Poster sessions with abstracts
Posters (100)
Posters have been allocated in the "Grande Audience " room. Posters will be displayed for the duration of the conference so that interested people can view the poster even when presenters are not in attendance. Each day, the poster sessions will enable presenters to discuss their presentations. Presenters are required to be present for this scheduled during their poster sessions.
Poster session 1 : Tuesday August 24th (4.10 - 5.10 pm)
1. Restoration of industrial areas, polluted areas and mines
2. Restoration of herbaceous ecosystems, grasslands, meadows, etc.
Poster session 2 : Wednesday August 25th (9.45 - 10.15 am)
3. Restoration of rivers and riparian ecosystems
4. Species focused restoration
Poster session 3 : Thursday August 26th (9.45 - 10.30 am)
5. Restoration of forests, matorrals & heathlands
Poster session 4 : Thursday August 26th (9.45 - 10.30 am)
6. Restoration of wetlands, peatlands, coastal ecosystems & dunes
7. Restoration of roadsides
Poster session 5. Friday August 27th (9.45 - 10.15 am)
8. Monitoring, tools & models for restoration
9. Linking restoration and ecological succession
10. Restoration of arid ecosystems
11. Miscellaneous
Poster session 1
Tuesday August 24th (4.10 - 5.10 pm)
1. Restoration of industrial areas, polluted areas and mines-
Algal and cyanobacterial monitoring in a remediation process by salinity variations in an hypereutrophic Mediterranean pond
Julia Vergalli, Céline Bertrand, Katia Comte, Alain Maasri, Evelyne Franquet, Stéphanie Fayolle
Conservation value and ecogeographic revisions of copper endemic flora in Katanga
Michel-Pierre Faucon, Arthur Meersseman, Mylor Ngoy Shutcha, Grégory Mahy, Michel Ngongo Luhembwe, François Malaisse, Pierre Meerts
Contribution to the study of antioxidant enzymes in Dodonaea viscosa as biomarkers of diesel pollution
Tania Volke-Sepulveda, Maria del Rosario Peralta-Perez
Getting real: a methodology for self-evaluation of quarry restorations
Vicenç Carabassa, Marc Vizcano, Esteve Serra, Oriol Ortiz, Josep Maria Alcañiz
Hordeum sp. a potential crop for phytoremediation and its biomass utilization
Adela Jurjescu, Smaranda Masu, Paul Pirsan, Florin Imbrea, Valeria RusJurjescu
Improvement of lead-phytoremediation by the association of Dodonaea viscosa and the saprophytic fungus Lewia sp., in a model soil
Tania Volke, Cesar Rojas-Loria, Rosario Peralta-Perez, Leticia Buendía-Gonzalez
Insight on symbioses of Astragalus tragacantha (Fabaceae), an endangered plant species, for ecological restoration purpose
Isabelle Laffont-Schwob, Pierre-Jean Dumas, Jacques Rabier, Lucie Miché, Laurence Affre, Thierry Tatoni
Phytoremediation of soils polluted with mine tailings using compost
Lixandru Benoni, Dragomir Neculai, Pricop Anca, Patroescu Viorel, Bogatu Cornel
Restoration of gravel pits disturbed by several invasive macrophytes
Jacques Haury, Michel Bozec, Julie Coudreuse
Revegetation strategies for covering fly ash dump with suitable plant species
Pricop Anca, Lixandru Benoni, Masu Smaranda, Dragomir Neculai, Morariu Florica
Soil preparation approach for vegetation recovery in gypsum quarries in Granada , SE Spain
Eva Cañadas, Miguel Ballesteros, Ana Foronda, Julio Peñas, Juan Lorite
The growth and response of some herbaceous plant species to oil treatments
Kee Dae Kim, Tae Yup, Ha Nuel, Byeong Kyu, Jun Tae Choi
The indigenous tuff influence for reducing the fly ash toxicity in the revegetation process
Masu Smaranda, Pricop Anca
Toxicity of post mining soil after field and laboratory conditions
Jan Frouz, Ondrej Mufrák, Kristýna Hrková
Use of Myriophyllum alterniflorum (Haloragaceae) for restoration of heavy-metal-polluted freshwater environments: preliminary results
David Delmail, Pascal Labroussse, Philippe Hourdin, Michel Botineau
Biological activity in soils of coal-waste heaps of the mining basin of Provence
Mélanie Clouard
2. Restoration of herbaceous ecosystems, grasslands, meadows, etc.-
Calcareous grassland restoration in the Calestienne area (Belgium
Lucia Ferroni, Julien Piqueray, Gregory Mahy, Maria Speranza
Development of frequently applied grassland restoration treatments and consequences for subsequent management
Mareike Conrad, Sabine Tischew
Ecological restoration of the Kalmykian Steppe (Lower Volga Delta, Russia) as a natural result of the discontinued soviet agronomy, detected in remote sensing data from 1962 – 2007
Sergej Bergsträsser, Torsten Prinz, Norbert Hölzel
On the use of soil organisms to assess restoration of wet meadows on peat soil in place of sandpit.
Matthieu Chauvat, Gabriel Perez, Pierre Margerie, Estelle Langlois, Michaël Aubert, Fabrice Bureau
Preliminary results on Orthoptera of multi-treatments steppe restoration processes in La Crau (Provence, France)
Jean-François Alignan, Jean-François Debras, Thierry Dutoit
Restoration management in wet grasslands – results from a 20 year-lasting field experiment
Till Kleinebecker, Yvonne Oelmann, Peter Schwarze, Gabriele Broll, Kathrin Poptcheva, Verena Möllenbeck, Andreas Vogel, Norbert Hölzel
SALVERE - Semi-natural grassland as a source of biodiversity improvement - a Central Europe Project
Anita Kirmer, Sandra Mann, Birgit Feucht, Albin Blaschka
Soil seed bank in successional calcareous alvar grassland in northern Estonia
Rein Kalamees, Kersti Püssa
Vegetation recovery in floodplain meadows in Estonia
Jaak Albert Metsoja, Silvia Pihu, Kai Vellak
Poster session 2
Wednesday August 25th (9.45 - 10.15 am)
3. Restoration of rivers and riparian ecosystems
Assessing the ecological benefits in a Mediterranean river after a physical restoration
Bernard Montuelle, Virginie Archaimbault, Evelyne Trichet, Bernard Dumont, Christian Chauvin, Alain Dutartre
Environmental flows in a context of ecological restoration: a case study of rivers Arga and Aragon (Navarra , Spain
Judit Maroto, Diego García de Jalón, Marta González del Tánago
How to restore riverbanks in natural ecosystems with many people using ecological services at the same time?
Pedro Joaquín Gutiérrez-Yurrita
Integrated analyses for a better calibration of fluvial habitats restoration interventions
Maria Teresa Carone, Tiziana Simoniello, Anna Loy, Maria Laura
Mediterranean riparian vegetation: tools to improve studies, management and restoration
Simon Dufour, Élise Buisson, Vincent Tamisier, Émilie Deschamps, Noëllie Fonvieille
Morphodynamics restoration and redynamisation of the bypassed section of the Rhine downstream Kembs dam - Interreg / EDF projects Piégay H., Aelbrecht D., Béal D., Arnaud F., Hoenen D., Johnstone K., Schmitt L., Rollet A.-J., Alonso C., Barillier A., Bouchard J.-P., Clutier A., El Kadi Abderrazzak K., Garnier A., Pinte K., Gantzer L., Vinel D., Armburster J., Spaeth V., Blanchard B., Burlet D., Pleis B., Béraud C., Camenen B., Lecoz J., Paquier A., Billard C., Dietrich L., Trautmann T., Dittrich A., Koll K., Huppmann O., Meineke J., Ostermann R., Pfarr U., Seitz B.-J, Knibiely P., Merckling L., Combroux I., Trémolières M., Piquette E.,Wintz M.
Special session 4: Birds & sustainable management in Mediterranean riparian areas: Bird studies in the RIPIDURABLE project
Jean E. Rabaça, Ana Mendes, Paula C. Dias, Carlos Godinho, Jean E. Roché, Bernard Frochot, Bruno Faivre, Eric Dincuff, Philippe Perret, Pierre-André Crochet, Inês Roque, Alexandre Vaz
Special session 4: Restoration of the Drugeon basin
Jean-Noël Resch, Geneviève Magnon, François Degiorgi, Hervé Decourcières
Special session 4: The project RICOVER: River Recovery in the SUDOE Region
Ana Mendes, Maria Teresa Ferreira, António Albuquerque, Maria Helena Almeida, ,Jordi Camprodon, Paulo Cruz, Sofia Delgado, André Fabião, António Fabião, Carla Faria, Rosário Fernandes, David Gu
Special session 4: The RIPIDURABLE project – sustainable management of riparian areas
Ana I. Mendes, Maria-Helena Almeida, K Arvanitis, Daniel Arizpe, Y Chatzinikolaou, Pierre- André Crochet, Paula C. Dias, Panayotis Dimopoulos, Eric Dincuff, André Fabiao
The River Enningdalselva, a biological diverse watershed along the border, well suited for teaching purposes
Marit Eriksen, Louise Buhre, Andreas Bäckstrand, Margareta Nordström, Bjørn Walseng
4. Species focused restoration
Conservation of Bromus bromoideus: feasibility study of the reintroduction of a plant extinct in the wild
Sandrine Godefroid, Julien Piqueray, Kathy Danhieux, Christine Poelaert, Benoît Delpeuch, Abigail de Martynoff, Maïté Deplechin, Florence Hecq, Marie Legast, Bernard Bodson, Louis-Marie Delescaille, Gilles Colinet, Thierry Vanderborght, Grégory Mahy
GENMEDA: Network of Mediterranean Plant Conservation Centres
Myriam Virevaire
Impact de Ludwigia grandiflora sur les micro-organismes et détermination des molécules bio-actives responsables : restauration d’écosystèmes et valorisation de la biomasse végétale.
Imen Smida, Jean Le Petit, Gérard Audran, Isabelle Giffard, Claude Charpy-Roubaud
RESTOGEN: Restoring Habitats and Plant Genetic Diversity
Alexandre Henry, Michel Boutaud, Eric Collin, Yves Gabory, Pascal Laigle, Hervé Le Bouler, Damien Provendier, Nathalie Frascaria-Lacoste
Rhinanthus minor as a tool for grassland restoration: establishment and effects on vegetation composition
Markus Wagner, Matt Heard, Jodey Peyton, James Bullock, Richard Pywell
Silene portensis L.: déplacement d’une population à partir de sa banque de semences du sol
Myriam Virevaire
Poster session 3
Thursday August 26th (9.45 - 10.30 am)
5. Restoration of forests, matorrals & heathlands
An afforestation activity by Mediterranean shrubs in Sardinia
Giovanbattista de Dato, Paolo De Angelis, Riccardo Valentini
Analysis of the Estonian Forest
Henn Korjus, Diana Laarmann, Janely Leemets
Analysis of woodland plant and bird community richness along a rural-urban gradient - Opportunities to maintain and restore biodiversity in urban areas
Clémence Gault, Joséphine Pithon, Jeanne Vallet, Véronique Beaujouan, Hervé Daniel
Can wet heaths dominated by Erica tetralix be restored from a species-poor abandoned meadow?
