Restoration Ecology (Restor Ecol)

Publications in this journal

• Article: Restoration potential of sedge meadows in hand-cultivated soybean fields in northeastern China

  Wang G, Middleton Beth A, Jiang M
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  ABSTRACT: Sedge meadows can be difficult to restore from farmed fields if key structural dominants are missing from propagule banks. In hand-cultivated soybean fields in northeastern China, we asked if tussock-forming Carex and other wetland species were present as seed or asexual propagules. In the Sanjiang Plain, China, we compared the seed banks, vegetative propagules (below-ground) and standing vegetation of natural and restored sedge meadows, and hand-cultivated soybean fields in drained and flooded conditions. We found that important wetland species survived cultivation as seeds for some time (e.g., Calamogrostis angustifolia and Potamogeton crispus) and as field weeds (e.g., Calamogrostis angustifolia and Phragmites australis). Key structural species were missing in these fields, e.g., Carex meyeriana. We also observed that sedge meadows restored without planting or seeding lacked tussock-forming sedges. The structure of the seed bank was related to experimental water regime, and field environments of tussock height, thatch depth, and presence of burning as based on Non-metric Multidimensional Scaling analysis. To re-establish the structure imposed by tussock sedges, specific technologies might be developed to encourage the development of tussocks in restored sedge meadows.
  Restoration Ecology 06/2013; in press.
• Source

  Available from: tamu.edu

  Article: Transpirational Water Loss in Invaded and Restored Semiarid Riparian Forests

  Georgianne W. Moore, M. Keith Owens
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  ABSTRACT: The invasive tree, Tamarix sp., was introduced to the United States in the 1800s to stabilize stream banks. The riparian ecosystem adjacent to the middle Rio Grande River in central New Mexico consists of mature cottonwood (Populus fremontii) gallery forests with a dense Tamarix understory. We hypothesized that Populus would compensate for reduced competition by increasing its water consumption in restored riparian plots following selective Tamarix removal, resulting in similar transpiration (T) among stands. The northern study site included a Populus stand invaded by Tamarix (INVN) and a restored Populus-only stand (RESN), as did a southern site (INVS and RESS) approximately 80 miles south. At each site, 20 × 20–m plots were established where up to 16 stems were monitored throughout the 2004 growing season using thermal dissipation sapflow sensors. Populus sapflux rates were greater in restored stands, suggesting those trees compensated for understory removal by using more water. Sapflow was scaled to estimate stand-level T based on a quantitative assessment of sapwood basal area (Asw) by species. Although exotic species represented 85 and 91% of the total stems in the invaded stands, it amounted to only 3% (INVS) and 4% (INVN) of the total Asw, contributing proportionately less to T compared to Populus. Our results indicate that removing Tamarix from the Populus understory in this riparian forest had a minimal impact on stand water balance. Riparian restoration of the type discussed herein should focus primarily on enhancing riparian health rather than generating water.
  Restoration Ecology 04/2012; 20(3):346 - 351.
• Source

  Available from: usp.br

  Article: Testing the Performance of Fourteen Native Tropical Tree Species in Two Abandoned Pastures of the Lacandon Rainforest Region of Chiapas, Mexico

