Natural revegetation of indigenous roadside vegetation by propagules from topsoil |
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| Authors: | Astrid Brekke Skrindo Per Anker Pedersen |
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| Institution: | Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Agricultural University of Norway, Box 5003, 1432 Ås, Norway |
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| Abstract: | Road construction degrades large areas of indigenous vegetation. Better understanding of ecosystem restoration after degradation will require development and assessment of improved restoration techniques. The potential of natural revegetation based on propagules from topsoil as a restoration technique, to achieve succession towards indigenous vegetation, is not fully understood and accepted as an alternative method for vegetation establishment. The aim of this study was to evaluate this restoration technique by comparing different topsoils with respect to their potentials for revegetation and to describe the early succession on these topsoils by recording change in vegetation cover and the number of species.The study road RV23 is situated in south-east Norway and runs mainly through mixed, mostly coniferous forest. The topsoil (the upper 30 cm) was removed before road construction started, stockpiled during the construction period and then redistributed on the road verge afterwards. In 1999, 10 macroplots of 25 m2 were placed randomly on selected topsoils of different qualities, to represent the soil variation in the study area. The soil quality varied from organic-rich to organic-poor soils. Each macro plot contained four 1-m2 mesoplots in which the species composition was recorded in 2000 and 2001.Univariate statistical tests were applied to reveal change in vegetation cover between macroplots within 1 year and between years 2000 and 2001. Furthermore, statistical tests were used to reveal the change in single-species frequencies between the study years.Two years after deposition of topsoils, the vegetation cover was generally satisfactory from an aesthetical point of view. However, the variation in vegetation cover and species composition was considerable on different topsoils, reflecting both the local variation of the indigenous vegetation and the soil quality. A total of 121 species of vascular plants were recorded in all 10 macroplots, although not more than 59 species were found in one macroplot. Species composition and single-species frequencies changed considerably from the first year to the second. Among the 61 species that were recorded in more than five mesoplots, the frequency of 16 species increased and the frequency of 10 species decreased significantly (P<0.05). Most of the decreasing species can be considered as weed species and are not represented in the present indigenous vegetation, while most of the increasing species are. The vegetation change from 2000 to 2001 apparently represents the first steps in a succession towards an ecosystem dominated by species of the indigenous vegetation. |
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| Keywords: | Revegetation Indigenous vegetation Roadside Topsoil Propagule bank |
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