LAUSR.org creates dashboard-style pages of related content for over 1.5 million academic articles. Sign Up to like articles & get recommendations!

Conifer tree plantations for land rehabilitation: an ecological‐functional evaluation

Photo from wikipedia

Plantations of exotic fast‐growing tree species have been widely used for maintaining or restoring ecosystem functions. Despite this, in tropical countries with high biodiversity, these plantations have been the subject… Click to show full abstract

Plantations of exotic fast‐growing tree species have been widely used for maintaining or restoring ecosystem functions. Despite this, in tropical countries with high biodiversity, these plantations have been the subject of heated debate. We evaluated the long‐term effect of coniferous tree plantations (Cupressus lusitanica, Pinus patula, Pinus elliottii) on the ecological rehabilitation of the Andean highlands in Colombia. To determine degree of rehabilitation, we assessed whether there were differences in the structure or density of native understory vegetation or soil ecological properties between plots established within tree plantations and plots established within other vegetation cover types (secondary forests, ferns, pastures, and abandoned mining areas). Measured variables were combined to create an index of ecological rehabilitation (ERI). We found significant differences in the ERI values among vegetation cover types: secondary forest (11.78) > conifer plantations (P. elliottii: 6.23, P. patula: 5.33, C. lusitanica: 5.24) > ferns (4.16) > pasture (2.50) > abandoned mining areas (0.43). The results obtained showed that, from the structure of native understory vegetation and soil ecological properties, conifer plantations favored the rehabilitation process. However, among them, it was highlighted that the P. elliotii plantations showed significant differences in the density of native understory species, their values being 1.7 and 2.1 times higher than those corresponding to P. patula and C. lusitanica, respectively. Thus, unlike these plantations that could represent an ecological barrier over time, P. elliottii plantations have enabled the advancement of natural succession, showing a high diversity of native species.

Keywords: tree plantations; conifer tree; native understory; vegetation; rehabilitation

Journal Title: Restoration Ecology
Year Published: 2018

Link to full text (if available)


Share on Social Media:                               Sign Up to like & get
recommendations!

Related content

More Information              News              Social Media              Video              Recommended



                Click one of the above tabs to view related content.