Woody colonization of road embankments: A large spatial scale survey in central Spain

Arenas, Juan M.; Escudero, Adrián; Magro, Sandra; Balaguer, Luís

doi:10.1016/j.landurbplan.2015.04.009

Cited by 13 publications

(7 citation statements)

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“…), to differences in age (Spooner & Smallbone ; Arenas et al. ) and to other inherent characteristics of each roadside (e.g. size, common management practices, surrounding matrix).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Roadsides: an opportunity for biodiversity conservation

Arenas

Escudero

Mola

2017

Applied Vegetation Science

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Questions How do roadsides interact with patches of natural vegetation in shaping perennial plant communities in fragmented agricultural areas? Are the observed differences due to the type of roadside (i.e. roadcuts, embankments or road verges) or are there other factors driving community structure and composition? Location Stretch of motorway A3 and its surrounding area, central Spain. Methods We analysed the variation in perennial plant species composition and diversity among 92 plots (400 m2). The plots were located in five different environmental scenarios, three of them in a fragmented landscape (patches of natural vegetation, embankments and roadcuts) and two in an unfragmented landscape (natural vegetation and road verges). In each plot, the cover of each perennial plant species and eight soil variables were assessed. We used phi coefficient of correlation to determine the scenario preferences of each species, Kruskal–Wallis tests to compare the soil variables between landscape scenarios and eight descriptive variables of the community, and RDA and partial RDA to evaluate the relative importance of the type of environmental scenario on the floristic community. Results We identified 130 species, with only 16 species never appearing on roadsides. Perennial total cover, species richness, inverse Simpson's index and number of protected species showed no significant differences between the five scenarios considered. In contrast, the number of nutrient‐demanding species and restricted‐range diversity had lower values in natural vegetation plots. Soil variables and the type of scenario together explained 28.5% of the species composition variation. Of this percentage, 6.8% was explained by soil variables, 12.1% by the type of scenario and 10.0% of the variation was shared between the two data sets. Conclusions Our results show that almost all perennial species occurring in natural vegetation patches were also able to reach and settle in roadsides. However, soil conditions and other specific roadside variables generate different plant communities. In spite of the differences found between the perennial plant community of roadsides and their surrounding area, roadsides are excellent reservoirs of biodiversity.

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“…), to differences in age (Spooner & Smallbone ; Arenas et al. ) and to other inherent characteristics of each roadside (e.g. size, common management practices, surrounding matrix).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This variation may be related to different soil conditions (also with a wide range of variation; Fig. 3), to differences in age (Spooner & Smallbone 2009;Arenas et al 2015) and to other inherent characteristics of each roadside (e.g. size, common management practices, surrounding matrix).…”

Section: Overall Vegetation Patternsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Roadsides: an opportunity for biodiversity conservation

Arenas

Escudero

Mola

2017

Applied Vegetation Science

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“…Jaúregui et al (2013) recommended a higher percentage of legumes to reduce litter accumulation on road slopes; however, our results showed a regressive trend of this group over time, so increasing their percentage in seed mixtures can lead to a lower plant cover. Arenas et al (2015) indicated that woody-planted vegetation did not have a facilitating effect on natural colonisation. In our results, persistence of woody plants was 48%, and in embankments represented nearly all the woody cover, given rise to vegetation patches that have spread over the slopes .…”

Section: Revegetation Techniquesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vegetation Change in Road Slopes in the Mediterranean Region Over 25 Years

Enríquez‐de‐Salamanca

2022

Journal of Environmental Engineering and Landscape Management

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Revegetation effectiveness requires long-term monitoring. We analysed 50 road slopes 5–8 years and 22–25 years after revegetation. Plant cover and diversity increased over time, with differences between slope types; herbaceous cover increased greatly between revegetation works and 2002 and was similar in 2002 and 2019, while woody cover decreased from revegetation to 2002 but increased greatly between 2002 and 2019. Plant colonisation was more intense on embankments, but could also be achieved on roadcuts (2.4 points on average over a maximum of 5). The presence of sown species decreased over time, but the presence of planted species remained stable. Hydroseeding had poor results in terms of the resulting plant cover, but nevertheless succeeded in slowing erosion at least sufficiently to allow early plant establishment and thus the start of colonisation. The similarity between surrounding vegetation and the slopes was greater in roadcuts. Roads are a gateway for invasive plants. Native species can improve the results, but many are missing from the market. Slopes’ plant cover changed over time; long-term studies are required.

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“…Aside from the negative effects of fragmentation (Benítez-López, Alkemade & Verweij, 2010;Karlson, Mörtberg & Balfors, 2014), linear infrastructure can also trigger an additional barrier effect, which can modify genetic flow among populations (Ament et al 2008), increasing invasive species (Forman & Alexander, 1998;Boarman & Sazaki, 2006) or increasing human access (Benítez-López, Alkemade & Verweij, 2010;Clauzel et al, 2015). On the other hand, some species are favoured by infrastructure (Karlson, Mörtberg & Balfors, 2014) because they are able to colonise new habitats created by the infrastructure, such as embankments (Forman & Alexander, 1998;Arenas et al, 2015), especially in areas with extensive crops where the availability of habitat remnants is scarce (Coffin, 2007). Adjacent spaces to these roads are also used by livestock animals (Coffin, 2007), which play an important role in seed dispersal, especially along the infrastructure (Arenas et al, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Peer Review #1 of "Limited effect of a highway barrier on the genetic structure of a gypsum soil specialist (v0.1)"

Yamamoto¹

2021

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Woody colonization of road embankments: A large spatial scale survey in central Spain

Cited by 13 publications

References 50 publications

Roadsides: an opportunity for biodiversity conservation

Roadsides: an opportunity for biodiversity conservation

Vegetation Change in Road Slopes in the Mediterranean Region Over 25 Years

Peer Review #1 of "Limited effect of a highway barrier on the genetic structure of a gypsum soil specialist (v0.1)"

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