by rainforest birds is limited by spatial context and species’ functional traits but not by their predicted climate sensitivity

Active restoration of biodiverse forest uses significant resource investment to produce rapid partial recovery of biodiversity, but with unknown longer term outcomes. Here we test the capacity of intensive high diversity rainforest restoration plantings to develop forest-like bird communities beyond their first decade of growth. Across a network comprising 16 such plantings aged 10–24years and eight old growth rainforest reference sites, spread across about 700km2 in the Australian Wet Tropics, we measured bird community composition and 18 attributes related to the sites’ local and landscape vegetation cover and other spatial properties. We compiled additional information on the bird species’ habitat use, movement patterns, responses to edges between forest and cleared land, and expected climate sensitivities. Data analyses showed that bird communities in restoration plantings did not become more similar to those of reference rainforest during their second decade of development. Across replanted sites, occupancy by bird species was significantly predicted by their functional traits, being least among rainforest-dependent species that were also either endemic or sedentary edge-avoiders. Occupancy by rainforest-dependent species was least when nearby remnant rainforest cover (within 200m) was lowest. Species predicted to be climate-sensitive occupied restored habitat at similar rates to other species. These findings provide a foundation for better spatial planning for both habitat-focused and species-focused restoration, and show that expectations based on promising early outcomes of intensive forest restoration projects must be tempered with awareness of likely longer term limitations, highlighting the need to set realistic restoration goals.

Tourism-conservation enterprises for community livelihoods and biodiversity conservation in Kenya

Tourism-conservation enterprises (TCEs), such as eco-lodges, are a relatively new strategy of the African Wildlife Foundation for enhancing community livelihoods and wildlife conservation in wildlife-rich areas outside state-protected areas in sub-Saharan Africa. This article investigates the extent to which TCEs succeed in meeting these objectives by focusing on two enterprises in Kenya: the Sanctuary at Ol Lentille and the Koija Starbeds. Empirical data were gathered between October 2010 and March 2013 through semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions, literature review and document analysis. Both TCEs demonstrated significant contributions to employment, education, healthcare and security. Compared with the Starbeds, the Sanctuary realised a much larger conservation area and more pronounced biodiversity recovery. The analysis showed that the contribution of TCEs to livelihoods and biodiversity conservation depends on the nature of the partnership arrangement, as well as the local, national and international contexts in which they operate.

Natural recovery and restoration of acidified shallow soft-water lakes: Successes and bottlenecks revealed by assessing life-history strategies of chironomid larvae

Acidification has led to a strong decline of species characteristic of shallow soft-water lakes. In spite of reductions in acidifying deposition, natural recovery of biodiversity is modest or even absent, suggesting that the impact of acidification is difficult to reverse. We compared recovery from acidification in non-restored and restored lakes using data from 1983 and 2004. In restored lakes, accumulated organic matter was removed and alkaline water was supplied, resulting in an increase in pH and alkalinity and a decrease in ammonium, sulphur and aluminium. For evaluation of biotic changes we selected chironomid larvae (Diptera). In restored lakes, rarefied species richness increased, chironomid species composition changed and responses of chironomid taxa and their life-history strategies indicated a shift towards pre-acidification assemblages. Species adapted to dynamic and stressful environments decreased in favour of those with life history strategies suitable for more benign environments. In non-restored lakes, chironomid response did not indicate a recovery, despite an improved water chemistry in terms of decreased acidity and sulphur (not ammonium and aluminium). Instead, stressful conditions related to oxygen shortage became more prevalent as a decrease was observed in the chironomids least adapted to periods with low oxygen availability. Acidification has inhibited decomposition, resulting in the accumulation of organic material. Natural recovery from acidification resumed and increased the decomposition of this accumulated organic material, resulting in release of nutrients, consumption of oxygen and a decline of sensitive bottom-dwelling fauna such as chironomids. Therefore, active restoration by removal of accumulated organic matter from sand bottoms is essential for a recovery of chironomid assemblages.

