Thesis (MScConsEcol(Conservation Ecology and Entomology)--University of Stellenbosch, 2006. / Anglo American Corporation’s Namakwa Sands heavy minerals mining and beneficiation operation has been strip-mining a heavy mineral deposit, rich in the commercially valuable minerals ilmenite, rutile and zircon, since September 1994. The mine is located in the vicinity of Brand-se-Baai on the west coast of South Africa, approximately 385 km north of Cape Town. Strip-mining causes total destruction of natural ecosystems through the removal of vegetation and soil in the area where mining is being undertaken. Namakwa Sands has been rehabilitating mined out areas as the mining front moves forward. Due to the difficulty of rehabilitating mined out areas as a result of harsh environmental factors, Namakwa Sands has initiated various research projects to gain an understanding of the baseline conditions and ecosystem function in order to increase plant cover and biodiversity on post-mined areas. This on-going research and the development of rehabilitation and mining techniques have resulted in the implementation of four rehabilitation techniques varying in investment of topsoil replacement, seeding and plant translocation. This study assesses the success and effectiveness of these techniques in terms of various vegetation and soil parameters. In addition, those parameters that are considered useful for monitoring are identified. This study indicated that topsoil replacement and plant translocation facilitate the return of similarity, species richness, species diversity and vegetation cover to post-mined areas. The rehabilitation site that had the greatest amount of biological input (topsoil replacement and plant translocation) appeared to be the most successful technique in facilitating vegetation recovery similar to reference sites. In comparison, the site that had the least amount of biological input performed the worst and requires adaptive management, e.g. reseeding and / or plant translocation. Namakwa Sands should continue to replace topsoil in all future rehabilitation efforts and, when possible (e.g. after sufficient winter rain), continue to translocate species in multi-species clumps. In terms of species selected for translocation, Othonna cylindrica, Ruschia versicolor and Lampranthus suavissimus should be considered for future large-scale translocation projects. Zygophyllum morgsana appears to be more difficult to re-establish under the current climatic conditions (below average rainfall). The long-term viability of rehabilitated Z. morgsana populations needs to be determined before considering this species for any future large-scale translocation purposes. No translocated Asparagus spp. individuals survived and should therefore not be considered for any further translocation purposes. The grass Ehrharta calycina, which is dominant in the site seeded, should continue to be considered for future seeding. Species and functional diversity appear to be the most limiting factors within all the rehabilitation sites and Namakwa Sands will not be able to meet their long-term objective of small-stock farming if diversity and the number of palatable species do not increase significantly. Adaptive management should seriously be considered in order to speed up this process. Alternatively, an appropriate grazing strategy, which is related to the Tetragonia fruticosa dominated vegetation within rehabilitation sites, would need to be determined and adopted.More time is needed to ameliorate the rehabilitated soil profiles to the same level as in reference sites, especially with regard to carbon, pH and sodium levels. In order to increase organic matter within rehabilitation areas, Namakwa Sands should consider creating clumps with cleared vegetation from the mining front. Since the long-term rehabilitation goal has not been achieved, Namakwa Sands will need to continue to monitor plant and soil changes until it has been achieved. The objectives of the current rehabilitation programme are limited and Namakwa Sands should develop additional objectives relating to the structure and function of the natural vegetation. This will give a better indication of whether rehabilitation sites are progressing towards the desired end point and if adaptive management is required. In addition, the current monitoring programme (vegetation survey) implemented at Namakwa Sands could be improved by increasing the vegetation parameters to be monitored. It is recommended that the following vegetation parameters be monitored as part of the long-term monitoring programme: species composition and similarity, species richness, species diversity, vegetation cover, species dominance, vertical structure and functional diversity of the vegetation (clumps and inter-clumps). It is also recommended that carbon, pH and sodium of soil profiles be monitored as part of the long-term monitoring programme. These parameters should not be seen as exhaustive as this study only considered various vegetation parameters and soil chemistry between rehabilitation and reference sites. The results of other studies on the fauna, mycorrhiza, insects, etc. should also be taken into consideration and the monitoring parameters expanded accordingly.