  Francisco J. Román-Dañobeytia, Samuel I. Levy-Tacher, James Aronson, Ricardo Ribeiro Rodrigues, Jorge Castellanos-Albores
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  ABSTRACT: The rainforest of Mexico has been degraded and severely fragmented, and urgently require restoration. However, the practice of restoration has been limited by the lack of species-specific data on survival and growth responses to local environmental variation. This study explores the differential performance of 14 wet tropical early-, mid- or late-successional tree species that were grown in two abandoned pastures with contrasting land-use histories. After 18 months, seedling survival and growth of at least 7 of the 14 tree species studied were significantly higher in the site with a much longer history of land use (site 2). Saplings of the three early-successional species showed exceptional growth rates. However, differences in performance were noted in relation to the differential soil properties between the experimental sites. Mid-successional species generally showed slow growth rates but high seedling survival, whereas late-successional species exhibited poor seedling survival at both the study sites. Stepwise linear regressions revealed that the species integrated response index combining survivorship and growth measurements, was influenced mostly by differences in soil pH between the two abandoned pastures. Our results suggest that local environmental variation among abandoned pastures of contrasting land-use histories influences sapling survival and growth. Furthermore, the similarity of responses among species with the same successional status allowed us to make some preliminary site and species-specific silvicultural recommendations. Future field experiments should extend the number of species and the range of environmental conditions to identify site “generalists” or more narrowly adapted species, that we would call “sensitive.”
  Restoration Ecology 04/2012; 20(3):378 - 386.
• Article: Testing the “local provenance” paradigm: a common garden experiment in Cumberland Plain Woodland, Sydney, Australia.

  Hancock N, Leishman MR, Hughes L
  Restoration Ecology 01/2012;
• Article: Soil Conditions in Natural, Declining and Restored Heathlands Influence Plant-Pollinator Interactions of Calluna vulgaris

  Eduardo de la Pena, Helena Van De Velde, Luc Lens, Dries Bonte
  Restoration Ecology 01/2012; 20(5):603-611.
• Article: Landscape Pattern Dynamics and Mechanisms during Vegetation Restoration: A Multiscale, Hierarchical Patch Dynamics Approach

  Shaolin Peng, Ting Zhou, Liyin Liang, Wentao Ren
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  ABSTRACT: The spatial pattern of vegetation changes during ecological restoration, and these changes are affected by the process of restoration. The objective of this study was to integrate the pattern and mechanism of forest restoration in the Dinghushan Nature Reserve (DNR), Guangdong, China, based on data from remote sensing and long-term field observations. We studied the pattern dynamics of three main forest types and their underlying mechanisms during restoration following a multiscale, hierarchical patch dynamics framework that integrates population, community, and landscape processes. Remote sensing data were used to determine the changes in landscape pattern during different periods of forest restoration from 1978 to 2006. At the landscape scale, the number, area, and perimeter of the needle/broad-leaved mixed forest (MF) and the evergreen broad-leaved forest (BF) increased, whereas those of the tropical needle-leaved forest (NF) decreased during succession. Our analysis based on long-term field observations indicated that the change rate of NF was lower than that of MF during 1981–1996, but became much higher during 1996–2007. The rate of change in landscape pattern and the progression of succession stages were consistent with each other. Our results also showed that species regeneration and community succession are the biological basis of forest landscape dynamics during vegetation restoration. Landscape pattern analysis allowed us to show “what” happened during vegetation restoration and “where,” and population and community analysis indicated “why” and “how” it happened.
  Restoration Ecology 12/2011; 20(1):95 - 102.
• Source

  Available from: unlv.edu

  Article: Identifying Native Vegetation for Reducing Exotic Species during the Restoration of Desert Ecosystems

  Scott R. Abella, Donovan J. Craig, Stanley D. Smith, Alice C. Newton
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  ABSTRACT: There is currently much interest in restoration ecology in identifying native vegetation that can decrease the invasibility by exotic species of environments undergoing restoration. However, uncertainty remains about restoration's ability to limit exotic species, particularly in deserts where facilitative interactions between plants are prevalent. Using candidate native species for restoration in the Mojave Desert of the southwestern U.S.A., we experimentally assembled a range of plant communities from early successional forbs to late-successional shrubs and assessed which vegetation types reduced the establishment of the priority invasive annuals Bromus rubens (red brome) and Schismus spp. (Mediterranean grass) in control and N-enriched soils. Compared to early successional grass and shrub and late-successional shrub communities, an early forb community best resisted invasion, reducing exotic species biomass by 88% (N added) and 97% (no N added) relative to controls (no native plants). In native species monocultures, Sphaeralcea ambigua (desert globemallow), an early successional forb, was the least invasible, reducing exotic biomass by 91%. However, the least-invaded vegetation types did not reduce soil N or P relative to other vegetation types nor was native plant cover linked to invasibility, suggesting that other traits influenced native-exotic species interactions. This study provides experimental field evidence that native vegetation types exist that may reduce exotic grass establishment in the Mojave Desert, and that these candidates for restoration are not necessarily late-successional communities. More generally, results indicate the importance of careful native species selection when exotic species invasions must be constrained for restoration to be successful.
  Restoration Ecology 12/2011;
• Article: Relationships between Methylobacteria and Glyphosate with Native and Invasive Plant Species: Implications for Restoration

