2024-03-29T15:22:57Zhttp://digital.csic.es/dspace-oai/requestoai:digital.csic.es:10261/606512019-10-01T12:58:10Zcom_10261_57com_10261_8col_10261_310
Road slope revegetation in semiarid mediterranean environments. Part I: Seed dispersal and spontaneous colonization
Bochet, E.
García-Fayos, P.
Tormo, J.
Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología (España)
Dispersion
Environmental limitations
Floristic composition
Neighboring vegetation
Randomization test
Restoration
Soil erosion
9 páginas, 2 figuras, 2 tablas.
The importance of neighboring vegetation as a seed reservoir for spontaneous colonization of adjacent road slopes was analyzed in a semiarid region of east Spain. Two independent methodological approaches were used to examine the relative contribution of seed from neighboring vegetation and the efficiency of different seed dispersal strategies in plant colonization. We first used a randomization test to compare floristic similarity between road slopes, neighboring flora, and local flora (the regional species pool found in the same climate and soil conditions as the road slopes). Second, we compared seed dispersal mechanisms of road slope vegetation with those of the surrounding area using frequency analysis. Species composition of road slopes was more similar to that of the flora of adjacent surrounding areas than expected by chance. Anemochorous (wind-dispersed) plants were over-represented in road slopes 8 years after road slopes were built. We concluded that seed dispersal from neighboring vegetation is an important factor in the vegetative colonization of road slopes. However, this initial species pool was also strongly shaped by the harsh environmental conditions of roadcuts and southern aspect. These results have important implications in road slope restoration because they suggest that naturally vegetated areas should be maintained adjacent to road slopes to enhance seed immigration from species adapted to local site conditions, which will accelerate the successional process. The application of this single reclamation strategy and mixed strategies that combine the use of natural colonization and soil amendment for road slope restoration in Mediterranean environmental conditions is discussed.
This research was supported by the Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología (projects FEDER and TALMED). We are grateful to Hans Jacquemyn (KUL, University of Leuven,
Belgium) for providing the simulation procedure and to Olga Cueto (CEA-Commissariat à l’Énergie Atomique, Grenoble, France) for modifying the procedure to match
our experimental design. We would also like to acknowledge the field assistance of José Antonio Bellido, Daniel Montesinos, Manuel Monsalve, and David Correa (CIDE–Centro de Investigaciones sobre Desertificatión,
Valencia, Spain). We are also grateful to Cynthia Jones and Jenny Brown for language editing this article.
Peer reviewed
2012-11-20T12:54:58Z
2012-11-20T12:54:58Z
2007-03
artículo
http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501
Restoration Ecology 15(1): 88-96 (2007)
1061-2971
http://hdl.handle.net/10261/60651
10.1111/j.1526-100X.2006.00193.x
1526-100X
http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100006280
en
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1526-100X.2006.00193.x
none
Wiley-Blackwell