A restauração ecológica visa o estabelecimento de ecossistemas semelhantes aos que originalmente ocupavam uma determinada área que foi degradada. Todavia, os resultados dos esforços envolvidos na restauração e no retorno dos processos ecológicos naturais são difíceis de serem medidos, pois faltam métodos apropriados. Os bioindicadores são ferramentas baratas e confiáveis para o diagnóstico das características ambientais e ecológicas, cujo princípio consiste em medidas simples de grupos biológicos especialmente sensíveis às mudanças no meio. Os Arthropoda que ocorrem no solo e na serapilheira, em especial as formigas, mediam processos ecológicos importantes e apresentam características que os tornam bioindicadores potenciais, mas seu uso ainda necessita de conhecimentos específicos. Assim, o presente estudo teve como objetivo testar o potencial indicador da comunidade de Arthropoda edáfico-epígea na restauração ecológica, com maior enfoque sobre as formigas. Foram avaliadas as comunidades de um gradiente sucessional formado por doze reflorestamentos com diferentes idades e três remanescentes florestais, localizados nas bacias dos rios Pardo e Mogi-Guaçu. O objetivo foi identificar quais os parâmetros que melhor refletem a resposta dessas comunidades ao desenvolvimento florestal. Os resultados indicaram que tanto a mirmecofauna como o restante da comunidade são influenciadas pelos estádios de desenvolvimento florestal. As comunidades variaram em composição e estrutura. A evolução das comunidades mostrou-se direcional, formando um padrão convergente de acordo com o avanço da sucessão. Os resultados indicaram forte efeito da sazonalidade e das técnicas de coleta na interpretação dos resultados. A comunidade edáfico-epígea encontrada no período seco mostrou-se especialmente sensível ao desenvolvimento florestal, enquanto a resposta da mirmecofauna foi mais evidente durante o período chuvoso. Os resultados indicaram também que as comunidades de diferentes regiões, Mogi-Guaçu e Ribeirão Preto, responderam ao processo sucessional, embora tenham apresentado diferenças na composição e no padrão de resposta. As análises com formigas classificadas em grupos funcionais indicaram que a resposta da mirmecofauna ao desenvolvimento florestal ocorre também no nível funcional. As mudanças nos padrões da comunidade e seus módulos estão relacionadas às mudanças nos filtros ambientais e à disponibilidade de nichos. Em conclusão, (1) a riqueza de espécies da fauna edáfico-epígea encontrada na serapilheira do período seco foi um bom preditor geral do desenvolvimento florestal; (2) a riqueza de grupos raros proporcionou o melhor modelo de prognóstico do estádio sucessional, indicando ainda que os reflorestamentos tendem a atingir patamares semelhantes aos encontrados nos remanescentes florestais por volta dos 27 anos após o plantio; (3) na comunidade edáfico-epígea, o avanço no desenvolvimento florestal levou à convergência entre padrões de composição, (4) enquanto na mirmecofauna a convergência ocorreu para os padrões de estrutura, sendo que em ambos os casos (3 e 4), quanto mais avançado o estádio sucessional, mais parecidos entre si são os padrões de locais diferentes; (5) a Equabilidade J das formigas amostradas por iscas decresceu ao longo do desenvolvimento florestal, sendo considerado também um indicador do processo sucessional (6) as classificações funcionais das formigas também permitiram boa predição dos estádios sucessionais, com destaque para formigas capturadas com iscas quando classificadas pelo sistema proposto por Andersen (1995), devido a boa relação custo/benefício. Portanto, foi confirmado o potencial bioindicador da mirmecofauna de comunidade edáfico-epígea geral, que podem ser utilizados como ferramentas de diagnóstico e monitoramento do processo sucessional. O uso mais apropriado deve ser feito por métodos comparativos, através de parâmetros provenientes de ecossistemas referência, ou por medidas repetidas ao longo do tempo, pela observação do deslocamento dos padrões da comunidade e interpretação da proporção dos grupos. / Ecological restoration objective is to promote the return of chemical, physical and biological natural properties as those similar to the native features as possible. However, the restoration projects cannot be well evaluated due to the fact that there are no appropriated tools to do that. Plantations using native species are a prominent technique used in São Paulo state, promoting the fast rising of a plant community, but it is very expensive and hard to measure if ecological processes are returning. Bioindicators are cheap tools to evaluate environmental conditions and ecological processes because they respond