  Irina C. Irvine, Marti S. Witter, Christy A. Brigham, Jennifer B. H. Martiny
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  ABSTRACT: After removing invasive plants, whether by herbicides or other means, typical restoration design focuses on rebuilding native plant communities while disregarding soil microbial communities. However, microbial–plant interactions are known to influence the relative success of native versus invasive plants. Therefore, the abundance and composition of soil microorganisms may affect restoration efforts. We assessed the effect of herbicide treatment on phytosymbiotic pink-pigmented facultative methylotrophic (PPFM) bacteria and the potential consequences of native and invasive species establishment post-herbicide treatment in the lab and in a coastal sage scrub (CSS)/grassland restoration site. Lab tests showed that 4% glyphosate reduced PPFM abundance. PPFM addition to seeds increased seedling length of a native plant (Artemisia californica) but not an invasive plant (Hirschfeldia incana). At the restoration site, methanol addition (a PPFM substrate) improved native bunchgrass (Nassella pulchra) germination and size by 35% over controls. In a separate multispecies field experiment, PPFM addition stimulated the germination of N. pulchra, but not that of three invasive species. Neither PPFM nor methanol addition strongly affected the growth of any plant species. Overall, these results are consistent with the hypothesis that PPFMs have a greater benefit to native than invasive species. Together, these experiments suggest that methanol or PPFM addition could be useful in improving CSS/grassland restorations. Future work should test PPFM effects on additional species and determine how these results vary under different environmental conditions.
  Restoration Ecology 12/2011;
• Source

  Available from: elkhornsloughctp.org

  Article: Applications from Paleoecology to Environmental Management and Restoration in a Dynamic Coastal Environment

  Elizabeth B. Watson, Kerstin Wasson, Gregory B. Pasternack, Andrea Woolfolk, Eric Van Dyke, Andrew B. Gray, Anna Pakenham, Robert A. Wheatcroft
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  ABSTRACT: Estuarine restoration is a major focus of coastal management. To set estuarine restoration targets, coastal managers need to understand natural baselines and human modifications. The goal of this study was to characterize baseline environmental conditions for the purposes of restoration planning at Elkhorn Slough, a regionally significant California estuary. We reconstructed baseline salinity, sediment sources, sediment accumulation rates, and wetland plant distribution by collecting and analyzing sediment cores from the upper and lower reaches of the estuary, and marsh extent by synthesizing previously published stratigraphic descriptions of sediment cores. The results of this study show strong contrasts between current and baseline conditions. Sediment accumulation rates have recently increased, whereas flood deposits have disappeared from marsh sediments. Representation by freshwater and brackish plants has also declined. Extent of marshes increased in the recent past, likely as a result of anthropogenic sediment loading from early Euro-American land use changes. Many of these marshes have degraded in past decades, but marsh extent today is still higher than in previous periods. Reconstruction of natural baselines and processes suggests that restoration strategies for the estuary should focus on increasing sediment supply and freshwater inputs to the marshes in order to restore the processes that naturally sustained marsh accretion and diversity. This study highlights the importance of revealing human modifications when designing restoration strategies for dynamic and highly altered systems such as estuaries.
  Restoration Ecology 10/2011; 19(6):765 - 775.