Rainer Buchwald
Compensatory Measurements associated with the construction of the Breña II dam: infestation level assessment of the woodborers in oak forests from the southern Iberian Peninsula
Ana M. Cárdenas, Patricia Gallardo, Lourdes
Evaluation of restoration potential using transfer of seed-containing plant material in herbaceous layer vegetation of secondary woodland
Susumu Yamada
Forest ecosystem restoration patterns on abandoned oil-shale mining areas in Estonia
Diana Laarmann, Henn Korjus, Allan Sims, Ahto Kangur
Irene Cordero, Cristina Herrero-Jáuregui, María Dolores Jiménez, Juan Antonio Delgado, Luis Villegas, Percy Jiménez, Luis Balaguer
Influence silvoarable agroforestry system on diversity patterns of ground-beetles (Carabidae) and vascular plant in agricultural landscapes
Michel-Pierre Faucon, David Grandgirard, Jean-Didier Clément
Macrofauna of the soil, pine bark and topsoil as the bio-indicators of change in forest ecosystem
Maria Marko-Worlowska, Anna Chrzan, Tomasz Laciak
Need of restoration in urban boreal forests?
Oili Tarvainen, Rauni Strömmer, Annamari Markkola
Reintroduction and reinforcement of endangered woody species populations in Tapia woodland, Mount Ibity, Madagascar
Swanni T. Alvarado Romero, Elise Buisson, Harison Rabarison, Charlotte Rajeriarison, Chris Birkinshaw, Porter P. Lowry II
Restoring natural communities after pine forestry
Rachael Ord, Deanna Rokich, Shane Turner, Jason Stevens, Kingsley Dixon
Restoration of a transition forest using soil and seed rain transfers near Andohahela National Park , Southeastern Madagascar
Fanambinantsoa Noromiarylanto, Ramanoelina Harijaona, Harison Rabarison, Fidisoa Ratovoson, Jimmy Randrianaivo, Porter P. Lowry II, Elise Buisson
Sequence of facilitation, allelopathy and competition within a single growth season between an aridland shrub and its understory grass
Mohammad Jankju, Parvaneh Abrishamchi, Azam Maghamnia, Asieh Behdad
The effect of a restoration program on the Orthopteran Diversity from a protected area in the southern Iberian Peninsula
Ana M. Cárdenas; Juan M. Hidalgo, Lourdes
Poster session 4
Thursday August 26th ( 4.10 - 5.10 pm)
6. Restoration of wetlands, peatlands, coastal ecosystems & dunes
Change and recovery of plant after flooding events, Upo Wetland
Gu Yeon Kim, Hyun Hee Son, Gee Jae Joo
Changes in landscape ecological structure and diversity of plant associations 15 years after the restoration process of Lake Piskory
Chmielewski T. J., Sender J., Chmielewski Sz., Kolejko M.
Development of a tool for restoring and managing wetlands within a ski area – example of the ski resort of Val-Thorens
Stéphanie Gaucherand, Alain Bédécarrats, Francis Isselin-Nondedeu
Ecological Restoration and rehabilitation needs of Bolkar moutains lakes, Turkey
Gulsun Omeroglu
Ecological restoration of the Lower Prut Floodplain Natural Park
Gina Alina Radu, Lucia Marica
Long term research for habitat restoration of the endangered Banded Newt Triturus vittatus vittatus in Northern Israel
Oren Pearlson, Gad Degani
Effect of phosphorus and nitrogen on the growth of two forms of Warnstorfia fluitans (Hedw.) Loeske
Kairi Sepp, Mati Ilomets
Evaluation of large scale bog restoration in northwestern Germany
Birgit Sieg, Norbert Hölzel, Till Kleinebecker
Influence of lowbush blueberry plantation age on natural biodiversity on abandoned peat production area
Marge Starast, Tea Tasa, Katrin Jõgar
Is aquatic vegetation removal as management technique a bless or a curse? Annelies Boerema, Kris Bal, Hans Backx, Kerst Buis, Eric de Deckere, Ilse Loots, Patrick Meire, Jonas Schoelynck
Macroinvertebrate community in restored salt marshes with Spartina maritima
Guillermo Curado, Enrique Figueroa, Jesús M. Castillo
Monitoring and assessment of a coastal dune restoration, Canet-en-Roussillon France
Stéphanie Grosset, Philippe Richard, Hugues Heurtefeux
Natural propagule sources for wetland restoration on Rhine’s Island (Upper Rhine Floodplain)
Isabelle Combroux-Lazar, MarlèneBiessy, Michèle Trémolières
Overcoming seed limitation in degraded inland sand ecosystems by epizoochorous dispersal: a five-year restoration project
Linda Freund, Saskia Wessels, Iris Retta, Carsten Eichberg, Christian Storm, Angelika Schwabe
Recovery of anuran community diversity following habitat replacement
Alain Pagano, Lesbarrères D., Fowler M., Lodé T.
Restoration of species-rich wetland by topsoil removal and seed transfer
Marcus Fritsch, Juliane Drobnik, Christian Storm, Angelika Schwabe
Restoration of the habitat ‘humid dune slacks’ in ‘Hannecart-wood’ at Oostduinkerke
Jean-Louis Herrier, Marc Leten, Hannah Van Nieuwenhuyse
Soft shoreline engineering: We built it, have they come?
Michael Zarull, John Hartig, Anna Cook, Mary Bohling
Vegetation development in the restored tidal estuarine wetland
Gu Yeon Kim, Gee Jae Joo, Hee Sun Park, Hyun Hee Son, Ji Yoon Kim
Restoring sponges in the Belgian Ardennes
Martine Lejeune
7. Restoration of roadsides
Factors controlling the vegetation dynamic at the roadside: application to new restoration protocols
Enrique García, Ignacio Mola, Maria Dolores Jiménez, Miguel Angel Casado, Luis Balaguer
Ground cover estimation on roadslopes: a method using digital photographs analysis
Luis Eduardo SanJoaquin, María Dolores Jiménez, Miguel Ángel Casado, Ignacio Mola, Rocío Torre, Ana Vázquez, Luis Balaguer
Habitat suitability models for species selection in ecological restoration: an application to legume shrubs selection for roadside revegetation
Gastón A., García-Viñas J.I., Maroto J., Herrero B., Ropero C.
Roadslopes soil restoration: the role of decomposer edaphic fauna and soil physic and chemical parameters
Mónica Gutiérrez-López, Dolores Trigo, Mónica Otero, Miguel Berdugo
Role of plant-plant and plant-animal interaction in roadside reclamation
Rocio Torre, Álvaro Ramírez, María Dolores Jiménez, Ignacio Mola, Ana Vázquez, Miguel Ángel Casado, Silvia Murillo, Luis Balaguer
Poster session 5
FRIDAY AUGUST 27th (9.45 - 10.15 am)
8. Monitoring, tools & models for restoration
A national monitoring scheme for restoration of traditional rural biotopes in Finland
Carina Järvinen, Katja Raatikainen
A simulation model for the restoration of the vegetation on ski trails under various scenarios of restoration procedures and management
Francis Isselin-Nondedeu, Alain Bédécarrats
Application of Terrestrial Laser Scanner for monitoring geomorphic evolution of roadslopes under different restoration strategies
Estela Barroso, Fernando Barbero, José Francisco Martín Duque, Saturnino De Alba
Applying Australian-developed monitoring procedure to investigate soil disturbance level in boreal zone
Oili Tarvainen, Anne Tolvanen
Error analysis and calibration of data collected with a Terrestrial Laser Scanner (TLS). Implications for monitoring surfaces evolution of roadslopes
Estela Barroso, Fernando Barbero, José Francisco Martín Duque, Saturnino De Alba
Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS) as a time- and cost-saving tool in restoration ecology
Valentin H. Klaus, Till Kleinebecker, Norbert Hölzel
Vegetation mapping methodology for monitoring and assessing success of ecological restoration operations.
Frédéric Bioret, Sébastien Gallet
9. Linking restoration and ecological succession
Are functional groups and dispersal modes an option to predict vegetation dynamics on reclaimed mines?
Josu G. Alday, Yesica Pallavicini, Rob H. Marrs, Carolina
Is chronosequence correct approach for the prediction of succession?
Ondrej Mudrak
Prediction of vegetation succession in a sand-pit: A basis for restoration
Vera Zemanová, Klára Rehounková, Karel Prach
10. Restoration of arid ecosystems
The use of waste water for agro-forestry multipurpose systems in desert Oases
Paolo De Angelis, Cristina Monteverdi, Sara Da Canal, Hocine Larbi, Federico Chiani, Riccardo Valentini
Landscape-scale spatial variability in dryland restoration success. The combined role of site conditions and technological effort
Haroun Kribeche, Esteban Chirino, Alberto Vilagrosa, Susana Bautista
11. Miscellaneous
Climate change and changes in spatial nature structures in Flanders : adaptation strategies
Frederic Stragier
Collaboration among scientists, landscape planners and practitioners to solve problems of "industrialized" urban mini plot viticulture
Thomas Siegmar
Effectiveness of restoration measures for WFD and Natura 2000
Wendy Liefveld, Bart Reeze Arcadis, Marieke Ohm
Impact mitigation of the Chiaiano’s dump on the environment of the Park of Naples hills (South Italy )
Maria F. Caliendo, Lucilla Fusco, Valerio Mele
Indication of archaeological features by soil chemical properties and by plant species composition in ancient medieval village in the Czech republic
Jiri Ondrácek
Summer schools on restoration ecology – Bringing together young scientists and practitioners throughout Europe
Verena Möllenbeck, Norbert Hölzel
ABSTRACTS
Algal and cyanobacterial monitoring in a remediation process by salinity variations in an hypereutrophic Mediterranean pond
Julia Vergalli, Céline Bertrand, Katia Comte, Alain Maasri, Evelyne Franquet, Stéphanie Fayolle
The drainage basin of the Berre pond is highly anthropogenic, generating ecological disturbances in several aquatic systems. Among these are two hypereutrophic ponds, Bolmon and Olivier, which exhibit recurrent algal and cyanobacterial blooms bringing up important nuisances for the water use. A 10-year monitoring field data revealed a seasonal succession of phytoplankton population with a predominant cyanobacterial species microcystin-producing: Planktothrix agardhii. The high biomass of this harmful species and the ongoing degradation of environmental conditions have led to a remediation project resulting as a new issue in the Berre pond management. This process (begun in 2006) was based on salinities changes; inferred by the reduction of the freshwater discharges in the pond. Consequently, the management effects raised salinities in the Bolmon pond (directly linked to the Berre pond), whereas no physical modification was observed in the Olivier pond (used as the control site in this study). While month-to-month variations in several environmental parameters were reported, a total decline of Planktothrix agardii population from the water column was also noted and seemed to be in line with the salinities changes (as compared to the Olivier pond). The aim of the study is to carry out further the investigation in monitoring all the abiotic environmental factors and to determine how the phytoplankton communities would respond to the salinity variation. Thus we could explore whether an inherent structural variation of salinity may have a: 1) potential application for water remediation, 2) treatment effect for a permanent decay of harmful filamentous cyanobacterial blooms.