to all ecosystem characteristics acting together and the responses of a single group make possible to infer properties of the total biodiversity or the full ecosystem health. Epigeic and hipogeic Arthropoda, especially ants, are potential bioindicators, due to their high abundance, ubiquitousness and their straight relationship to some important ecological processes, even to other community components, but they have not been used because it lacks information about the local scale responses to successional process and which standards can be used as parameters. Hence, we have tried to understand the main standards and responses from soil and litter community, as well as the mirmecofauna responses, under a successional gradient constituted by twelve planted forests in different ages and three forest remainders (semi-deciduous forest), all located at the hydrographic basins, Pardo and Mogi-Guaçu, searching for trustful bioindicators of forest development. General fauna was sampled from litter and soil and ants were additionally sampled by attractive baits, using glucose and sardine. Results have showed that forest development makes influence on structure and composition of general communities and ant communities found in restoration sites, so that over time, these community parameters progressively have become more similar to those found in forest remainders, consisting in a directional shifting. Epigeic and hipogeic general fauna showed to be more sensitive to forest development through dry season, while ants presented critical responses in wet season. Communities from different regions were influenced by successional process but they have presented differences among fauna compositions. The analyses using ants classified in functional groups indicated that forest development makes influence also on fauna functional pattern. Groups occupying specialized niches tend to increase their relative amount throughout forest development. The shifting of ant community functionality may be related to changes in environmental filters plus the increase of niche availability through forest development. As conclusions, under experiment features (1) species richness of litter fauna of dry season is a good predictor of forest development; (2) the richness of rare taxa allowed the best prognosis about sucessional stage, also indicating that fauna found in forest plantations reaches similar fauna standards of forest remainders close to 27 years after the deployment; (3) over time, the composition of general edaphic-epigeic community found in restoration sites becomes more similar to composition of communities found in forest remainders, (4) while for ant communities, the structure standards found in restoration sites progressively become more similar of respective parameter found in forest remainders. (5) the Equitability J of ants communities sampled using baits decreases over forest development and it may be considered a bioindicator of sucessional process; (6) ant functional groups also provided good prediction of sucessional stages, highlighting ant sampling using baits and ant functional classification according to Andersen (1995), due to best benefit-cost ratio. For appropriated application of all bioindicators, the use of comparative techniques may be considered, including ecosystem references, and rather than it uses fixed values of fauna parameters (as fixed goals to be achieved), it is better to consider which parameters of the community are changing over time and if their tendencies are in accordance to the expected.

O acúmulo significativo de conhecimento sobre a ecologia de restauração nos últimos anos tem conduzido a mudanças na orientação dos programas de manejo e restauração florestal. A escolha ou criação de um modelo de restauração é um processo em constante aprimoramento, exigindo a necessidade de estudos que não apenas diminuam os custos envolvidos, mas também, que garantam a efetividade do objetivo proposto. Neste sentido, este trabalho testa novas metodologias de restauração visando a obtenção de informações técnicas sobre: A) a expressão do banco de sementes autóctone e alóctone na restauração florestal de diferentes situações de degradação antrópica.; B) o resgate de plântulas e indivíduos de espécies arbustivo-arbóreas regenerantes; C) a eficiência de um modelo de plantio que utiliza conceitos de Preenchimento e Diversidade e; D) a evolução da paisagem. Para análise dos bancos de sementes autóctone e alóctone foram feitos levantamentos da densidade e das espécies arbustivo-arbóreas regeneradas. No resgate de indivíduos de espécies arbustivo-arbóreas regenerantes, as plântulas e indivíduos jovens foram resgatadas em uma floresta