Abstracts, Reviews, and Meetings

To develop the following abstracts, the editorial staff searches more than 100 scientific journals, professional and organizational newsletters, conference proceedings, and other resources for information relevant to ecological restoration practice and research. Please send suggested abstract sources to the editorial staff (ERjournal@aesop.rutgers.edu).

Grasslands

Quantification of Plant Dispersal Ability Within and Beyond a Calcareous Grassland. 2013. Diacon-Bolli, J.C. (Biodiversity and Conservation Biology, Swiss Federal Research Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL, Birmensdorf, Switzerland, jacqueline.bolli@wsl.ch), P.J. Edwards, H. Bugmann, C. Scheidegger and H.H. Wagner. Journal of Vegetation Science 24:1010–1019.

European calcareous grasslands have become increasingly fragmented in recent decades. Species richness in these grasslands has declined and the reduction in traditional seed dispersal vectors, such as through sheep herding or transport of farming machinery, has led to increased reliance on wind as a dispersal agent. Diacon-Bolli et al. developed a method for measuring short- and intermediate-dispersal ability of diaspores within calcareous grassland communities and into adjacent landscapes to determine whether fragmented grasslands are dispersal-limited. Diaspore dispersal into adjacent landscapes was found to be very low, and primarily consisted of grasses with little or no representation by forbs. Surprisingly, even seeds of the Asteraceae, whose pappi are considered to facilitate long-distance dispersal, were not well-represented. The authors suggest that restoration will require intentional introduction of forb species, given that natural regeneration of, or maintenance of diversity within, calcareous grasslands cannot rely on wind dispersal alone.

Temporal Dynamics of Plant Community Regeneration Sources During Tallgrass Prairie Restoration. 2013. Willand, J.E. (Dept of Plant Biology and Center for Ecology, Southern Illinois University, Mailcode 6509, Carbondale, Illinois 62901, USA, jwilland@siu.edu), S.G. Baer, D.J. Gibson and R.P. Klopf. Plant Ecology 214:1169–1180.

In tallgrass prairies, the bud bank (bulbs, bulbils, buds on rhizomes, corms, and tubers) has been shown to be more important than the seed bank as a driver of the aboveground plant community. How does the bud bank and seed bank contribute to plant community establishment following restoration of tallgrass prairie after decades of agricultural land disturbance? Willand and colleagues sought to answer this question by quantifying changes in the seed bank, seedlings, belowground buds, and ramets across an 11-year chronosequence of prairie restoration sites and prairie remnants in Illinois, USA. No changes in richness or diversity of the seed bank were observed across the chronosequence of restored prairie, though non-sown species dominated the seed bank. However, the bud bank exhibited increased abundance and richness with restoration age. Reliance of restored prairies on vegetative reproduction can shift the balance to favor those species that reproduce asexually, potentially limiting total biodiversity over time.

Woodlands

Edges, Exotics and Deer: The Seed Bank of a Suburban Secondary Successional Temperate Deciduous Forest. 2013. Beauchamp, V.B. (Dept of Biological Sciences, Towson University, 8000 York Road, Towson, Maryland 21252, USA, vbeauchamp@towson.edu), N. Ghuznavi, S.M. Koontz and R.P. Roberts. Applied Vegetation Science 16:571–584.

Exotic species and deer herbivory pose two major challenges to suburban temperate woodland restoration. In this study, Beauchamp and colleagues ask whether restoration ecologists can rely on the soil seed bank of a suburban forest as a passive restoration strategy. Upon analyzing the soil seed bank of a suburban forest near Baltimore, Maryland, these researchers found an over-representation of exotic species when compared to the aboveground vegetation community, an abundance of exotics in the seed bank even in interior portions of the forest, and a negative association between deer browse and seed bank abundance and richness. Certain shade-tolerant exotic shrubs and vines (i.e. Rosa multiflora, Berberis thunbergii, and Lonicera japonica) were not represented in the seed bank, suggesting that simple removal of the above-ground vegetation can be a successful control measure for these species. The authors conclude that active restoration of understory herbaceous species in addition to canopy woody species is necessary in suburban temperate forests, even in areas where deer herds are reduced, due to degradation of the soil seed bank.

Challenges of Ecological Restoration: Lessons from Forests in Northern Europe. 2013...