Early response of soil properties and function to riparian rainforest restoration.
Reforestation of riparian zones is increasingly practiced in many regions for purposes of biodiversity conservation, bank stabilisation, and improvement in water quality. This is in spite of the actual benefits of reforestation for recovering underlying soil properties and function remaining poorly...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2014-01-01
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| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4130574?pdf=render |
| _version_ | 1818025554474958848 |
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| author | Rose Gageler Mark Bonner Gunnar Kirchhof Mark Amos Nicole Robinson Susanne Schmidt Luke P Shoo |
| author_facet | Rose Gageler Mark Bonner Gunnar Kirchhof Mark Amos Nicole Robinson Susanne Schmidt Luke P Shoo |
| author_sort | Rose Gageler |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Reforestation of riparian zones is increasingly practiced in many regions for purposes of biodiversity conservation, bank stabilisation, and improvement in water quality. This is in spite of the actual benefits of reforestation for recovering underlying soil properties and function remaining poorly understood. Here we compare remnant riparian rainforest, pasture and reforestation plantings aged 2-20 years in an Australian subtropical catchment on ferrosols to determine the extent to which reforestation restores key soil properties. Of the nine soil attributes measured (total nitrogen, nitrate and ammonium concentrations, net nitrification and ammonification rates, organic carbon, bulk density, fine root biomass and water infiltration rates), only infiltration rates were significantly lower in pasture than remnant riparian rainforest. Within reforestation plantings, bulk density decreased up to 1.4-fold and infiltration rates increased up to 60-fold with time post-reforestation. Our results suggest that the main outcome of belowground processes of early reforestation is the recovery of the soils' physical structure, with potential beneficial ecosystem services including reduced runoff, erosion and associated sediment and nutrient loads in waterways. We also demonstrate differential impacts of two commonly planted tree species on a subset of soil properties suggesting that preferential planting of select species could accelerate progress on specific restoration objectives. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-10T04:17:57Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-373316a833ad4409bde17ef0f0adc458 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-10T04:17:57Z |
| publishDate | 2014-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj.art-373316a833ad4409bde17ef0f0adc4582022-12-22T02:02:30ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032014-01-0198e10419810.1371/journal.pone.0104198Early response of soil properties and function to riparian rainforest restoration.Rose GagelerMark BonnerGunnar KirchhofMark AmosNicole RobinsonSusanne SchmidtLuke P ShooReforestation of riparian zones is increasingly practiced in many regions for purposes of biodiversity conservation, bank stabilisation, and improvement in water quality. This is in spite of the actual benefits of reforestation for recovering underlying soil properties and function remaining poorly understood. Here we compare remnant riparian rainforest, pasture and reforestation plantings aged 2-20 years in an Australian subtropical catchment on ferrosols to determine the extent to which reforestation restores key soil properties. Of the nine soil attributes measured (total nitrogen, nitrate and ammonium concentrations, net nitrification and ammonification rates, organic carbon, bulk density, fine root biomass and water infiltration rates), only infiltration rates were significantly lower in pasture than remnant riparian rainforest. Within reforestation plantings, bulk density decreased up to 1.4-fold and infiltration rates increased up to 60-fold with time post-reforestation. Our results suggest that the main outcome of belowground processes of early reforestation is the recovery of the soils' physical structure, with potential beneficial ecosystem services including reduced runoff, erosion and associated sediment and nutrient loads in waterways. We also demonstrate differential impacts of two commonly planted tree species on a subset of soil properties suggesting that preferential planting of select species could accelerate progress on specific restoration objectives.http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4130574?pdf=render |
| spellingShingle | Rose Gageler Mark Bonner Gunnar Kirchhof Mark Amos Nicole Robinson Susanne Schmidt Luke P Shoo Early response of soil properties and function to riparian rainforest restoration. PLoS ONE |
| title | Early response of soil properties and function to riparian rainforest restoration. |
| title_full | Early response of soil properties and function to riparian rainforest restoration. |
| title_fullStr | Early response of soil properties and function to riparian rainforest restoration. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Early response of soil properties and function to riparian rainforest restoration. |
| title_short | Early response of soil properties and function to riparian rainforest restoration. |
| title_sort | early response of soil properties and function to riparian rainforest restoration |
| url | http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4130574?pdf=render |
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