e levadas para adapatação em viveiro, onde tiveram seus indivíduos e espécies contabilizados em termos de densidade e sobrevivência. No modelo de plantio estudado, as espécies foram reunidas em grupos de Preenchimento e Diversidade e tiveram a cobertura de copa de cada indivíduo quantificada. A evolução da paisagem foi realizada através de fotointerpretação e principalmente checagem de campo periódica. Os principais resultados dessas metodologias foram: A) As situações identificadas na Fazenda Intermontes apresentaram diferentes expressões de regeneração natural em função do número de indivíduos germinados banco de sementes autóctone. O aproveitamento dessa expressão poderá ser realizado através de metodologias diferenciadas de restauração para cada situação estudada: B) No estudo do Banco de sementes alóctone, a densidade dos indivíduos germinados se foi de 409.334 indivíduos/ha, revelando a possibilidade de uso no programa de restauração. Os indivíduos arbóreos apresentaram na área adubada um acréscimo de 137,3 % em sua altura média em relação aos indivíduos da área não adubada. C) No resgate de plântulas e indivíduos de espécies arbustivo-arbóreas regenerantes, a densidade dos indivíduos foi muito próxima para as duas épocas do ano, sendo 38.700 ind./ha e 37.900 ind./ha, mas com uma diferença significante para os indivíduos sobreviventes que apresentaram 16.500 ind./ha e 26.600 ind./ha para os meses de julho e dezembro de 2002, respectivamente. A técnica de resgate utilizada se mostrou viável uma vez que foi possível alcançar até 70,9% de sobrevivência para os indivíduos resgatados; D) No estudo sobre o modelo de plantio foram amostrados 143 espécies, demonstrando que a função do grupo da diversidade vem sendo mantida e aumentando as chances de efetivação dos processos de sucessão. Os resultados mostraram que o grupo de Preenchimento apresentou-se com uma porcentagem de cobertura significativamente maior que a do grupo de Diversidade, sendo 73,6% e 83,3% para 1,5 e 2,5 anos respectivamente. / Significant accumulation of know-how about restoration ecology has been changing forest restoration management programs’ trends during the last years. Choosing or elaborating a restoration model is a process that requires constant improvement and ecological studies that not only reduces the costs involved but also warrants the achievement of the aimed proposal. This study explores new restoration methodologies, searching for technical information about: A) autochthonous and allochthonous seed bank expression on forest restoration at different situations degraded by anthropogenic disturbances; B) seedlings and woody growing individuals rescue; C) efficiency of a planting model based on fulfillment and diversity concept; D) landscape development. The autochthonous and allochthonous seed bank were analyzed through regenerating woody species and density scouting. For the rescue of regenerating woody species, seedling and young individuals were taken from a forest and transferred to a plant nursery for adjustment, where number and species were counted regarding density and survival. In this studied planting model, species were organized and gathered into a fulfillment or diversity group, and each individual had its crown area quantified. Landscape development was analyzed by photointerpretation and specially by periodical field checking. Results from these methodologies showed that: A) Identified degraded situations at Intermontes farm displayed distinguished natural regeneration expression, influenced by the number of germinated seeds of the autochthonous seed bank. Advantage can be taken from these different outcomes by using distinct restoration methodologies for each studied situation. B) For the autochthonous seed bank study, germinated seed density was 409,334 ind./ha, indicating its potential role on restoration programs. Woody individuals at fertilized sites had a medium height enhancement of 137,7% when compared to those at non fertilized sites. C) For seedlings and woody growing individuals rescue, individual density was similar for both seasons (38700ind./ha and 37900ind./ha) but significantly distinct for individual survivor, with values of 16500ind./ha for July and 2600ind./ha for December. Rescue technique turned out to be a viable possibility since it achieved survival of 70,9% for rescued individuals. D) This planting model study registered 143 species, indicating that the diversity group’s role has been maintained and enhances the chance of successional process success. The fulfilling group had a significant higher percentage of crown area than the diversity group, with 73,6% and 83,3% for 1,5 and 2,5 years, respectively.

