Selecting plant species for practical restoration of degraded lands using a multiple-trait approach

Abstract

Ecological restoration is essential in rehabilitating degraded areas and safeguarding biodiversity, ecosystem services and human welfare. Using functional traits to plan restoration strategies has been suggested as they are the main ecological attributes that underlie ecosystem processes and services. However, few studies have translated ecological theory into actual restoration practices that can be easily used by different stakeholders. In this article, we applied a multiple-trait approach to select plant species for the restoration of degraded lands inside the Brazilian Amazon Forests. We selected 10 traits encompassing ease of management, geographical distribution and interactions with animals and other ecosystem services and scored these traits using 118 native species. Then, we ranked all species according to the total number of traits that they exhibited to obtain a list of 53 highly ranked species. In addition, we employed non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) to assess the variation in these traits across the entire group of species. Based on the results, we selected a subset of species that maximizes functional diversity (high variability). We performed a sparse linear discriminant analysis (SLDA) to highlight a minimum set of traits to effectively discriminate botanical families. The final list of species and their traits highlight the importance of preserving not only the historical reference of a focused ecosystem but also its functional diversity to restore the interaction with local fauna, enrich the food chain and guarantee ecosystem services for local communities.

Generating species assemblages for restoration and experimentation: A new method that can simultaneously converge on average trait values and maximize functional diversity

“…One limitation of the original approach is that it tended to select assemblages of species that were functionally similar and therefore not functionally diverse. Restoration practitioners have long been interested in restoring diverse assemblages of species for conservation, and there has been increasing interest in selecting species that optimize functional diversity in restoration projects (Funk, Cleland, Suding, & Zavaleta, ; Ostertag, Warman, Cordell, & Vitousek, ; Giannini et al., ). Functional diversity may bolster the stability of a community (Hallett, Stein, & Suding, ), may enhance invasion resistance (Hooper & Dukes, ), and can be important to the delivery of multiple ecosystem services (Gagic et al., ).…”

Undertaking large‐scale forest restoration to generate ecosystem services

“…The local or alpha or diversity is modest but species combinations at each site vary across the province depending on local environmental conditions. Hence, some 40 tree species have been initially identified for use across the region with the possibility that a wider range may be used when further seed sources are identified (in future the trait‐based approach for species selection outlined by Giannini et al could be useful here). It is too early to assess the successional trajectory of these plantings or their capacity to deliver the ecosystem services required but the managers are confident these multispecies plantings will be more functionally effective than monocultures and more resilient.…”

Should I pick that? A scoring tool to prioritize and valuate native wild seed for restoration

“…Natural resource managers sow seed or plant seedlings to revegetate severely disturbed lands, and they select plant species based on several considerations (Graff & McIntyre ; Giannini et al ). Managers are increasingly mandated to revegetate sites toward native vegetation, so they prioritize native species and minimize the use of non‐native species (Macdonald et al ; De Vitis et al ).…”

“…They also consider species that contribute to ecosystem succession and function, through biomass production, nutrient fixation and sequestration, soil development, the production of shade and suitable microclimates for later successional species or pollinator attraction (Walker et al ). Managers may even consider species with conservation or cultural or economic value (Giannini et al ). Lastly and most practically, managers select species whose seed or plant material is both available and cost‐effective.…”