Quantifying the impacts of ecological restoration on biodiversity and ecosystem services in agroecosystems: A global meta-analysis

Landscape transformation due to agriculture affects more than 40% of the planet’s land area and is the most important driver of losses of biodiversity and ecosystem services (ES) worldwide. Ecological restoration may significantly reduce these losses, but its effectiveness has not been systematically assessed in agroecosystems at the global level. We quantitatively meta-analyzed the results of 54 studies of how restoration actions reflecting the two contrasting strategies of land sparing and land sharing affect levels of biodiversity and ES in a wide variety of agroecosystems in 20 countries. Restoration increased overall biodiversity of all organism types by an average of 68%. It also increased the supply of many ES, in particular the levels of supporting ES by an average of 42% and levels of regulating ES by an average of 120% relative to levels in the pre-restoration agroecosystem. In fact, restored agroecosystems showed levels of biodiversity and supporting and regulating ES similar to those of reference ecosystems. Recovery levels did not correlate with the time since the last restoration action. Comparison of land sparing and land sharing as restoration strategies showed that while both were associated with similar biodiversity recovery, land sparing led to higher median ES response ratios. Passive and active restoration actions did not differ significantly in the levels of biodiversity or ES recovery. Biodiversity recovery positively correlated with ES recovery. We conclude that ecological restoration of agroecosystems is generally effective and can be recommended as a way to enhance biodiversity and supply of supporting and regulating ES in agricultural landscapes. Whether a land sharing or land sparing strategy is preferable remains an open question, and might be case dependent. Moreover, it is unclear whether crop production on restored land can meet future food production needs.

Effectiveness of afforested shrub plantation on ground-active arthropod communities and trophic structure in desertified regions

In desertified regions, the mobile sand land, and afforested shrubland of different ages (i.e., 6, 15, 24 and 36years) in addition to the naturally restored grassland were selected in order to evaluate their consequences on taxonomic and trophic structures, and the diversity of ground-active arthropods. The taxa-specific responses to the land conversion were found within functional groups. The activity density of predator Labiduridae and Carabidae, and herbivore Tenebrionidae decreased, while that of herbivore Melolonthidae and omnivore Formicidae increased markedly (p<0.05) from the mobile sand land to the afforested shrubland, regardless of shrubland ages. The taxa richness of herbivores also increased markedly (p<0.05) from the mobile sand land to the afforested shrubland, regardless of shrubland ages. However, there was little effect of land conversion on the activity density and richness of detritivores due to the lack of litter on the surface of soils. Different functional groups of ground-active arthropods responded in a different way to the land conversion. The total density and Simpson index decreased, while the taxa richness and Shannon index increased markedly (p<0.05) from the mobile sand land to afforested shrubland, regardless of shrubland ages. It was suggested that the afforested shrub plantations of different ages had similar implications on the trophic structure and diversity indices as was close to the naturally restored grassland (except for Shannon index). The Shannon index in the grazed afforested shrubland of 24years that was close to the naturally restored grassland was markedly (p<0.05) lower compared with the other afforested plantations. In conclusion, the afforested shrubland was an option for the stabilization of mobile sand land and biodiversity recovery of degraded ecosystems, regardless of shrub ages. Furthermore, the grazing management on afforested shrubland could improve the effectiveness of this recovery process.

Colonisation processes and the role of coralline algae in rocky shore community dynamics

Recovery from disturbance is an important attribute of community dynamics. Temperate rocky shores will experience increases in both the type and intensity of impacts under future expected global change. To gauge the community response to these potential changes in the disturbance regime it is important to assess space occupancy and the temporal dynamics of key species over the recovery process. We experimentally disturbed replicated 1m2 plots in the lower intertidal at 5 sites along the Ligurian rocky coast (North-western Mediterranean) and assessed early succession processes over 18months. To identify colonisation processes and role of key species in affecting species richness on recovery trajectories, we monitored species composition at the cm-scale along fixed transects within the plots. Our results highlighted the role of a limited number of taxa in driving the recovery of species richness across sites, despite site variation in community composition. Settlement of new propagules and overgrowth were the principal pathway of space occupancy. We detected an important role for coralline algae, particularly the articulated Corallina elongata, in promoting the colonisation of a diverse range of colonists. The present study highlights the important role played by calcifying coralline macroalgae as substrate providers for later colonists, favouring recovery of biodiversity after disturbance. This pivotal role may be compromised in a future scenario of elevated cumulative disturbance, where ocean acidification will likely depress the role of coralline algae in recovery, leading to a general loss in biodiversity and community complexity.