Conservation value and ecogeographic revisions of copper endemic flora in
Michel-Pierre Faucon, Arthur Meersseman, Mylor Ngoy Shutcha, Grégory Mahy, Michel Ngongo Luhembwe, François Malaisse, Pierre Meerts
The occurrence of natural plant communities on Cu-enriched substrates over significant areas of the earth’s surface is exceptional. In
Contribution to the study of antioxidant enzymes in Dodonaea viscosa as biomarkers of diesel pollution
Tania Volke-Sepulveda, Ma. del Rosario Peralta-Perez
Evaluate new plant species for phytoremediation purposes usually require a lot of time, but the use of in vitro systems to obtain a particular response could provide faster and useful information. A strategy for determining the usefulness of a plant is the use of biomarkers such as the enzyme activity of catalases (CAT), guaiacol-peroxidase (G-POX) and glutation-S-transferases (GST); these enzymes are responsible of the elimination of reactive oxygen species (ROS) produced under abiotic stress conditions by the presence of contaminants. Then, the aim of this study was to evaluate under in vitro conditions, the tolerance of Dodonaea viscosa to different diesel concentrations (500 - 2500 mg/L) and determine its relation to CAT, G-POX and GST activities. Antioxidative enzymes activity was measured in plants of D. viscosa grown during 79 days. D. viscosa can tolerate up to 1000 mg/L of diesel with no adverse symptoms in biomass production, biotransforming between 10 and 25% of the diesel in the medium. In general, the highest enzymatic activities were obtained in shoots at 1000-1500 mg/L of diesel. Maximum activities of GST (0.012 U/mg protein) and G-POX (570 U/mg protein) were attained at 1500 and 1000 mg/L of diesel respectively, decreasing subsequently to 50% in both cases. CAT activity increased with the diesel concentration, obtaining a maximum value (20 U/mg protein) at 2500 mg/L. The results suggest that the enzymes here tested may be related to diesel pollution; however, more studies are still needed to understand the detoxification and tolerance mechanisms in this plant species.
Getting real: a methodology for self-evaluation of quarry restorations
Vicenç Carabassa, Marc Vizcano, Esteve Serra, Oriol Ortiz, Josep Maria Alcañiz
Many methods and criteria to evaluate and assess quarry restoration are available in the scientific literature. However, there is a lack of tools for evaluation appropriate for technicians involved in these types of activities, like quarry engineers, restoration managers and quality control supervisors in public administration. The present work attends to bridge the gap between scientific knowledge and practical needs proposing a simplified methodology, which enables the non-scientific public to evaluate restored areas. We present a preliminary version of this self-assessment procedure focused on geotechnical risk, soil erosion and other soil degradation processes, substrate quality and vegetation recovery. This has been tested in 29 opencast mines located throughout
Hordeum sp. a potential crop for phytoremediation and its biomass utilization
Adela Jurjescu, Smaranda Masu, Paul Pirsan,
The quantity of heavy metals in soils depends on: anthropogenic activity, type and duration of fertilization, athmosferic deposits, etc. The utilization of biosolids (sewage sludge) as organic fertilizer is in
Improvement of lead-phytoremediation by the association of Dodonaea viscosa and the saprophytic fungus Lewia sp., in a model soil
Tania Volke, Cesar Rojas-Loria, Rosario Peralta-Perez, Leticia Buendía-Gonzalez
The aim of this study was to evaluate the capability of an association between the shrub Dodonaea viscosa, and a saprophytic fungus of the genus Lewia, to accumulate and/or stabilize soluble ((PbNO3)2) and insoluble (PbS) sources of lead, using a model soil (perlite). D. viscosa is tolerant to drought, flooding, wind and frost, and it is recommended for erosion control and as a soil restorer. The Pb solubility had no significant effect on its accumulation by D. viscosa, finding Pb concentrations between 4.4 and 6.5 times higher in roots than in shoots, which indicates a low metal translocation, obtaining a translocation factor (TF) < 0.2. Pb accumulation in both roots and shoots of the plant, increased from 2.2 to 3.4 times due to the association with Lewia sp. regardless of the solubility of the Pb source used, reaching up to 5985 ± 559 mg Pb/kg of dry roots of D. viscosa in association with the fungus. The high capacity of Pb accumulation by the plant and the plant-fungus association was reflected in high values of the bioconcentration factor (BCF): ~ 9 and > 22 respectively. TF and BCF values obtained indicate that D. viscosa and especially in association with Lewia sp., could be effectively used for Pb-phytostabilization purposes and, therefore, for revegetation of metal polluted sites. This work is one of the few studies showing that the interaction between a non mycorrhizal fungus and a potentially Pb phytostabilizer plant, significantly improves the Pb-phytostabilization by its high accumulation in the roots.
Insight on symbioses of Astragalus tragacantha (Fabaceae), an endangered plant species, for ecological restoration purpose
Isabelle Laffont-Schwob, Pierre-Jean Dumas, Jacques Rabier, Lucie Miché, Laurence Affre, Thierry Tatoni
With a floristic richness of exception, the Mediterranean coast is however heavily threatened by urban development and pollution. This region is also one of the hotspot of demographic growth and is becoming a highly sensitive ecosystem. Thus, the Mediterranean coast engenders a paradoxical situation i.e. high endemism and rarity of the flora under environmental and human growing perturbations. In this context, there is a lack of knowledge on the ecology of one of these species, Astragalus tragacantha, face to various pollution sources from abandoned industrial sites and polluted sea sprays from urban effluents. Knowing that contaminated sites are generally poor in nutrients and contain a highly altered soil structure, mycorrhizal fungi and rhizobial nodulation are suspected to play an important role in vegetation establishment. For this preliminary study, field collection of roots was not conceivable for a protected plant species. Therefore, a greenhouse study was first conducted to test if seeds of this species were able to germinate and grow on a heavily polluted soil and to determine if this species was able to form arbuscular endomycorrhiza and rhizobial nodulation. Results are promising since this is the first report on the occurrence of both symbioses in this plant species. This opens new perspectives for dual inoculation with selected rhizobium and arbuscular mycorrhizal strains, in the way of ecosystem ecological restoration with this key-species.
Phytoremediation of soils polluted with mine tailings using compost
Lixandru Benoni, Dragomir Neculai, Pricop Anca, Patroescu Viorel, Bogatu Cornel
Our research aimed: the use of compost based on sludge from a city station and studying the adaptability of some species of Medicago and Festuca to mine tailings. Experimental location was the experimental field of disciplines Fodder and Ecology of the USAMVB of Timisoara and the Grasslands Resort from Moldova Noua. The first location assured a proportion between sterile and soil, and the second, to investigate the resilience capacity of mixtures of plants. In both locations were used additions of composts and volcanic tuff. At the first harvest, the largest amount of phytomass was obtained in case of sterile soil mixed with compost and volcanic tuff, being 65% and 45% more than the control variants. In descending order, are sterile soil with compost and then with sterile soil. In the second harvest, in all cases, production of green mass is lower, 40-42% then the first harvest. In terms of quantity resulted close values between the variants, but lower on sterile soils, with or without volcanic tuff or compost. The amount of root mass and above-ground plant debris remained, have also higher values for plants grown on sterile soil mixed with compost, especially those with volcanic tuff addition. Total phytomass was of
Restoration of gravel pits disturbed by several invasive macrophytes
Jacques Haury, Michel Bozec, Julie Coudreuse
A complex site composed of 5 gravel pits (and a meadow) belonging to the City of Rennes has been surveyed since 2004. It was invaded by four invasive macrophytes: Lemna minuta, Ludwigia grandiflora ssp. hexapetala, Myriophyllum aquaticum and Paspalum distichum more than 10 years ago. In
Revegetation strategies for covering fly ash dump with suitable plant species
Pricop Anca, Lixandru Benoni, Masu Smaranda, Dragomir Neculai, Morariu Florica
In the context of revegetate fly ash dumps, to chose a revegetation strategy is very important in order to obtain a vegetal layer that quickly and efficiently cover the fly ash dump ass well as to allow the wildlife development habitat. The strategy must include: adequate treatments by incorporating fertilizer and amendments, as composts and modified indigenous volcanic tuff; selecting plant species and agricultural work in accordance with geographical and whether conditions. Our experiment made in situ on a lignite fly ash dump was on the seeding period of the Festuca arundinacea and Onobrychis vicifolia plants in the autumn period that can provide the water requirement of plant and a quick and efficient development of plants with which they will start the hot and drawly times of summer. Among the seeding species, Festuca arundinacea adjust easier in the experimental variants. In this case, the treatment with biosolids and modified indigenous volcanic tuff can reduce the metal bioaccumulation, especially the lead with 84-94%, Fe with 53-63% and Cu, Cr and Ni between 12-53%. The other plant does not tolerate the unfertilized fly ash. The fertilizer and modified indigenous volcanic tuff assure establishing conditions for the plant by providing the nutrients. But also, due to the fact that the metal access within the aerial tissue is reduced compared to control by 29.5-59.3% in case of Cu, Cr, Ni and between 50-66% for Pb. Limiting the access of heavy metals in plant tissue is in accordance with a healthy habitat for the wildlife.
Soil preparation approach for vegetation recovery in gypsum quarries in
Eva Cañadas, Miguel Ballesteros, Ana Foronda, Julio Peñas, Juan Lorite
There is a close bond between gypsum outcrops and the original flora they harbour. These soils have a scattered distribution in arid and semiarid areas, and their particular chemical and physical properties have lead to the occurrence of a special flora that records an important degree of rarity and endemism. Since mining causes a serious impact on the gypsicolous flora there is a need to take action to recover these areas. This work presents a field experiment based on the soil composition that seeks to optimize the future recovery plan of the gypsum quarries in Escúzar (
The growth and response of some herbaceous plant species to oil treatments
Kee Dae Kim, Tae Yup, Ha Nuel, Byeong Kyu, Jun Tae Choi
Several oil spill events have destructed the coastal areas in South Korea. We investigated into the growth and response of 16 herbaceous plant species to soil treatments for selections of adaptable species to soil pollution by oils and their applications to restore oil polluted areas. In springtime, 2009, we sampled seedlings of 16 herbaceous plant species at coastal areas, Tae-An Gun that is located on the western end of
The indigenous tuff influence for reducing the fly ash toxicity in the revegetation process
Masu Smaranda, Pricop Anca, Morariu
The result of the heavy metals analysis comprised in the fly ash dump from the western part of Romania shows a high level of Fe, followed by Mn=Zn>Cr=Ni>Cu>Pb. The deposit presents an alteration of the terrestrial ecosystem that can’t easily re-establish itself because of the present of toxic metals, lack of nutrients, and of moisture holding retention. Alternative for the fly ash dump and the ecosystem restoration is the utilization of them in rehabilitation of disturbed areas, as the mining areas. Choosing the plants for the phytoremediation process of the mining areas with fly ash represents a challenge because the plants can be destroyed in certain phenophases due to the high level of metals. The revegetation experimental study is made on cover lots of
Toxicity of post mining soil after field and laboratory conditions
Jan Frouz, Ondrej Mufrák, Kristýna Hr?ková
Field data about soil chemistry, soil fauna, soil algae and plants were compared with laboratory data about site toxicity for selected species of soil fauna, soil algae and plants in post mining sites (after coal mining in northwest part of the (Czech Republic) with various level of toxicity. Individual laboratory test ordinate sites with similar way. Relationships between lab and field data was good on the most toxic sites, but not so good in other sites. Results indicate that biological test is powerful tool in testing site toxicity but had its limitation namely in less toxic sites.
