Vegetation and soil recovery on gypsum outcrops in semi-arid Spain

Dana, Elías D.; Poveda, Juan Francisco Mota

doi:10.1016/j.jaridenv.2005.08.009

Cited by 49 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 33 publications

(53 reference statements)

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“…Dana and Mota investigated successional plant and soil dynamics on abandoned quarries, also using the chronosequences approach. They got the results that there is an increase in complexity of communities, an improvement in edaphic conditions, and a stronger positive correlation between the nutritional level and plant communities with an increase in abandoned time (Dana and Mota 2006). Peco et al studied the changes in floristic composition, species richness, and heterogeneity on abandoned grazing grasslands, and they concluded that species numbers in abandoned zones were not significantly different from grazed zones and floristic heterogeneity increased with abandonment (Peco et al 2006).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For practical reasons, many of the secondary succession studies in abandoned land have been done using a chronosequence approach instead of diachronic studies (Dana and Mota 2006). Abandonment here can be defined as the cessation of plowing and sowing.…”

Section: Experimental Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In a semi-arid area, though many studies have explored the ecological consequences of land abandonment on vegetation dynamics, successional trajectories are still little understood (Bonet 2004). Meanwhile, though a positive effect of land abandonment on vegetation diversity has been found by several studies (Dana and Mota 2006;Donath et al 2007), a negative affect was also found by some (Rickert et al 2012;Jacquemyn et al 2011). In terms of vegetation patterns, much research focuses on a two-phase mosaic structure of high-and low-vegetation cover patches, which commonly presents itself in semi-arid ecosystems (Pellerin et al 2009;Puigdefabregas 2005;Bromley et al 1997;Cerda 1997;Wilcox et al 2003).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Vegetation dynamics during different abandoned year spans in the land of the Loess Plateau of China

Hou

2013

Environ Monit Assess

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In this semi-arid area, many studies focused on the two-phase vegetation pattern were carried out to explore a changing vegetation trajectory on degraded land. However, this study conducted an analysis of a two-phase vegetation pattern and explored the successional vegetation trajectories in a positive succession without disturbance. In this work, 60 randomly distributed plots (1×1 m) were invested on four abandoned land areas (4-, 12-, 22-, and 50-year abandoned land) to determine attributes of vegetation, and soil physical and nutritional properties. It was found that vegetation distribution development went from homogeneous on 4-year abandoned land to heterogeneous on 50-year abandoned land, with a positive succession. Meanwhile, there was a significant difference in soil physical and nutritional properties for the inside and outside of vegetation patches. Vegetation patches can supply better soil physical and nutritional properties for vegetation than bare patches along the abandoned time. Vegetation diversity changes without a regular trend which may be due to the effect of environment and interspecies competition. This work picked up the slack for vegetation patterns succession research and provided a quantitative analysis approach.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Experimental Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Vegetation dynamics during different abandoned year spans in the land of the Loess Plateau of China

Hou

2013

Environ Monit Assess

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“…For practical reasons, a chronosequence approach was used instead of diachronic studies to study the dynamic effect of vegetation on the pattern of soil resources (Dana and Mota, 2006). Before the experiment, the age of abandonment was determined by personal interviews with landowners and managers within the Yangjuangou catchment.…”

Section: Experimental Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

Research on the relationship between vegetation and soil resource patterns on lands abandoned at different times

Hou

2014

CATENA

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“…However, gypsum habitats are 58 often impacted by human disturbances such as quarrying, ploughing or grazing (AlHarthi, 2001;Mota et al, 2004;Pulido-Bosch et al, 2004;Pueyo and Alados, 2007; 60 Ballesteros et al, 2013). Therefore, recovery plans for these environments need to be addressed, and proactive measures need to be considered (Ballesteros et al, 2012(Ballesteros et al, , 62 2014, because natural succession has proved inefficient over the short term (Mota et al 2003(Mota et al , 2004Dana and Mota, 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Enhancing seedling production of native species to restore gypsum habitats

Cañadas

Ballesteros

Foronda

et al. 2015

Journal of Environmental Management

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Gypsum habitats are widespread globally and are important for biological conservation. 20Nevertheless, they are often affected by human disturbances and thus require restoration. Sowing and planting have shown positive results, but these actions are 22usually limited by the lack of native plant material in commercial nurseries, and very little information is available on the propagation of these species. We address this 24issue from the hypothesis that gypsum added to a standard nursery growing medium (peat) can improve seedling performance of gypsum species and, therefore, optimise 26 the seedling production for outplanting purposes. We test the effect of gypsum on emergence, survival, and growth of nine native plant species, including gypsophiles 28 (exclusive to gypsum) and gypsovags (non-exclusive to gypsum). We used four treatments according to the proportions, in weight, of gypsum:standard peat, i.e. high-g 30 (50:50), medium-g (25:75), low-g (10:90), and standard-p (0:100).Our results showed that the gypsum treatments especially benefited the 32 emergence stage, gypsophiles as group, and Ononis tridentata as a taxon. In particular, the gypsum treatments enhanced emergence of seven species, survival of 34 three species, and growth of two gypsophiles, while the use of the standard peat favoured only the emergence or growth of three gypsovags. Improving emergence and 36 survival in the nursery can provide a reduction of costs associated with seed harvesting, watering, and space, while enlarging seedlings can favour the 38 establishment of individuals after outplanting. Thus, we suggest adding gypsum to a standard growing medium for propagating seedlings in species from gypsum habitats, 40 thereby potentially cutting the costs of restoring such habitats. Our assessment enables us to provide particular advice by species. In general, we recommend using between 42 25 and 50% of gypsum to propagate gypsophiles, and between 0 and 10% for gypsovags. The results can benefit not only the production of widely distributed species 44 commonly affected by gypsum quarrying, but also of narrow and threatened endemic species that require particularly efficient use of their seeds. In addition, our study 46 shows the importance of using an appropriate growing medium to propagate plants characteristic of special soils such as gypsum soils. 48

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Vegetation and soil recovery on gypsum outcrops in semi-arid Spain

Cited by 49 publications

References 33 publications

Vegetation dynamics during different abandoned year spans in the land of the Loess Plateau of China

Vegetation dynamics during different abandoned year spans in the land of the Loess Plateau of China

Research on the relationship between vegetation and soil resource patterns on lands abandoned at different times

Enhancing seedling production of native species to restore gypsum habitats

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