Patch‐burn management: Implications for conservation of avian communities in fire‐dependent sagebrush ecosystems

ABSTRACTRangeland birds in the Southern High Plains, USA evolved within a context of fire and grazing (i.e., pyric herbivory), a disturbance regime that played a dominant role in shaping rangelands in this region but has been absent since the 1880s. A management technique known as patch‐burn grazing was used to mimic the heterogeneity in vegetation created by the historical disturbance regime of fire and grazing in sand sagebrush (Artemisia filifolia) rangelands. We compared nest survival of Cassin's sparrows (Peucaea cassinii), field sparrows (Spizella pusilla), and lark sparrows (Chondestes grammacus); species richness; and densities of 11 bird species between rangelands managed with patch‐burn grazing and rangelands managed with traditional management (i.e., seasonal grazing) in Oklahoma from 2006 to 2008. Estimates of nest survival were similar between patch‐burn and traditional pastures (Cassin's sparrows: 51% and 57%; field sparrows: 18% and 22%; and lark sparrows: 14% and 12%, patch‐burn and traditional, respectively). Species richness was higher in patch‐burn pastures compared to traditionally managed pastures. Densities of the majority of avian species (73%) were similar between treatments; however, lark sparrow densities were 5 times more abundant in patch‐burn pastures and grasshopper sparrows (Ammodramus savannarum) and brown‐headed cowbirds (Molothrus ater) were &gt;3 times more abundant on traditional pastures. Our results suggest that introducing patch‐burn grazing management to sand sagebrush rangelands is not detrimental to nesting shrubland birds, and the creation of heterogeneity through patch‐burn grazing can increase avian species diversity. Furthermore, some species such as lark sparrows may benefit from patch‐burn grazing. Patch‐burn management may be an important tool to assist in the recovery of biodiversity in this ecosystem. © 2014 The Wildlife Society.

Grazer removal and nutrient enrichment as recovery enhancers for overexploited rocky subtidal habitats.

Increasing anthropogenic pressures are causing long-lasting regime shifts from high-diversity ecosystems to low-diversity degraded ones. Understanding the effects of multiple threats on ecosystems, and identifying processes allowing for the recovery of biodiversity, are the current major challenges in ecology. In several temperate marine areas, large parts of rocky subtidal habitats characterised by high diversity have been completely degraded to barren grounds by overfishing, including illegal date mussel fishing. Bare areas are characterized by the dominance of sea urchins whose grazing perpetuates the impact of overfishing. We investigated experimentally the separate and combined effects of nutrient enrichment and sea urchin exclusion on the recovery of barren grounds. Our results indicate that the two factors have a synergistic effect leading to the re-establishment of erect macroalgal canopies, enhancing the structural complexity of subtidal assemblages. In particular, in the overfished system considered here, the recovery of disturbed assemblages could occur only if sea urchins are removed. However, the recolonization of barren grounds by erect macroalgae is further enhanced under enriched conditions. This study demonstrates that the recovery of dramatically depleted marine habitats is possible, and provides useful indications for specific management actions, which at present are totally lacking, to achieve the restoration of barren grounds caused by human activity.

Restoration enhances wetland biodiversity and ecosystem service supply, but results are context-dependent: a meta-analysis.