Use of Myriophyllum alterniflorum (Haloragaceae) for restoration of heavy-metal-polluted freshwater environments: preliminary results.
David Delmail, Pascal Labroussse, Philippe Hourdin, Michel Botineau
Myriophyllum alterniflorum D.C., a poor-known aquatic macrophyte native to north-European freshwaters, was found even in polluted environments from the Vienne river and its tributaries which are often loaded with cadmium and copper near the Limoges metropolis (Haute-Vienne, France). This plant could cope with, to some extent, heavy-metal pollution and is used as a bioindicator since 2009. For these reasons, M. alterniflorum appears as a good candidate for running-freshwater restoration. In this way, the in vitro culture of this plant species was developed to allow a mass production and to study its phytoaccumulation capabilities. The in vitro culture of M. alterniflorum was optimized using Murashige & Skoog’s medium allowing rapid growth and biomass production. Phytoaccumulation tests indicate that this species accumulate rapidly heavy metal as a 415-fold increase of cadmium and a 32-fold increase of copper were evidenced on the first 24h after contamination. Moreover, preliminary results concerning the reintroduction of M. alterniflorum clones in degraded and non-polluted areas are also rather encouraging, indicating that this taxon is a good candidate to freshwater restoration.
Biological activity in soils of coal-waste heaps of the mining basin of Provence
Mélanie Clouard
The coal mining industry in Provence (Bouches-du-Rhône, France) stopped in 2003 and mining wells were closed at that time. The mining basin of Provence presents several specific aspects, which are : the nature of the coal (low grade brown coal), a Mediterranean environment (climate, vegetation and soil), its location within an expending metropolitan area and, a large set of spoil heaps with contrasting characteristics.In this area, coal-waste heaps are a mixture of various materials extracted from the mine (marno-calcareous shales, brown coal…) and fly ashes (in the most recent deposits) from the nearby thermal power plant. Some of these heaps have been left unattended since more than 50 years and some have been engineered and capped with a topsoil layer (younger heaps). Nearly all are vegetated and soils have started developing, especially on the old spoil heaps. Under different bioclimatic conditions, these young ecosystems have ever been shown to develop faster than natural ecosystems ). Microbial processes are responsible for the turnover of the organic matter, but little is known on microbial activity of these newly formed soils, especially under Mediterranean climate. The purpose of this study is thus to highlight changes in microbial properties according to the age and the exposure of the heaps and to compare them with microbial properties of natural soils, especially regarding enzymatic activities that are responsible for the turnover of the organic matter. The fluoresceine diacetate activity (FDA) is known to estimate the total enzymatic activity of soil artificial samples collected at 0-5 cm and 15-30 cm in soil profiles located on the South hillside at different locations : at the top (355m NGF) and below (340m NGF). Results are compared with respirometry measurements performed with the Oxitop system, on the same samples set at various soil moistures.
Calcareous grassland restoration in the Calestienne area (
Lucia Ferroni, Julien Piqueray, Gregory Mahy, Maria Speranza
Management strategies for restoration of calcareous grasslands demand in-depth understanding of vegetation processes. For this purpose the functional approach using plant functional traits could be a promising new way. In this study we focused on the analysis of some plant traits to detect general trends in trait variation in response to restoration. Two dominant species, Brachypodium pinnatum and Carex flacca, were studied in four calcareous grassland sites in
Development of frequently applied grassland restoration treatments and consequences for subsequent management
Mareike Conrad, Sabine Tischew
The decrease of mesotrophic grasslands over the last centuries throughout
Ecological restoration of the Kalmykian Steppe (Lower Volga Delta, Russia) as a natural result of the discontinued soviet agronomy, detected in remote sensing data from 1962 – 2007
Sergej Bergsträsser, Torsten Prinz, Norbert Hölzel
During the Soviet period the semi-arid and arid zones in the southern part of the former USSR were strongly altered by an intense and often inappropriate agricultural land use which caused severe ecological damages to landscape: vast areas of the Kalmykian Steppe (North Caspian Region) were affected by desertification processes as a result of overgrazing, which led to pasture degradation, excessive deflation and salinization of soils. After the collapse of the
On the use of soil organisms to assess restoration of wet meadows on peat soil in place of sandpit
Matthieu Chauvat, Gabriel Perez, Pierre Margerie, Estelle Langlois, Michaël Aubert, Fabrice Bureau
In recent years, in the frame of ecological research, reconstructing functional soil appears as one of the next key issues for restoration practice. In fact, many ecosystem services, from biogeochemical cycles to biodiversity conservation, depend on soil compartment healthy enough to support a complex array of soil biota. However, few studies of ecological restoration have so far focused on soil organisms albeit they supply ecosystem processes needed for a sustainable future. This is especially true in sandy or gravel pits exploitation causing severe environmental impacts by removing the vegetation cover and depleting the fauna. In
Preliminary results on Orthoptera of multi-treatments steppe restoration processes in
Jean-François Alignan, Jean-François Debras, Thierry Dutoit
The
Restoration management in wet grasslands – results from a 20 year-lasting field experiment
Till Kleinebecker, Yvonne Oelmann, Peter Schwarze, Gabriele Broll, Kathrin Poptcheva, Verena Möllenbeck, Andreas Vogel, Norbert Hölzel
In Europe, low productive wet grasslands are of high conservation value due to their high plant species richness and their capacity as a habitat for endangered fauna. Conservation and restoration of these semi-natural ecosystems depending on low-intensity farming often suffer from poor knowledge on successional pathways of respective habitats under different management treatments. Here, we present the results of a 20-year permanent plot experiment in semi-natural wet grasslands in NW Germany including mowing with and without fertilizer addition and fallow. The studied wet grassland communities responded quite similar under equal management. Fallow resulted in the most significant changes in floristic and functional composition facilitating highly competitive rushes and tall forbs. For all mowing treatments without fertilizer application, we still observed directed changes in the floristic composition even after 20 years. In particular mowing twice led to decreasing productivity and a shift in floristic composition towards stress-tolerant plants with low nutrient demands. Nutrient removal in non-fertilized plots significantly decreased over the study period. The changes were more pronounced the more the experimental management treatment differed from the former use. These results documented that restoration of low-yielding target communities by regular mowing is possible – even in an area with high atmospheric nitrogen inputs. Plant species richness was maintained or even slightly increased by mowing twice a year without fertilization but mainly comprised species that were already present at the study sites. This underlines the very slow immigration and spread of new species due to dispersal limitation of many target species
SALVERE - Semi-natural grassland as a source of biodiversity improvement - a Central Europe Project
Anita Kirmer, Sandra Mann, Birgit Feucht, Albin Blaschka
SALVERE is the name of a project within the
Soil seed bank in successional calcareous alvar grassland in northern
Rein Kalamees, Kersti Püssa
European semi-natural dry alvar grasslands on shallow calcareous soils are eminent for very high small-scale species richness. Overgrowing succession due to cessation of grazing seriously decreases both the area and species richness of these grasslands. In order to investigate whether the seeds of grassland species stay in the seed bank during overgrowing succession, we sampled the seed bank successional alvar grasslands in northern
Vegetation recovery in floodplain meadows in
Jaak Albert Metsoja, Silvia Pihu, Kai Vellak
Floodplain meadows are one of the most ancient community formations made by human activities. Never been numerous nowhere in North-Europe, the existence of them has become questionable nowadays while the motivation of management has disappeared together with breaking traditional land use. Floodplain meadows are rich in rare plant, bird and insect species and therefore their management for preserving their species richness has taken over by nature protection areas just recently. In
Assessing the ecological benefits in a Mediterranean river after a physical restoration
Bernard Montuelle, Virginie Archaimbault, Evelyne Trichet, Bernard Dumont, Christian Chauvin, Alain Dutartre
In the past many watercourses were managed in agricultural or anti flooding purposes, disregarding the ecological characteristics of these water bodies. The evolution of the perceptions of rivers ecological services leads managers to implement restoration in order to obtain a better ecological status. The river Vistre is greatly modified by strong hydraulic modifications. A management plan was built in 2001 based on a physical restoration a river section to increase ecological functioning and biodiversity of the water body. In
Environmental flows in a context of ecological restoration : a case study of rivers Arga and Aragon (Navarra, Spain)
Judit Maroto, Diego García de Jalón, Marta González del Tánago
According to several authors flow regimes determine the ecological integrity of rivers through its influence in water quality, in the availability and characteristics of physical habitats, as an energy source for the geomorphologic processes or as a way to maintain material flows and organisms and for the development of biological interactions. However, Natural instream flows are increasingly being modified through impoundments such as dams and weirs, abstractions for agriculture and urban water supply, drainage return flows and structures for flood control. These interventions have caused significant alteration of flow regimes mainly by reducing the total flow and affecting the variability and seasonality of flows. In Navarra Region (
How to restore riverbanks in natural ecosystems with many people using ecological services at the same time?
Pedro Joaquín Gutiérrez-Yurrita
Most of
Integrated analyses for a better calibration of fluvial habitats restoration interventions
Maria Teresa Carone, Tiziana Simoniello, Anna Loy, Maria Laura
The identification of ecologically correct restoration interventions is a crucial topic, and taking into account all the critical aspects of a damaged habitat is very difficult, particularly for river ecosystems due to their strict functional links with the surrounding territory. For suggesting scientifically based strategies, a useful approach can be based on the analysis of the environmental needs of species, whose survival depends on the conservation status of the entire basin (e.g. Eurasian otter - Lutra lutra L.), jointly with synthetic information on different aspects affecting the primary functions of the river. We tested such an approach in the Otter Italian core area, in two sub-basins (
Mediterranean riparian vegetation: tools to improve studies, management and restoration
Simon Dufour, Élise Buisson, Vincent Tamisier, Émilie Deschamps, Noëllie Fonvieille
Riparian biodiversity conservation and management issues are major issues in the Mediterranean biome, where (i) ecosystems are sensitive to climatic and hydrological conditions (and therefore changes) and (ii) their spatial structure remains poorly known both locally and regionally. In order to improve the scientific basis for sustainable management we propose a dual approach: 1) we conducted a field study on rivers in south-eastern
Morphodynamics restoration and redynamisation of the bypassed section of the Rhine downstream Kembs dam - Interreg / EDF projects
Piégay H., Aelbrecht D., Béal D., Arnaud F., Hoenen D., Johnstone K., Schmitt L., Rollet A.-J., Alonso C., Barillier A., Bouchard J.-P., Clutier A., El Kadi Abderrazzak K., Garnier A., Pinte K., Gantzer L., Vinel D., Armburster J., Spaeth V., Blanchard B., Burlet D., Pleis B., Béraud C., Camenen B., Lecoz J., Paquier A., Billard C., Dietrich L., Trautmann T., Dittrich A., Koll K., Huppmann O., Meineke J., Ostermann R., Pfarr U., Seitz B.-J, Knibiely P., Merckling L., Combroux I., Trémolières M., Piquette E.,Wintz M.
