Success Of Restoration Plantings Research Articles

Boosting land restoration success in the Great Green Wall through the use of symbiotic microorganisms for propagated tree seedlings

Several studies have clearly demonstrated the scientific and practical use of the symbiotics microorganisms for plants in earth ecosystems. The main goal of this study was to rehabilitate a degraded soil of the sahelian zone of Burkina Faso by using the rhizobia and mycorrhizal symbiosis through the inoculation technique. Native rhizobial strains were isolated from soil samples. These strains were then tested in laboratory and greenhouse conditions for their effects on the nodulation and growth of Vachellia seyal. At the end of these tests three promising strains were selected to form a complex that was used with or without arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus for the inoculation of plants produced in nursery or issued from direct seedling at the field. After 3, 12 and 14 months of cultivation, respectively, the growth parameters of plants such as the height and the collar diameter were measured. In addition, the field survival rate of plantations was evaluated. The results showed that inoculation has improved the growth and survival rate of Vachellia seyal plants in the field. The double inoculation was more effective than the single inoculation. With these promising results, we recommend inoculation of seedlings for a better success of restoration plantings in the Sahel.
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 Keywords: Symbiosis, native strains, rehabilitate, inoculation, sahelian zone

Influence of Seasonal Changes and Shifting Substrate on Survival of Restoration Plantings ofSchizachyrium maritimum(Gulf Bluestem) on Santa Rosa Island, Florida

ABSTRACT Miller, D.L.; Thetford, M.; Dupree, J., and Atwood, L., 2014. Influence of seasonal changes and shifting substrate on survival of restoration plantings of Schizachyrium maritimum (Gulf bluestem) on Santa Rosa Island, Florida. Environmental gradients on barrier islands are modified by the loss of dunes as a result of hurricane overwash. The success of restoration plantings in posthurricane landscapes is determined by abiotic conditions, including seasonal and spatial gradients of wind speed and substrate transport encountered before dune redevelopment. The response of Schizachyrium maritimum, a dominant, sand-trapping, dune-forming grass of the northern Gulf Coast to month of planting, sand manipulation, and plant spacing was investigated on Santa Rosa Island, Florida. This grass is also a valuable food for endangered beach mice. Seasonal plantings were initiated in 4 months (November 2005, February 2006, June 2006, and August 2006) at each of six sites. For each site and each planting date, plots...

The Importance of Microtopography and Nurse Canopy for Successful Restoration Planting of the Slow-Growing Conifer Pilgerodendron uviferum

Recent studies have shown that, owing to a lack of seed trees, the natural rate of recovery of fire-disturbed bog forests previously dominated by the endemic and endangered conifer Pilgerodendron uviferum (D. Don) Florin is extremely slow. Hence, increasing the number of seed trees in the landscape through restoration planting could remove the principal biotic filter, limiting recovery of these forests. Here, we analyzed how the success of restoration plantings may be improved through the choice or manipulation of microsites in P. uviferum forests on Chiloé Island in North Patagonia. For this purpose, we manipulated microtopography in water-logged sites in bogs (mounds, flat terrain, mineral soil) and changed canopy conditions (gaps, semi-open, closed canopy) in upland sites with better drainage. In bogs, there was no significant effect of microtopography on growth and survival of P. uviferum plantings. However, fluorescence measurements indicated lower stress in seedlings established on mounds. Seedlings in upland areas established beneath a nurse canopy had lower mortality and higher relative shoot growth, foliar nutrients, photosynthetic light use efficiency and chlorophyll fluorescence values than those planted in the open. This indicates that seedlings of the slow growing P. uviferum can tolerate extremely wet conditions, yet suffer from stress when grown in the open. Here, the removal of canopy appeared to have also removed or reduced mycorrhizal networks for seedlings, leading to poorer nutrition and growth. Based on these results, recommendations for restoration plantings in highly degraded P. uviferum forests are presented.

Water relations in competitive interactions of Mediterranean grasses and shrubs

SummaryIn Mediterranean ecosystems, competition between opportunistic grasses and slower‐growing woody species may affect the speed and path of ecosystem recovery and the success of restoration plantings after natural or human‐induced disturbance. In this experiment, competitive interactions between Mediterranean annual and perennial grass species (Avena fatua and Brachypodium retusum, respectively) and an important Mediterranean shrub (Rosmarinus offlcinalis) were examined under semi‐controlled conditions simulating wet and dry Mediterranean rainfall regimes. The identity of the grass competitor and the level of water availability in the plots interacted to produce differing rates of R. offlcinalis growth but similar levels of mortality. In particular, competition with the perennial grass resulted in very low rates of R. offlcinalis growth at both irrigation levels. Measurements of soil water content showed that both grasses reduced soil moisture to low levels, though this effect was temporary in the case of the winter annual grass. Resistance to hydraulic flow in roots was highest in the perennial grass, smaller but of similar magnitude in the shrub, and much lower in the annual grass. Transpirational response to decreasing leaf water potential was a quick, sharp drop in conductance in R. offlcinalis, in contrast to a moderated decline from much lower initial transpiration rates in B. retusum. The annual grass largely maintained both leaf water potential and transpiration through leaf‐tip senescence and death. Quantification of the rate of hydric recuperation of leaves after irrigation of drought‐stressed plants showed that the perennial grass recovered at a rate four times that of R. offlcinalis, suggesting a strategy for making quick use of rare summer rains that may contribute to its competitive success. The appropriateness of planting or suppressing grasses in restoration of disturbed sites in Mediterranean Spain is discussed.