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Vegetation pattern of the tree layer. In the one-year sample area: (a) distribution of tree height and diameter at breast height; (b) distribution of canopy density and specific leaf area; (c) distribution of leaf thickness and leaf length. In the six-year sample area: (d) distribution of tree height and diameter at breast height; (e) distribution of canopy density and specific leaf area; and (f) distribution of leaf thickness and leaf length. In the eleven-year sample area: (g) distribution of tree height and diameter at breast height; (h) distribution of canopy density and specific leaf area; (i) distribution of leaf thickness and leaf length.
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Landslides cause significant disturbances to mountainous ecosystems and human activities. Due to climate change, the frequency of landslides as secondary disasters has notably increased compared to the past. Further exploration is needed to understand the effects of different restoration methods on post-landslide plant communities and soil properti...
Citations
... AGB, above-ground biomass; BGB, below-ground biomass; MBP, microbial biomass phosphorus. plant or microbial diversity in the short term, achieving faster outcomes than ecological restoration (Klopf et al. 2017;Chen et al. 2023). Short-term recovery often entails significant economic investment in assisted rehabilitation (Meyer et al. 2019;Orrock et al. 2023). ...
Strategies for restoring degraded ecosystems vary widely in the levels of human intervention. It has commonly been assumed that recovery with artificial inputs would be quicker and more efficient. However, is this truly the situation? We conducted a meta‐analysis to evaluate the differences and applicability between ecological restoration and ecological rehabilitation. Relationships between soil phosphorus content, plant diversity, and soil microbial diversity were analyzed using 463 valid experimental data points collected from 72 publications. The results indicated that in grassland ecosystems, ecological restoration outperformed rehabilitation by 35%, 68%, 38%, and 48% in belowground biomass, community coverage, plant richness, and Shannon diversity, respectively. In forests, rehabilitation trailed behind restoration by 58%, 26%, and 92% in belowground biomass, Simpson diversity, and bacterial Shannon diversity. Furthermore, there was minimal difference in the recovery mode among different fungal and bacterial phyla. Rehabilitation demonstrated lower stability and efficiency in long‐term phosphorus cycling compared to restoration. Overall, ecological restoration offers more stable and efficient long‐term phosphorus cycling, thereby questioning the effectiveness of ecological rehabilitation for sustainable ecosystem recovery, especially for species diversity and phosphorus cycling.
... The restoration of landslide-affected areas remains a challenge. Artificial restoration has been shown to yield immediate benefits for SOC recovery, but its long-term effects align with those of natural regeneration [24,25]. Effective forest management strategies, as discussed by Pang et al. (2024) [26], could enhance forest health and biodiversity, aiding carbon sequestration. ...
Landslides, as natural hazards, have far-reaching impacts beyond their immediate effects on human lives and infrastructure; landslides disrupt both carbon storage and ecosystem stability, and their role in the global carbon cycle cannot be underestimated. This study delves into the complex relationship between landslides and carbon stocks such as, in particular, soil organic carbon (SOC) and above-ground biomass (AGB), and outlines the spatial relationship between different types of landslides, soil organic carbon (SOC), and the carbon cycle, underscoring the importance of understanding these interconnections for environmental sustainability and climate change mitigation efforts. By employing machine learning algorithms on the Google Earth Engine platform, landslide susceptibility maps were created for different landslide types across Italy, and their spatial patterns with SOC accumulation were analyzed using the Python environment. The findings reveal a nuanced relationship between landslide hazard levels and SOC dynamics, with varying trends observed for different landslide types. In addition, this study investigates the potential impact of large-scale landslide events on carbon sequestration in the short term via a case study of the May 2023 landslide event in the Emilia Romagna region of Italy. The analysis reveals a substantial reduction in above-ground biomass by 35%, which approximately accounts for the loss of 0.133 MtC, and a decrease in SOC accumulation in 72% of the affected areas, indicating that landslides can transform carbon sinks into carbon sources, at least in the short term, and suggested that carbon released from extreme landslide events at a larger scale needs to be accounted for in regional or national carbon emissions. This research underscores the importance of considering landslides in carbon cycle assessments and emphasizes the need for sustainable land management strategies to protect and enhance carbon sinks, such as forests and healthy soils, in the face of increasing natural hazards and climate change impacts.
Climate warming and anthropogenic activities have led to an increase in the prevalence of non‐native plants in mountainous regions that previously exhibited limited occurrences. This phenomenon has resulted in detrimental effects on endemic plants and ecosystem functions. However, the variation in traits of non‐native plants that successfully spread to high elevations, as well as the underlying drivers of these changes, remains poorly understood. In this study, we use Erigeron annuus , a cosmopolitan non‐native plant that has invaded high elevations, as our model to explore its individual biomass pattern along a 1900 m elevation gradient. We also contrast this pattern with that of the native Artemisia lavandulifolia, which has the same distribution range as E. annuus . We found that the biomass of E. annuus displayed a hump‐shape pattern along elevation, while the biomass of the native A. lavandulifolia gradually decreased with increasing elevation. By evaluating the effects of climate variables, soil properties, rhizosphere fungal communities and its spatial mid‐domain effect (i.e. geographic limitation) on plant biomass, we found that the biomass of E. annuus was primarily influenced by the spatial mid‐domain effect, while the biomass of A. lavandulifolia resulted from a complex interplay of climatic variables and rhizosphere microbial communities. Our findings emphasize the importance of a spatial mid‐domain effect on the growth of non‐native E. annuus across elevation, indicating the impact of E. annuus probable be greatest at mid‐elevations and thus, where management priority should be set. Further investigations considering more non‐native plant species and species' traits will allow to scrutinize this vision.
The long-term stability of slopes in areas with strong earthquakes not only is very important for people’s lives and the safety of property, but also it enables restoration of the ecological environment in the landslide areas, which is very important for sustainable development. The most commonly used seismic-support method, anti-slide piles, provides outstanding seismic performance. However, piles still deform and fail during earthquakes, which can lead to instability of the slope. The dynamic response of a slope reinforced with anti-slide piles is crucial for maintaining the long-term stability of the slope in a strong-earthquake area and, thus, for promoting its sustainable development. However, current research is focused mainly on the stability of the slope, and there have been few studies on the dynamic response of anti-slide piles. For this reason, we have undertaken the present study of a bedding-rock slope supported by a single row of anti-slide piles. By changing the frequency, amplitude, and duration of the input seismic waves, we have systematically explored the influence of their spectral characteristics on the dynamic response of the anti-slide piles and the slope using numerical simulations combined with the wavelet-transform method. Our results show that the spectral characteristics of the seismic waves significantly affect the deformations of the anti-slide piles. Low-frequency and high-amplitude seismic waves have stronger destructive effects on slopes, and high-amplitude seismic waves can generate multi-level sliding surfaces that extend to deeper levels. The low-frequency component of the seismic wave controls the overall deformation of the slope, and the high-frequency component controls the local deformations. An increase in the proportion and duration of low frequencies in seismic waves is the main cause of slope deformation and failure. The present work, thus, provides a useful reference for the design of a slope supported by anti-slide piles in an area with strong earthquakes, as well as for the maintenance of the long-term stability of such a slope, therefore, encouraging the sustainable development of related areas.