Over the two last centuries, the
Special session 4: Birds & sustainable management in Mediterranean riparian areas: Bird studies in the RIPIDURABLE project
Jean E. Rabaça, Ana Mendes, Paula C. Dias, Carlos Godinho, Jean E. Roché, Bernard Frochot, Bruno Faivre, Eric Dincuff, Philippe Perret, Pierre-André Crochet, Inês Roque, Alexandre Vaz
RIPIDURABLE is an INTERREG IIIC European Program involving 10 partners from
Special session 4: Restoration of the drugeon basin
Jean-Noël Resch, Geneviève Magnon, François Degiorgi, Hervé Decourcières
Between 800 and 900m a.s.l. in the Haut-Doubs, the Drugeon valley occupies a glacial basin of approx. 170 km². It is famous for its wide and diverse wetlands which represent 1/7 of the territory. The Drugeon occupies the bottom of the valley over more than 35km, until its confluence with the
Special session 4: The project RICOVER: River Recovery in the SUDOE Region
Ana Mendes, Maria Teresa Ferreira, António Albuquerque, Maria Helena Almeida, ,Jordi Camprodon, Paulo Cruz, Sofia Delgado, André Fabião, António Fabião, Carla Faria, Rosário Fernandes, David Gu
RICOVER project (River Recovery in the SUDOE Region http://www.ricover.eu, 2009-2011) was born from the desire to apply Ripidurable project guidelines to the recovery of natural environment to the SUDOE region, and specifically to improve the ecological quality of riparian zones and the sustainability of river ecosystems. Its general aim is to create, define or apply common strategies for the protection and restoration of SUDOE fluvial corridors. The partnership is leaded by the Technical University of Lisbon (Instituto Superior de Agronomia, PT) and includes a regional water authority (ARH Algarve, PT), a water management enterprise (Águas do
Special session 4: The RIPIDURABLE project – sustainable management of riparian areas
Ana I. Mendes, Maria-Helena Almeida, K Arvanitis, Daniel Arizpe, Y Chatzinikolaou, Pierre- André Crochet, Paula C. Dias, Panayotis Dimopoulos, Eric Dincuff, André Fabiao
Riparian areas are dynamic and complex ecosystems, harboring a rich mosaic of aquatic, semi-aquatic and terrestrial habitats. Their vegetation filters pollutants, stabilizes soil against erosion, and functions as a refuge for plant communities and wildlife, thus contributing to preserve biodiversity. They function as ecological corridors and also display a specific up-stream/down-stream organization. It may be difficult for management authorities to implement suitable measures for the conservation and management of riparian zones, either due to poor technical know-how, poor planning, and/or to a lack of indigenous plant species for riparian restoration. To address these problems, the scientific community became involved in an Interreg IIIC - project co-funded by the European Union. The name RIPIDURABLE, coined from “RIPI” (Latin riparius, “river bank”) + “DURABLE” (French, “sustained”), conveys the idea behind this project: “sustainable river”. RIPIDURABLE seeks for a rational conservation management, bringing together the economic potential of riparian areas with their functional role in the conservation of nature, water, soil and landscape. Institutes with experience in environmental evaluation, habitat restoration and propagation of forest plant species, were brought together with both national research organizations and local authorities with management competencies. Ten partners of four countries (
The River Enningdalselva, a biological diverse watershed along the border, well suited for teaching purposes
Marit Eriksen, Louise Buhre, Andreas Bäckstrand,Margareta Nordström, Bjørn Walseng
Enningdal watershed, on the southernmost part of the Swedish – Norwegian border, with its sources in Norway, draining northwards through Sweden and Norway,reaching the border fiord Iddefjorden. The high diversity of aquatic biota in the region was reduced because of acidification in the last century. In order to restore the water quality, liming started on a large scale in 1980. Since then the water quality in formerly acidic lakes has improved. Historical data of fish community status have been obtained, and a study including water chemistry, crustacean and test-fishing was conducted in 60 lakes in
Conservation of Bromus bromoideus: feasibility study of the reintroduction of a plant extinct in the wild
Sandrine Godefroid, Julien Piqueray, Kathy Danhieux, Christine Poelaert, Benoît Delpeuch, Abigail de Martynoff, Maïté Deplechin, Florence Hecq, Marie Legast, Bernard Bodson, Louis-Marie Delescaille, Gilles Colinet, Thierry Vanderborght, Grégory Mahy
Bromus bromoideus is an endemic species from Belgium and North France. It was first discovered in 1823 and was almost exclusively restricted to spelt fields on calcareous soils. Then, in the latter part of the 19th century, the species became progressively rare and is now considered to be extinct in the wild since 1935. Fortunately, the plant still exists in ex situ collections, and seeds stored for decades at 5% moisture content and
GENMEDA : Network of Mediterranean Plant Conservation Centres
Myriam Virevaire
The partners who share a common floristic region, a geographical area with a similar landscape and a common set of problems concerning natural environment disruptions, establish among themselves a network of seed banks and conservation centres of genetic resources of Mediterranean flora.
Impact de Ludwigia grandiflora sur les micro-organismes et détermination des molécules bio-actives responsables : restauration d’écosystèmes et valorisation de la biomasse végétale.
Imen Smida, Jean Le Petit, Gérard Audran, Isabelle Giffard, Claude Charpy-Roubaud
Les hydrophytes Ludwigia sp. sont responsables de la dégradation des écosystèmes qu’elles envahissent. La perte de biodiversité des micro-organismes a été observée. Il en est de même pour le maintien de la pureté de l’eau des aquariums dans lesquels les plantes ont également été cultivées pour assurer un suivi plus contrôlé. Ces observations prêtent a priori aux Ludwigia des capacités allélopathiques qui, par ailleurs, se manifesteraient en fonction du stade de développement de la plante. Les recherches développées visent à déterminer l’impact écologique de Ludwigia grandiflora sur les micro-organismes en fonction de son développement, à cibler les molécules bioactives responsables des effets allélopathiques et à déterminer leur nature. La méthodologie utilisée est celle des antibiogrammes, pour la microbiologie, appliquée à des souches de collection. L’étude en chimie organique en cours de réalisation a permis de déceler des structures organiques, non encore identifiées. L’objectif de l’étude est, à terme, la compréhension du fonctionnement du milieu, à des fins de restauration des écosystèmes et de perspectives de valorisation d’une biomasse polluante. Ces travaux sont développés dans le cadre d’une thèse de doctorat franco-tunisienne.
RESTOGEN : Restoring Habitats and Plant Genetic Diversity
Alexandre Henry, Michel Boutaud, Eric Collin, Yves Gabory, Pascal Laigle, Hervé Le Bouler, Damien Provendier, Nathalie Frascaria-Lacoste
Genetic diversity is the key to the adaptation of living, it represents a way to respond to the environmental uncertainties, particularly in the context of global climate change. Taking evolutionary genetics into account is fundamental for the design, implementation and expectation of ecological restoration. However, in practice, this is rarely considered. Nevertheless, managers are more and more wondering about the nature and origin of plant material for use in restoration. Local plants are often recommended and preferred, but the lack of a methodological framework to collect and multiply these plants inhibits these actions and gives rise to doubts about the validity of practical methods used to preserve a degree of genetic diversity: How many seeds of how many individuals? Which individuals? Should we prefer local material? The RESTOGEN program was created to answer to these questions, and to supply managers with knowledge on genetic diversity and appropriate sampling methods. A first study revealed that the ash trees in the area of Saumur (France) were hybrids between Fraxinus excelsior L. and Fraxinus angustifolia Vahl. This hybrid status does not fit in the European regulation on Forest Reproductive Material, which considers pure species only. Consequently, restoration with local ash plants obtained from trade is prohibited. A second study is being carried out with the common privet (Ligustrum vulgare L.) to examine whether adaptive and genetic differences exist between populations of different regions of origin.
Rhinanthus minor as a tool for grassland restoration: establishment and effects on vegetation composition
Markus Wagner, Matt Heard, Jodey Peyton, James Bullock, Richard Pywell
Grassland restoration sites are often characterized by high residual soil fertility, resulting from intensive former land use. This tends to translate into a highly productive plant cover which, in turn, hampers establishment of specialist species from less fertile target communities. In recent years there has been a growing interest in the introduction of hemi-parasitic grassland species into restoration sites. These hemi-parasites tend to preferentially parasitize highly competitive grasses and by doing so, they can significantly reduce competition and facilitate the establishment of grassland forbs. We established a multi-factorial field experiment at three different grasslands to determine optimal sowing densities and the amount of pre-sowing disturbance required to establish three different subspecies of the hemiparasitic Rhinanthus minor L. (yellow-rattle), and to investigate their effects on extant plant communities and their potential to facilitate establishment of site-specific mixtures of target forb species. Results from the first year indicate that optimal levels of pre-sowing disturbance for the establishment of Rhinanthus depend on the type of grassland it is sown to, and that performance at specific sites varies between the different subspecies. However, medium to high densities of Rhinanthus are consistently effective in suppressing dominant grasses.
Silene portensis L. : déplacement d’une population à partir de sa banque de semences du sol.
Myriam Virevaire
Le déplacement d’une population sauvage, ou translocation, se place dans le contexte de l’écologie de la restauration, un domaine scientifique récent et en pleine émergence qui s’intéresse aux procédés visant à augmenter les probabilités de survie de populations menacées (réintroductions, renforcements, translocations…) ou à réhabiliter des écosystèmes dégradés. Le cas de cette population est à ce titre novateur dans la méthode employée et des résultats obtenus. Silene portensis est une plante annuelle au port herbacé pouvant atteindre
An afforestation activity by Mediterranean shrubs in
Giovanbattista de Dato, Paolo De Angelis, Riccardo Valentini
In order to restore degraded and abandoned soils in the arid and semi-arid regions of the Mediterranean basin, planting indigenous shrubs might be an efficient tool, contributing to combat desertification, but also to increase carbon sinks. The aims of this work were to show the results of plant survival and biomass growth three years after an afforestation activity by allochtonous shrub species, trying to explain the role of different densities, specific compositions and plant dimensions, and the role of fauna on plant establishment. The area is located in North West Sardinia, and is characterized by a Mediterranean climate. The revegetation was set up in February 2006, planting local species (Juniperus phoenicea, Pistacia lentiscus and Rosmarinus officinalis). Three densities and three specific compositions (monospecific plots with P. lentiscus, monospecific plots with J. phoenicea and mixed plots with the three cited species) were combined. All the area was fenced. Three plots of the total were additionally fenced. Plant growth and root taking were periodically monitored over the whole period. Plant mortality showed a high patchiness. The highest survival rates were observed in the fenced plots. Densities did not bring any effect on survival rates. Mixed plots seemed to give a better success of the plantation, because allowed the more xeric species to grow. Grazing exclusion and plant mixing would bring benefits to the success of shrubland restoration in abandoned soils in Mediterranean areas characterized by arid and semi-arid climatic conditions. These data on the initial conditions and recurrent monitorings will be basic for evaluating in the long term the potential positive effects of the plantation.