Wetlands are valuable ecosystems because they harbor a huge biodiversity and provide key services to societies. When natural or human factors degrade wetlands, ecological restoration is often carried out to recover biodiversity and ecosystem services (ES). Although such restorations are routinely performed, we lack systematic, evidence-based assessments of their effectiveness on the recovery of biodiversity and ES. Here we performed a meta-analysis of 70 experimental studies in order to assess the effectiveness of ecological restoration and identify what factors affect it. We compared selected ecosystem performance variables between degraded and restored wetlands and between restored and natural wetlands using response ratios and random-effects categorical modeling. We assessed how context factors such as ecosystem type, main agent of degradation, restoration action, experimental design, and restoration age influenced post-restoration biodiversity and ES. Biodiversity showed excellent recovery, though the precise recovery depended strongly on the type of organisms involved. Restored wetlands showed 36% higher levels of provisioning, regulating and supporting ES than did degraded wetlands. In fact, wetlands showed levels of provisioning and cultural ES similar to those of natural wetlands; however, their levels of supporting and regulating ES were, respectively, 16% and 22% lower than in natural wetlands. Recovery of biodiversity and of ES were positively correlated, indicating a win-win restoration outcome. The extent to which restoration increased biodiversity and ES in degraded wetlands depended primarily on the main agent of degradation, restoration actions, experimental design, and ecosystem type. In contrast, the choice of specific restoration actions alone explained most differences between restored and natural wetlands. These results highlight the importance of comprehensive, multi-factorial assessment to determine the ecological status of degraded, restored and natural wetlands and thereby evaluate the effectiveness of ecological restorations. Future research on wetland restoration should also seek to identify which restoration actions work best for specific habitats.

Performance comparison of genetic markers for high‐throughput sequencing‐based biodiversity assessment in complex communities

Metabarcode surveys of DNA extracted from environmental samples are increasingly popular for biodiversity assessment in natural communities. Such surveys rely heavily on robust genetic markers. Therefore, analysis of PCR efficiency and subsequent biodiversity estimation for different types of genetic markers and their corresponding primers is important. Here, we test the PCR efficiency and biodiversity recovery potential of three commonly used genetic markers - nuclear small subunit ribosomal DNA (18S), mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) and 16S ribosomal RNA (mt16S) - using 454 pyrosequencing of a zooplankton community collected from Hamilton Harbour, Ontario. We found that biodiversity detection power and PCR efficiency varied widely among these markers. All tested primers for COI failed to provide high-quality PCR products for pyrosequencing, but newly designed primers for 18S and 16S passed all tests. Furthermore, multiple analyses based on large-scale pyrosequencing (i.e. 1/2 PicoTiter plate for each marker) showed that primers for 18S recover more (38 orders) groups than 16S (10 orders) across all taxa, and four vs. two orders and nine vs. six families for Crustacea. Our results showed that 18S, using newly designed primers, is an efficient and powerful tool for profiling biodiversity in largely unexplored communities, especially when amplification difficulties exist for mitochondrial markers such as COI. Universal primers for higher resolution markers such as COI are still needed to address the possible low resolution of 18S for species-level identification.

ANÁLISE E CARACTERIZAÇÃO DA BACIA HIDROGRÁFICA DO CÓRREGO FÁTIMA LOCALIZADO NO MUNICÍPIO DE FREDERICO WESTPHALEN-RS

The question discussed in this paper is recovering Areas of Permanent Preservation (APP) stream Fatima degraded by human action, which is necessary for the recovery of biodiversity and by virtue of the Law. The study area is located in Fatima District, in the city of Frederico Westphalen, RS. Through visits to the local there was a series of impacts. Given this concern about the degraded areas, the present study aims to implement reforestation techniques for the place restoration and de population awareness to prevent future pollution.

Machine learning an audio taxonomy: Quantifying biodiversity and habitat recovery through rainforest audio recordings

We present a set of tools for semi-supervised classification of ecosystem health in Meso-American tropical dry forest, one of the most highly endangered habitats on Earth. Audio recordings were collected from 15-year-old, 30-year-old and old growth tropical dry forest plots in the Guanacaste Conservation Area, Costa Rica, on both nutrient rich and nutrient poor soils. The goals of this project were to classify the overall health of the regenerating forests using markers of biodiversity. Semi-supervised machine learning and digital signal processing techniques were explored and tested for their ability to detect species and events in the audio recordings. Furthermore, multi-recorder setups within the same vicinity were able to improve detection rates and accuracy by enabling localization of audio events. Variations in species' and rainforest ambient noise detection rates over time were hypothesized to correlate to biodiversity and hence the health of the rainforest. By comparing levels of biodiversity measured in this manner between old growth and young dry forest plots, we hope to determine the effectiveness of reforestation techniques and identify key environmental factors shaping the recovery of forest ecosystems.

