The role of spontaneous vegetation succession in ecosystem restoration: A perspective

Abstract

Abstract. The paper summarizes ideas which were discussed during the ‘Spontaneous Succession in Ecosystem Restoration’ conference and elaborated through further discussion among the authors. It seeks to promote the integration of scientific knowledge on spontaneous vegetation succession into restoration programs. A scheme illustrating how knowledge of spontaneous succession may be applied to restoration is presented, and perspectives and possible future research on using spontaneous vegetation succession in ecosystem restoration are proposed. It is concluded that when implementing spontaneous succession for ecological restoration the following points must be considered: setting clear aims; evaluation of environmental site conditions; deciding whether spontaneous succession is an appropriate way to achieve the aims; prediction of successional development; monitoring of the results. The need for interdisciplinary approaches and communication between scientists, engineers and decision‐makers is emphasized.

Vegetation and soil development in planted pine and naturally regenerated hardwood stands 48 years after mining

“…4). There were more similarities than differences between planted pine and un-reclaimed sites after 50 years, which is in agreement with European studies indicating that differences between reclaimed and naturally colonized post-mining sites decrease over time (Prach et al, 2001;Frouz et al, 2008). Rapid forest development in this particular case may be facilitated by the relatively small size of mined sites which may speed up natural succession, and the narrow, linear shape of the disturbance that left all parts of the site in relatively close proximity to intact forest.…”

“…Recovery of soil and vegetation is the basic precondition for recovery of a functional ecosystem (Bradshaw, 1997) and abandoned mined land may be gradually re-vegetated through the successional sequence, which leads to soil formation and ecosystem re-establishment. However, successional processes are slow, hence restoration approaches have been adopted to speed up ecosystem recovery, but the question of whether these result in long-term ecosystem recovery in a way that is similar to succession alone has not yet been often tested due to the relatively recent growth of restoration science (Prach et al, 2001;Frouz et al, 2008).…”

Temporary wetland restoration after rice cultivation: is soil transfer required for aquatic plant colonization?

“…However, sites situated in agricultural landscapes or with a long history of cultivation, such as the Cassaïre area, often show a weak ability to restore passively due to the lack of target species in the seed banks and/or few target seed sources (Collinge and Ray, 2009;Galatowitsch and Valk, 1996;De Steven et al, 2006). Moreover, on abandoned croplands, ruderal species may predominate, slowing down succession and preventing the establishment of target species (Prach et al, 2001a). In such cases, soil transfer may be an efficient method to accelerate succession.…”

“…In order to restore a wetland, two strategies can be adopted to establish plant communities: i) one based on spontaneous succession with recruitment from residual seed bank or from seed dispersal, or ii) active restoration which requires propagule introduction. Spontaneous colonization may provide satisfying results in terms of plant composition and may also promote wetland "self-design" capacity as a response to hydrological conditions (Mitsch et al, 1998;Prach et al, 2001a). If the appropriate environmental conditions, mainly consisting of flooding regimes, water depth, and salinity, are restored (Grillas, 1990), vegetation can rapidly establish from the residual seed bank (Leck, 2003;De Steven et al, 2006).…”

From numbers to ecosystems and biodiversity: A mechanistic approach to monitoring

“…Community structure is the outcome of interactions between ecological processes (Bradshaw 2000;Prach et al 2001). The evaluation of ecosystem management approaches (i.e.…”