Analysis of the Estonian forest conservation area network
Henn Korjus, Diana Laarmann, Janely Leemets
In 1997 the Estonian Forest Policy set an objective to increase the area of strictly protected forests to 4% as minimum from total forest area in order to expand the area of old-growth under protection, to improve the ecosystem coverage of conservation areas and to establish large conservation sites. Inventory of forests was carried out on existing and possible new conservation areas within the Estonian Forest Conservation Area Network project (EFCAN) in 1999-
Analysis of woodland plant and bird community richness along a rural-urban gradient - Opportunities to maintain and restore biodiversity in urban areas
Clémence Gault, Joséphine Pithon, Jeanne Vallet, Véronique Beaujouan, Hervé Daniel
The effect of urbanization on species distribution has been extensively documented, but a main challenge is to better integrate semi-natural habitats in urban planning and management. Urban woodlands are often considered as emblematic habitats for the restoration of nature in cities and for providing ecosystems services. The objective of this work is (1) to compare the richness of plant and bird communities of woodlands along an urban-rural gradient and (2) to assess the influence of dominant vegetation types and their distribution on exotic, ruderal or forest plant richness. The dominant vegetation types and their composition are related to management and characterized by the understory vegetation (dominated by brambles, grasses, ivy…). Fifty sites (of an average surface of
Can wet heaths dominated by Erica tetralix be restored from a species-poor abandoned meadow?
Rainer Buchwald
In NW-Germany we studied the floristic composition of an Erica tetralix heath that had been restored by hay transfer after soil removal on an abandoned, species-poor wet meadow dominated by the Soft Rush (Juncus effusus). We combined two factors: with/without transfer of cut heath from an adjacent Ericetum tetralicis, and with/without removing the stands of Juncus effusus after insufficient soil removal; with this we were able to compare four different variants. We found the highest species diversity in the two variants with removal of the Soft Rush, while the best establishment of Erica tetralix (and Calluna vulgaris) took place in the variant with hay transfer and removal of J. effusus. As expected, the highest density of the Soft Rush and lowest species diversity as well as heath abundance were found in the variant without hay transfer and without sufficient soil removal. We conclude that restoration of a typical species-rich Erica heath can be made possible only by transfer of cut heath material on open soil without great seed amounts of non-typical plant species like J. effusus, Rumex spp. or others in the upper soil layer.
Compensatory measurements associated with the construction of the Breña II dam: infestation level assessment of the woodborers in oak forests from the southern Iberian Peninsula
Ana M. Cárdenas; Patricia Gallardo, Lourdes Moyano and Juan M. Hidalgo
This study is part of a Research Project devoted to assess the incidence of woodborer insects in the oak forests inside the Hornachuelos Natural Park (southern Iberian Peninsula). This area is currently being subjected to the Environmental Recovery Program associated to the construction of the Breña II dam. The most prevalent woodborers in southern
Evaluation of restoration potential using transfer of seed-containing plant material in herbaceous layer vegetation of secondary woodland
Susumu Yamada
Application of seed-containing plant material is a successful technique to transfer plant species onto restoration sites. However, this restoration method is almost confined to semi-natural open habitats. We are now planning to recreate secondary woodland with floristically diverse understory vegetation. As the first step, plant material mown from understory vegetation was taken for germination tests to assess the potential ability of propagule recruitment. The study was carried out in a suburban area of
Forest ecosystem restoration patterns on abandoned oil-shale mining areas in
Diana Laarmann, Henn Korjus, Allan Sims, Ahto Kangur
Many and various processes occurring in natural succession are powerful for soil development, particularly in its critical biological aspects. These processes should support restoration of ecosystem after degradation to obtain the self-sustaining natural resilience mechanisms and do not require external inputs. There are several indicators of rehabilitation success to determine sustainability of ecosystems established on abandoned mines. Landscape function analysis, vegetation dynamics and habitat complexity assessment on primary successions is often compared with a range of undisturbed, benchmark landscapes. Oil shale mining in
Influence of traditional forest management on demographic structure and spatial distribution of Caesalpinia spinosa
Irene Cordero, Cristina Herrero-Jáuregui, María Dolores Jiménez, ,Juan Antonio Delgado, Luis Villegas, Percy Jiménez, Luis Balaguer
Traditional land uses affect forest development, being crucial for understanding the structure and dynamics of tree populations. Ecological restoration must take into account traditional uses in order to reconcile forest management and local development. In this work we study the
Influence silvoarable agroforestry system on diversity patterns of ground-beetles (Carabidae) and vascular plant in agricultural landscapes
Michel-Pierre Faucon, David Grandgirard, Jean-Didier Clément
Silvoarable Agroforestry Systems (SAS) are the organised cultivation of trees and arable crops on the same parcel. SAS are supposed to address a large range of agro-ecosystem threats (C sequestration, soil erosion, nitrate leaching…) so that they are actually considered as alternative systems to mitigate climate changes and preserve soil and water quality. Besides, SAS seem to have potential contribution to the conservation of biodiversity that should be of advantage to study. Our project is to explore advantages of silvoarable systems for biodiversity conservation by comparing ground-beetles (Carabidae) and vascular plants assemblages among habitats in an agricultural landscape. Objectives are to examine the distribution patterns of ground-beetles and vascular plants communities (1) spatially in relation with the composition and structure of the neighbouring agricultural landscape, (2) temporally, for a given parcel, by comparing ex-ante and ex-post communities sampled. For (1), an intensive field survey will be conducted twice a year to record all ground-beetles and vascular plant species that are present within three 25km² agricultural landscapes areas exhibiting a significant proportion of SAS. All records will be georeferenced and incorporated to the GIS. A species list will be compiled for each habitat (?-diversity) to allow for habitats comparison (?-diversity) and determine ?-diversity at landscape level. Besides that, for (2), annual measurement of ground-beetles and vascular plants diversity will perform in a SAS field newly established.
Macrofauna of the soil, pine bark and topsoil as the bio-indicators of change in forest ecosystem
Maria Marko-Worlowska, Anna Chrzan, Tomasz Laciak
The impact of urban industrial agglomeration of Kraków on the biggest forest complex
Need of restoration in urban boreal forests?
Oili Tarvainen, Rauni Strömmer, Annamari Markkola
Boreal urban forests are becoming more and more fragmented and, at the same time, are exposed to low-level but long-term nitrogen and sulphur deposition. Natural mid-boreal forests are dominated by few tree and shrub species, while herbs and grasses are rare. Soils in mid-boreal forests are rich in ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi, forming a symbiotic relationship with forest trees, which is important for the nutrient cycle especially in nutrient-poor ecosystems. Urban forests around
Reintroduction and reinforcement of endangered woody species populations in Tapia woodland, Mount Ibity, Madagascar
Swanni T. Alvarado Romero, Elise Buisson, Harison Rabarison, Charlotte Rajeriarison, Chris Birkinshaw, Porter P. Lowry II
After centuries of environmental degradation, the indigenous vegetation of Madagascar is now highly fragmented, reduced to small islands of relatively intact vegetation drowned in a sea of anthropogenic prairies. This situation has serious implications for the capacity of
Restoring natural communities after pine forestry
Rachael Ord, Deanna Rokich, Shane Turner, Jason Stevens, Kingsley Dixon
This study assesses the potential of returning native Banksia woodlands to regions of Western Australia that have been occupied by Pinus pinaster Ait. (Maritime Pine) pine plantations for up to 50 years. It will provide crucial knowledge essential in the continuing development of restoration techniques that maximise the establishment of Banksia woodland species, which are increasingly threatened by clearing for urbanisation and mining. This study will extend Banksia woodland restoration techniques developed to date and apply them to the old field environment of pine plantations, aiming to determine if the 50 year persistence of pine plantations has affected the soil environment and its ability to sustain the former Banksia woodland ecosystem. This will be investigated through topsoil seedbank analyses; physical and chemical soil analyses; seedling establishment, survival, health and physiology trials; combined with an overall ecosystem health analysis utilising invertebrate and mycorrhizal activity sampling. With the State government planning to replace 23,
Restoration of a transition forest using soil and seed rain transfers near Andohahela National Park, Southeastern Madagascar
Fanambinantsoa Noromiarylanto , Ramanoelina Harijaona, Harison Rabarison, Fidisoa Ratovoson, Jimmy Randrianaivo, Porter P. Lowry II, Elise Buisson
The present study examines various ways of restoring a transition forest after cultivation and fire. The study sites are located in the transitional zone midway along a sharp precipitation/altitudinal gradient across a corridor between two large blocks of
Sequence of facilitation, allelopathy and competition within a single growth season between an aridland shrub and its understory grass
Mohammad Jankju, Parvaneh Abrishamchi, Azam Maghamnia, Asieh Behdad
Research on plant-plant interactions provide the basic information for restoration of degraded ecosystems. Measuring the physiological ecology parameters helps us to understand the mechanisms underlying shrifts in the type and intensity of plant interactions across the gradients of environmental severity. We compared the interactions between an aridland nurse shrub Artemisia Khorasania krasch, and a perennial forage grass Bromus kopetdaghensis podle, in a semiarid rangeland,
The effect of a restoration program on the Orthopteran diversity from a protected area in the southern Iberian Peninsula
Ana M. Cárdenas; Juan M. Hidalgo, Lourdes Moyano and Patricia Gallardo
The Directive 92/43/EEC of the European Council on the Conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora establishes that member States must take all compensatory measures necessary to ensure that the overall coherence of Natura
Change and recovery of plant after flooding events, Upo Wetland
Gu Yeon Kim, Hyun Hee Son, Gee Jae Joo
An evaluation of the effects of flooding on the limnology of a riverine wetland ecosystem, the Upo Wetland, was carried out. The physico-chemical and biological characteristics were monitored biweekly. The annual water level changes in the Upo Wetland were small (<1m) except for the flooding period in summer (Jun. ~Sept.). During the study period, flooding events occurred two or three times a year. Water levels rose to 2 ~2.5 m due to precipitation in the catchment and inflow from the main channel of the
Changes in landscape ecological structure and diversity of plant associations 15 years after the restoration process of Lake Piskory
Chmielewski T. J., Sender J., Chmielewski Sz., Kolejko M.