Lepidopteran herbivory in restored and successional sites in a tropical dry forest

Abstract To determine if ecological restoration is a feasible practice that can accelerate the recovery of biodiversity and ecological processes, we evaluated the reestablishment of the lepidopteran larval community and rates of herbivory in a site in secondary succession and a restored site in the Chamela-Cuixmala Region, Mexico. Species richness and abundance of lepidopterans were similar at both sites; however, there was a strong difference in composition of species. Only 27% of species were shared between sites; however, Simpson's diversity indices were not different between sites. Rates of herbivory and percentage of consumption of leaves by herbivores in two species of trees, Apoplanesia paniculata (Leguminosae) and Heliocarpus pallidus (Tiliaceae), were equivalent between sites. Restoration of tropical dry forests appears to be feasible, and this practice is helping to reestablish the lepidopteran larval community associated with the vegetation and, more importantly, also is reestablishing the ecol...

Developing Standardized Methods for Sampling Freshwater Fishes with Multiple Gears: Effects of Sampling Order versus Sampling Method

AbstractDeveloping robust methodologies for sampling freshwater fishes is important for the assessment and recovery of aquatic biodiversity. Commonly, sampling protocols recommend the use of both electrofishing and seining to reduce bias when sampling freshwater fishes. The objective of this study was to determine whether sampling method, sampling order, or the combination of these influenced the assessment of diversity and abundance of common or rare freshwater fishes at both the species and assemblage level. Fifty sites were sampled in the Sydenham River, Ontario, Canada, where paired sites were sampled using both electrofishing and seine netting in close proximity but also reversing the initial sampling order. Differences in the abundance and richness of common and rare freshwater fishes were tested with two‐way ANOVA and multivariate ANOVA. Multivariate differences in the representation of species assemblages were compared using Procrustes analysis across ordinations built using differences in sampling method and sampling order. Electrofishing outperformed seine netting for maximizing the abundance of both all species caught (P = 0.004) and only those species considered rare (P = 0.049). While capture efficiencies generally decreased with subsequent sampling, the interaction between sampling method and sampling order for maximizing richness estimates of rare species was significant (P = 0.049). There were important species and assemblage differences when sampling order was reversed. The representation of either sunfishes (family Centrarchidae) or catfishes (family Ictaluridae) differed in multivariate space, given different sampling order. In addition, the capture of Blackstripe Topminnow Fundulus notatus was enhanced when seine netting was used after electrofishing. This study highlights the often neglected aspect of choosing an appropriate sampling order when developing protocols for sampling freshwater fishes with multiple methods. Overall, the combination of electrofishing, followed by seine netting, appears to maximize capture efficiencies of both common and rare fishes; however, researchers should be aware that sampling order can alter the representation of species and assemblages in multivariate assessments.

Effectiveness of Direct Seeding for Forest Restoration on Severely Degraded Land in Lampang Province, Thailand

This study tested the effectiveness of direct seeding to establish framework tree species, for restoring forest ecosystems at an opencast lignite mine in Lampang Province, Thailand. A randomized complete block design (RCBD) experiment tested five tree species (Afzelia xylocarpa (Kurz) Craib, Eugenia cumini (L.) Druce, Ficus racemosa Roxb., Gmelina arborea Roxb. and Schleichera oleosa (Lour.) Oken) with 5 substrate amelioration treatments and 3 replicates. Germination percent was the highest for Afzelia xylocarpa (88.1%) and lowest for Ficus racemosa (5.9%). The substrate amelioration treatments had no significant effects on both seed germination and seedling establishment for all species tested. Schleichera oleosa had the highest seedling establishment percent (45%) followed by Afzelia xylocarpa (40%). A suitability scoring system indicated that these two species were the most suitable for direct seeding to complement other techniques of mine site rehabilitation in northern Thailand, where establishment of indigenous forest tree species is required for biodiversity recovery.