Lake Piskory is situated in CE Poland, in the south-eastern part of the Vistula River spillway about
Development of a tool for restoring and managing wetlands within a ski area – example of the ski resort of Val-Thorens
Stéphanie Gaucherand, Alain Bédécarrats, Francis Isselin-Nondedeu
After the construction of a water catchment for artificial snow, the ski resort of Val-Thorens and the SETAM (Société des Téléphériques de Tarentaise Maurienne; Tarentaise and Maurienne’ cable-car society) must propose remedial and compensatories measures for the environmental impact on the protected plant Silene sudetica (red list of protected species). The
Ecological Restoration and rehabilitation needs of Bolkar moutains lakes,
Ecological restoration of the Lower Prut Floodplain Natural Park – through the project LIFE 05 NAT/RO/000155
Gina Alina Radu, Lucia Marica
The Lower Prut Floodplain Natural Park (8247ha) placed alongside of the lower floodplain Prut, eastern border of Romania with Republic of Moldavia, covers a vast range of natural and habitats with a stunning diversity of flora, fauna and avifauna, not only national, but also European, interest. It is the route of three major corridors for migratory birds on the Eurasian territory (East Elba route, Carpathian route and Pontic route), included in the European ecological network Natura2000 as SCI - ROSCI0105, Lower Prut Floodplain (
Long term research for habitat restoration of the endangered Banded Newt Triturus vittatus vittatus in Northern Israel
Oren Pearlson, Gad Degani
In order to establish ways to protect and restore the damaged habitats of the endangered amphibian species, the banded newt, more information is needed concerning their life history, genetic profile, ecological and biological parameters in the breeding sites they inhabit, as well as the anthropogenic and agricultural effects on their presence and absence from different ponds. Findings and records from the last 50 years provide evidence that populations of the banded newt were found in Israel from the cool humid areas in the north to the south, along the Mediterranean coastal plains, where conditions are dry and hot. Today we find that newt populations In Israel are disappearing from many habitats. Biotic and abiotic factors together with genetic analysis of populations from different sites in
Effect of Phosphorus and Nitrogen on the Growth of Two Forms of Warnstorfia fluitans (Hedw.) Loeske
Kairi Sepp, Mati Ilomets
We investigated Warnstorfia fluitans in laboratory experiment as a potential nursery-plant species for disturbed peatlands. We distinguished two forms of the species. Stems of the form 1 grow vertically up to
Evaluation of large scale bog restoration in northwestern
Birgit Sieg, Norbert Hölzel, Till Kleinebecker
In northwestern
Influence of lowbush blueberry plantation age on natural biodiversity on abandoned peat production area
Marge Starast, Tea Tasa, Katrin Jõgar
The objectives of this study were to compare the diversity and abundance of arthropods, mosses and lichens on different age low-bush blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium Ait.) plantation on abandoned peat field. Experimental area located in abandoned milled peat field,
Is aquatic vegetation removal as management technique a bless or a curse?
Annelies Boerema, Kris Bal, Hans Backx, Kerst Buis, Eric de Deckere, Ilse Loots, Patrick Meire, Jonas Schoelynck
Current land-use and changing climate conditions force lowland rivers to drain larger water quantities during ever shortening time periods. Drainage, however, is hampered by human artefacts such as weirs and bridges as well as by natural occurring aquatic vegetation. To avoid flooding and water related problems, river managers opt to remove aquatic vegetation. This action has ecological and economical consequences for local stakeholder living, working, farming or recreating in and around the river. With this research we tried to gain insight in the ecological, economical and social consequences of vegetation removal in the Nete Catchment (
Macroinvertebrate community in restored salt marshes with Spartina maritima
Guillermo Curado, Enrique Figueroa, Jesús M. Castillo
The use of the native European cordgrass Spartina maritima (Curtis) Fernald in salt marsh restoration projects is innovative and a few works have monitored its effects on the invertebrate community. This work analyzes the benthic macroinvertebrate community along the intertidal gradient in low marshes 2 years after S. maritima plantations in southwestern
Monitoring and assessment of a coastal dune restoration, Canet-en-Roussillon
Stéphanie Grosset, Philippe Richard, Hugues Heurtefeux
South of France Mediterranean coasts are highly coveted places. They are submitted to strong anthropic pressures: urbanization, mass tourism frequentation. The Golfe du Lion that stretches from
Natural propagule sources for wetland restoration on Rhine’s Island (Upper Rhine Floodplain)
Isabelle Combroux-Lazar, marlèneBiessy, Michèle Trémolières
During the two past centuries, the
Overcoming seed limitation in degraded inland sand ecosystems by epizoochorous dispersal: a five-year restoration project
Linda Freund, Saskia Wessels, Iris Retta, Carsten Eichberg, Christian Storm, Angelika Schwabe
To test the contribution of roaming sheep flocks to the colonisation of seed-limited restoration sites by means of epizoochorous seed dispersal, a field experiment was carried out (2005-2009) on three newly established nutrient-poor deep-sand plots. At the beginning of the experiment, seeds of 14 species typical for FFH-inland sand vegetation were experimentally attached to the fur of sheep. For most of these species, natural epizoochorous dispersal had been documented (Wessels et al. 2008). The sheep were present for 24 hours on the plots (Wessels-de-Wit & Schwabe 2010). Yearly sheep grazing as management was implemented. Within the investigation period 13 target species (e. g. the threatened species Koeleria glauca, Stipa capillata, Alyssum montanum subsp. gmelinii) became established. In the course of succession, however, ruderal species were introduced by aerial seed rain. Seed trap investigations showed high proportions of Conyza canadensis and Sisymbrium altissimum. Ruderalization processes were diminished by grazing. In 2009, target species ratios (target species number/total species number) were about 0.4 (target areas: 0.5-0.8). DCA showed that the plots developed in the direction of target areas. The experiment proves a contribution of sheep epizoochory to the restoration of endangered sand grassland by connecting target areas and isolated restoration sites.
Recovery of anuran community diversity following habitat replacement
Alain Pagano, Lesbarrères D., Fowler M., Lodé T.
The success of many pond restorations is often poorly documented. Following construction of a highway in western
Restoration of species-rich wetland by topsoil removal and seed transfer
Marcus Fritsch, Juliane Drobnik, Christian Storm, Angelika Schwabe
We studied wetland restoration in the model landscape of the Hessian reed, Germany. Before the experiments, the vegetation at the study site was species-poor mown grassland on an ex-arable field. The soil consists of 20-
Restoration of the habitat ‘humid dune slacks’ in ‘Hannecart-wood’ at Oostduinkerke
Jean-Louis Herrier, Marc Leten, Hannah Van Nieuwenhuyse
At Oostduinkerke, a former tidal channel of the medieval Yzer - estuary that for at least five centuries has been cut off from the sea, still forms an elongated hollow in between two higher ranges of dunes. The lime-rich groundwater of the surrounding dunes seeps to the surface of the hollow, that constitutes a calcareous marshland. Through the centuries the wet hollow was mainly used as hayfields. During the Interbellum and after the second World War, the area was afforested with alders and poplars by its private owners, the Hannecart-family, so that the afforested site was from then on called ‘Hannecart-wood’. The site, with a superficies of
Soft shoreline engineering: We built it, have they come?
Michael Zarull, John Hartig, Anna Cook, Mary Bohling
Historically, many urban shorelines were stabilized and hardened to protect developments from flooding and erosion, or to accommodate industry (i.e., hard shoreline engineering). Today, there is growing interest in developing shorelines using ecological principles to reduce erosion and achieve stabilization/safety, while enhancing habitat, improving aesthetics, and even saving money (soft shoreline engineering). In 2008–2009, a survey of 36 soft shoreline engineering projects in the
Vegetation development in the restored tidal estuarine wetland
Gu Yeon Kim, Gee Jae Joo, Hee Sun Park, Hyun Hee Son, Ji Yoon Kim
Phragmites australis (common reed) and Scirpus planiculmis is in the Nakdong estuary generally regarded as an ecologically beneficial plant providing habitat and food for endangered wildlife. The artificial wetlands (Eulsukdo, Daemadeung and Shinho-dong) were constructed in the mid 1990s in order to compensate for the loss of wetlands caused by the reclamation of industrial complexes and residential areas. Phragmites australis were planted at the artificial wetlands. However, monitoring and evaluation of these newly created habitats at these wetlands after the construction has not been made since the construction in 1996. We investigated the actual vegetation, basic geographical study and water quality at the artificial wetland in Eulsukdo. A total of 73 species of the plants were found in this study. Phragmites australis community dominated in this area (about 60% of the vegetation). Density, height and diameter of the reed community were 137±16.9/m2 (n=4), 148±36cm (n=100) and 4.9±
Restoring sponges in the Belgian
Martine Lejeune
This project deals with natural water retention. It is part of the Interreg IVB project AMICE (Adapatation of the
Factors controlling the vegetation dynamic at the roadside: application to new restoration protocols
Enrique García, Ignacio Mola, Maria Dolores Jiménez, Miguel Angel Casado, Luis Balaguer
The increasing global rate of road construction is leading to a parallel increase of areas of degraded environmental conditions. One of the main impacts of road construction is the creation of two contrasted scenarios: the high productivity – low stress embankments versus the low productivity – high stress roadcuts. The main of the present study is to identify what confluence of environmental factors determines the successful establishment and dynamic of the vegetation on this emerging ecosystem. We believe that this knowledge will provide insights that will aid the design of restoration protocols. The experimental study was comprised in two highways, the M-12 and M-13 (
Ground cover estimation on roadslopes: a method using digital photographs analysis
Luis Eduardo SanJoaquin, María Dolores Jiménez, Miguel Ángel Casado, Ignacio Mola, Rocío Torre, Ana Vázquez, Luis Balaguer
Roadslopes have a high risk of erosion and their sediments delivery to the roads drainage systems. After road construction, these new surfaces are commonly hydroseeded to provide plant cover and improve surface stabilization. Total vegetation cover are commonly estimated visually, as this constitutes a standard method for assessing hydroseeding success in infrastructure engineering, but this approach may be prone to observer bias. The aim of this study is to evaluate an alternative method using digital photographs analysis to quantify the ground cover more accurately and efficiently. Study area was located in two south oriented roadcuts on the M-12 highway (
Habitat suitability models for species selection in ecological restoration: an application to legume shrubs selection for roadside revegetation
Gastón A., García-Viñas J.I., Maroto J., Herrero B., Ropero C.
Shrub planting is a common practice in ecological restoration and is commonly used for roadside management for controlling soli erosion, for reducing headlight glare and for absorbing the energy of errant vehicles. As in any planting activity, an adequate species selection is required to avoid high mortality rates in ecological restorations. Habitat suitability models predict species presence likelihood as a function of environmental variables and may support species selection pointing the species more suitable for the habitat to be restored. Habitat distribution models for legume shrub species in
Roadslopes soil restoration: the role of decomposer edaphic fauna and soil physic and chemical parameters
Mónica Gutiérrez-López, Dolores Trigo, Mónica Otero, Miguel Berdugo
Soil degradation in artificial roadslopes areas shows severe erosion causing the loss of natural soil fertility. Understanding the factors that regulate the decomposition of residues and their contributions to fertility of soil systems is an important area of research. Descomposer biota ensures the decomposition of organic matter in soil, depending on properties of soil like the quantity and quality of plant litter and a range of physical, chemical and microclimatic factors. Microarthropods (usually used as indicators for soil quality evaluation) influence on decomposition through changes in the primary decomposer community and through the increasing of the surface area of plant detritus and faecal deposition for microbial attack. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of soil restoration of roadslopes (embankments) near
Role of plant-plant and plant-animal interaction in roadside reclamation
Rocio Torre, Álvaro Ramírez, María Dolores Jiménez, Ignacio Mola, Ana Vázquez, Miguel Ángel Casado, Silvia Murillo, Luis Balaguer
Infrastructure construction has given rise to novel scenarios. Little is know, however, about the ecological processes driving the state and cycle of these novel ecosystems. Plantations are a usual practice in land reclamation for aesthetic purposes, besides they may play an important role on ecosystem functioning. The main goals are: first, to analyse the effect of plantations (clusters of trees and shrubs) to attract bird dispersers, which introduce propagules increasing the interactions between roadslopes and the surrounding landscape; second, to determine whether clusters may catalyze nucleation processes and species interaction at the roadside. The experimental design was setup in the A-1 highway; El Molar (
A national monitoring scheme for restoration of traditional rural biotopes in Finland
Carina Järvinen, Katja Raatikainen
The amount of managed semi-natural meadows and pastures in Finland is less than
A simulation model for the restoration of the vegetation on ski trails under various scenarios of restoration procedures and management
Francis Isselin-Nondedeu, Alain Bédécarrats
Ecological restoration of high-altitude meadows degraded by ski trails construction or excavation works has two main objectives: 1- to stabilize rapidly the soil, 2- to promote the return of the vegetation with a structure and functioning satisfactory. However, this is a very long process with results difficult to predict because they are linked to the initial conditions of the restoration works and of the management that follows. We present a model which was developed for predicting vegetation changes under various scenarios of restoration and management. It is a mechanistic model based on rules of functional ecology and of ecophysiology rules of alpine plant species. The model is set up as a cellular automaton and simulates the community composition by taking into account (1) the nitrogen content and C/N of the soil, (2) the daily amount of temperature, (3) the local species pool, (4) the composition of the seed mixtures used for the revegetation, (5) a set of plant functional traits. Results make possible to visualize the trajectories in which the restored ecosystem is engaged. Simulations over 30 years allow to predict the abundance of particular functional groups and species coming either from the seed mixture or from the natural populations surrounding the site. Soil fertilization during the restoration process and thereafter is a key element. For instance, moderate levels of fertilization lead to highest levels of functional and species diversity. The model is useful for planning both restoration and management procedures of the vegetation on ski trails.
Application of Terrestrial Laser Scanner for monitoring geomorphic evolution of roadslopes under different restoration strategies
Estela Barroso, Fernando Barbero, José Francisco Martín Duque,
Road
Applying Australian-developed monitoring procedure to investigate soil disturbance level in boreal zone
Oili Tarvainen, Anne Tolvanen
An Australian-developed monitoring procedure, Landscape Function Analysis (LFA), shows how well an ecosystem works as a biogeochemical system. The LFA procedure consists of 1) measuring soil surface features in different type of habitat zones and 2) calculating stability, infiltration/runoff and nutrient cycling indices by scoring the measured features. The method is developed by Mr. David Tongway from CSIRO,
Error analysis and calibration of data collected with a Terrestrial Laser Scanner (TLS). Implications for monitoring surfaces evolution of roadslopes
Estela Barroso, Fernando Barbero, José Francisco Martín Duque, Saturnino De Alba
Terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) is an innovative surveying technology allowing the user to capture large amounts of 3D (x,y,z coordinates) data directly, rapidly and with high accuracy. As an example the equipment used in this work, a Leica ScanStation II, collects data at a rate of 50,000 points per second with a spatial resolution of
Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS) as a time- and cost-saving tool in restoration ecology
Valentin H. Klaus, Till Kleinebecker, Norbert Hölzel
The nutrient supply of herbaceous communities is negatively related to phytodiversity and data on the trophic status are thus crucial for implementation and evaluation of restoration measures, e.g. impoverishment of nutrient enriched grasslands. The chemical composition of the biomass, e.g. nitrogen and phosphorous contents, is a good and practicable proxy to determine the nutritional status. However, wet chemical analyses are very costly and time consuming, especially for a large number of samples and different entities of interest such as fibre fractions and primary nutrients. The application of the NIRS technology can reduce time and money expenses of lab analyses significantly. In this study, we sampled biomass of 150 grassland plots belonging to the biodiversity exploratories (www.biodiversity-exploratories.de), recorded NIR-spectra and determined concentrations of C, N, P, K, Ca, Mg and contents of fibre fractions (NDF, ADF, ADL) by reference methods. We developed calibration using partial least-squares regressions and tested the model quality by a cross-validation procedure as well as by external validation. We obtained good and useful models for all chemical components with prediction errors being in the range of the respective errors of the reference methods. The developed NIRS calibrations can be used to generate large data sets on nutrient contents in grassland biomass in a quick and cheap way, what is very useful to optimize planning and evaluation of restoration measures. We can also give some special recommendations on samples size to develop robust calibrations and for standardized sample preparation. Finally, we give ideas of applications of NIRS-technology.
Vegetation mapping methodology for monitoring and assessing success of ecological restoration operations.
Frédéric Bioret, Sébastien Gallet
At the scale of a restored site, vegetation mapping is one of the most appropriate tools for both spatializing and assessing the state of conservation of the whole studied area. The presented methodology and which has been built and tested on a selection of sites along the Atlantic coast, encompasses two complementary tools that can be used at the scale of a restored site. Mapping of vegetation units: each polygon is characterised by both physical and biological attributes rather easily observable on the field: soil structure and depth, structuring species, percentage of vegetation cover, indices of erosion. Assessment of the overall degeneration index of the vegetation, based on the Landscape degeneration index method: for each well conserved and degenerated vegetation unit, spatial extension of the degeneration is calculated. At the scale of the entire site, an overall index of landscape degeneration is evaluated. This methodology can be used for long term monitoring: it allows to define precisely the initial state of the vegetation and to assess successfulness of ecological restoration operations. Combined to a GIS database, the tool also provides synthetic maps that could be used to discuss with managers and policymakers for defining restoration objectives and principles, as well as ecological engineering methods.
Are functional groups and dispersal modes an option to predict vegetation dynamics on reclaimed mines?
Josu G. Alday, Yesica Pallavicini, Rob H. Marrs,
The vegetation dynamics on reclaimed sites are commonly described using richness and plant cover patterns through time. We expand this approach by considering functional groups and dispersal strategies, as important components of ecosystem function and key traits for colonization. Our objective was to analyze if the species richness and cover of these traits change during succession in 26 reclaimed coal mines, and if these changes improved the description of vegetation dynamics. The vascular plant species number and cover were monitored in 26 coal mines of different age, from 1-32 years since reclamation started. Functional groups richness showed a clear tendency in the order of species dominance starting from annuals, perennials and woody, whereas cover dominance was not similar to richness since perennials was the most important group covering the mines along the sequence. Dispersal modes showed that zoochorus and anemochorus species were the most influential on richness and cover. Our results suggest that the use of functional groups and dispersal strategies patterns improves the description and prediction of vegetation dynamics and allowed us to identify succesional stages. Our results also highlight that species response to disturbance are controlled in some part by species functional groups.
Is chronosequence correct approach for the prediction of succession?
Ondrej Mudrak
For many restoration studies the prediction of successional changes is essential. One of the most common approaches used for prediction substitute space for time (chronosequence). Sites of different age are explored and it is assumed that biota of the younger sites will be replaced by the biota of older sites. However, succession at each site is affected by many random factors, which are variable in time. Consequently, there is a discussion if such approach is correct or not. We sampled annually the vegetation (since 2002 to 2009 with gap in 2005 and 2006) on five sites at spoil heaps of Sokolov coal mining district (
Prediction of vegetation succession in a sand-pit: a basis for restoration
VEra Zemanová, Klára Rehounková, Karel Prach
Supporting spontaneous successional processes represents a progressive approach to restoration of sites disturbed by mining activities in various European countries. However, there are not many studies focused on quantitative and detailed prediction of vegetation succession in mining sites. We attempted to predict establishment of habitats and dominant vegetation types in a model sand pit after 25 years since the site abandonment. This age corresponds to a stage with already fully established vegetation using GIS models The prediction is based on a study of vegetation succession in many pits at a country scale and investigations in the given study site. In the site, mapping of dominant vegetation types in already re-vegetated parts of the pit (used as reference sites) and in the surrounding landscape up to
The use of waste water for agro-forestry multipurpose systems in desert Oases
Paolo De Angelis, Cristina Monteverdi, Sara Da Canal, Hocine Larbi, Federico Chiani, Riccardo Valentini
The Sahara oases are facing several environmental challenges related to human development and climate change. The increase of population and the overexploitation of natural resources are gradually destroying the fragile ecosystem equilibrium and the traditional social organization of the local community. In the oasis of Brezina in the wilaya of El Bayadh in
Landscape-scale spatial variability in dryland restoration success. The combined role of site conditions and technological effort
Haroun Kribeche, Esteban Chirino, Alberto Vilagrosa, Susana Bautista
Southeast
Climate change and changes in spatial nature structures in
Frederic Stragier
Abstraction of the success of mitigating short term measures, climate change will anyhow influence the way in which Flemish society organises its use of land and space. Instead of closing our eyes, it is time to develop strategies to anticipate to possible effects of climate change, or – put in other words – to assess new investments in spatial development and to investigate how to make them climate-proof so they can withstand the effects of climate change. Therefore a project (CcASPAR: Climate change And changes in SPAtial structures in Flanders: Research project) is set up with several scientific partners in the
Collaboration among scientists, landscape planners and practitioners to solve problems of "industrialized" urban mini plot viticulture
Thomas Siegmar
Actual changes of historic cultural landscapes include: loss of land form- and bio-diversity and naturalness; elimination of older more diversified agricultural landscapes. Examples will be discussed from a small and most northern wine region of
Effectiveness of restoration measures for WFD and Natura 2000
Wendy Liefveld, Bart Reeze Arcadis, Marieke Ohm
The European Water Framework Directive and the Habitat- and Birds Directive (Natura 2000) both demand ecological restoration measures in order to achieve management goals in the
Impact mitigation of the Chiaiano’s dump on the environment of the
Maria F. Caliendo, Lucilla Fusco, Valerio Mele
The Park of Naples hills (
Indication of archaeological features by soil chemical properties and by plant species composition in ancient medieval village in the
Jiri Ondrácek
The study site is an abandoned medieval village, located in central part of the
Summer schools on restoration ecology – Bringing together young scientists and practitioners throughout
Verena Möllenbeck, Norbert Hölzel
Summer Schools on restoration ecology for PhD students have become a tradition within SER Europe. After events in Bremen/Germany (2003), Sokolov/Czech Republic (2004) and Nijmegen/The Netherlands (2007), a Summer School took place in Münster/Germany in 2009. Summer schools are a promising instrument to enhance exchange of knowledge across frontiers by training young academics from