Diversity and Abundance Patterns of Amphibians in Rehabilitated Quarries of Bamburi Near Mombasa (Kenya)

ABSTRACT Amphibians are sensitive to changes in the environment and are, therefore, excellent indicators of success in restoring degraded habitats. As such, a clear understanding on how amphibian populations respond to changes in the environment is required. In order for conservationists to establish if the declining trends are changing, biodiversity recovery studies are essential especially in reclaimed habitats. This study focused on the recovery of amphibians, particularly on frogs, in reclaimed quarries of the Bamburi Cement Plant near Mombasa whereby the diversity, species abundances and composition at different stages of quarry re-establishment were assessed. The study area was divided into three zones based on the 13-year interval since the beginning of the rehabilitation process. Transect surveys and time-constrained search and size method were used for sampling 20 randomly selected sites. Sampling was done during the rainy and the dry seasons, with searches conducted between 900 and 1,600 hours during the day and between 1,800 to 2,100 hours at night. Recording of basic morphological data of collected specimens was done in the field to aid in grouping specimens before voucher materials were preserved in 10% formalin and stored in 70% alcohol. Further identifications and confirmations matching specimens to species were carried out using specialized classification keys from the National Museum of Kenya. Twelve species were encountered across the three zones, with Ptychadena anchietae and Phrynobatrachus acridoides, respectively, the most abundant. It was also noted that amphibian diversity across the quarries was independent of the age of ecological reestablishment (r = -0.5). This is indicated by the higher amphibian diversity in the south and north quarries (N = 1050 and 506 respectively) despite their relatively younger age since reestablishment compared to the central quarry (N = 438). Lower diversity in the central quarry, although the oldest, may be largely attributed to human disturbance. Additionally, exotic plantations across the study area are poor in species since they are monocultures and, thus, not heterogeneous enough to support higher anuran diversity. Since amphibians act as one of the best measure of environmental health, rehabilitation process in the quarries need to embrace mechanisms that support maximum biodiversity recovery such as replanting of more indigenous tree species as opposed to only exotic monocultures.

Suppressed recovery of plant community composition and biodiversity on dredged fill of a hurricane-induced inlet through a barrier island

In September 2003, Hurricane Isabel created an inlet over 500 m wide and 10 m deep that connected the Atlantic Ocean and Pamlico Sound. This breach was subsequently filled with sediments dredged from the adjacent sound. The purpose of this study was to determine if the barrier island terrestrial plant communities were naturally re-establishing through primary succession. In 2006–2008, we compared plant communities, soil carbon and nitrogen, and Aeolian transport of sediments in undisturbed back-dunes, undisturbed shrub thickets, putative back-dunes, and putative shrub thickets. We found that species richness and evenness were low on the filled area relative to adjacent plant communities that had persisted through the storm. Plants on the filled area were almost entirely limited to a band of primarily Spartina patens found at the margin of the sound and there were no signs of establishing the typical zonation of back dune grasses, shrubs, and salt marsh. Evaluation of soil quality suggests that nutrients and organic material are not limiting recovery. Aeolian transport, however, was demonstrably higher across the filled area, where no dense stands of taller plants buffered the airflow. Plant re-establishment is suppressed by wind erosion inhibiting deposition of seeds. Recovery of the site will likely depend on the rhizomatous spread of S. patens from the sound shore. S. patens can then potentially facilitate the colonization of other species by buffering the wind and trapping seeds of other plants. Ironically, this slow recovery may benefit federally threatened bird species that require sparse vegetation for nesting success.

Cover Caption

Cover description: Genilma dos Santos Silva, of the BioFlora nursery in Piracicaba‐SP, Brazil, transplants seedlings of Myroxylon peruiferum (Fabaceae) for high‐diversity restoration plantings for different projects connected with the Atlantic Forest Restoration Pact. This nursery produces approximately 5 million tree seedlings per year of about 200 indigenous species. One Brazilian state law requires forest restoration projects to include at least 80 species of indigenous trees, so as to accelerate the recovery of biodiversity. Promoting high tree diversity in early stages of forest restoration is an example of “leak plugging” as described in Aronson et al. (in press; DOI 10.1111/1755‐263X.12021). Photo: Pedro H.S. Brancalion, 2010.