La restauration écologique a été identifiée comme une approche permettant notamment de ralentir la perte de biodiversité et de maintenir tous les biens et services issus de cette biodiversité desquels dépend le bien être de notre civilisation actuelle. Cette restauration des écosystèmes se base sur des connaissances provenant à la fois de l'écologie des communautés et de l’écologie de la restauration. Les objectifs de la thèse sont donc de comprendre la dynamique d’une steppe méditerranéenne après changements d’usage ainsi que la mise en oeuvre de techniques qui pourraient être appliquées à la restauration de cet écosystème après une perturbation anthropique sévère. La thèse a pour objet d'étude la steppe méditerranéenne de la plaine de Crau, et notamment d’anciennes cultures pour étudier la recolonisation spontanée après perturbation et le projet de réhabilitation à grande échelle de Cossure pour les expérimentations sur les techniques de restauration. En ce qui concerne la dynamique après une perturbation anthropique exogène sévère, nous avons confirmé la faible résilience de la communauté végétale steppique à la fois à moyen (30-40 ans) et long terme (150 ans), tandis que les paramètres du sol et le taux d'infestation des mycorhizes sont résilients sur le long terme. En outre, nous avons confirmé le rôle joué par les trois filtres dans la recolonisation des communautés végétales. En ce qui concerne la steppe de la Crau, la recolonisation est déterminée en premier par le filtre abiotique, puis par le filtre de dispersion et enfin par le filtre biotique. Compte tenu de la faible résilience de la communauté, nous avons testé plusieurs techniques de restauration appliquées à grande échelle au sein du projet de réhabilitation de Cossure: le semis d’espèces nurses, l'étrépage de sol, le transfert de foin et le transfert de sol. Afin d'évaluer l'efficacité des techniques de restauration, nous avons développé des indices pour mesurer « l 'intégrité » de la structure de la communauté permettant de distinguer les abondances inférieures des abondances supérieures par rapport à la communauté de référence. Les meilleurs résultats ont été obtenus avec le transfert du sol, suivi par l’étrépage de sol, puis le semis d’espèces nurses et enfin le transfert de foin. Ces résultats ont toutefois confirmé la difficulté de restaurer totalement la communauté végétale steppique. Les recherches menées au sein de cette thèse montrent que les connaissances actuelles en matière de restauration écologique permettent de restaurer au moins partiellement certaines composantes de cet écosystème, mais suggèrent de mettre un maximum de moyens pour la conservation in situ des habitats naturels plutôt que de devoir les restaurer après qu'ils aient été détruits / Ecosystem restoration has been identified as one approach to slow down the loss of biodiversity and to protect all the biodiversity-based goods and services from which humankind benefits. Restoration feeds from knowledge coming from both community ecology and restoration ecology. The objectives of the thesis are to provide insights on both the dynamics of a mediterranean steppe after changes in land-use and the implementation of techniques which could be applied to restore this ecosystem after severe anthropogenic disturbances. The thesis takes as a study object the La Crau Mediterranean steppe, and especially former cultivated fields to study the recovery after cultivation and the Cossure large scale rehabilitation project to experiment rehabilitation and restoration techniques. Concerning dynamics after severe exogenous anthropogenic disturbances, we confirmed the low resilience of the steppe plant community both at mid- (30-40 years) and long-term (150 years) while the resilience of soil parameters and mycorrhizal infestation rate are effective on the long-term. Moreover we confirmed the role played by the three filters in the plant community recovery and found that for the La Crau steppe, this is firstly driven by the abiotic filter, then by the dispersion filter and finally by the biotic filter. Given this low resilience, we tested several restoration techniques applied at large-scale within the Cossure rehabilitation project: nurse species seeding, topsoil removal, hay transfer and soil transfer. In order to assess the efficiency of restoration techniques we developed indices to measure the community structure integrity, disentangling lower and higher abundances compared to the reference. The best results were obtained with soil transfer, followed by topsoil removal, then nurse species seeding and finally hay transfer. The research conducted for this thesis shows that current knowledge in ecological restoration makes it possible to restore at least partially some La Crau ecosystem components, but ought to lead us to understand the importance of in situ conservation of natural habitats as a better alternative to restore them after they were destroyed

Les changements globaux, notamment les changements d'usage des terres, modifient profondément le fonctionnement des écosystèmes et la biodiversité et, ont déjà impacté de nombreux services écosystémiques. La disparition de ces écosystèmes souligne la nécessité de préserver les zones intactes, et la restauration des zones détruites ou perturbées peut permettre de venir en appui aux efforts de conservation et minimiser les dommages. Ce travail a pour objet d’étude les campos rupestres, des pelouses néotropicales d’altitude, faisant partie du Cerrado (savane brésilienne), qui recèlent une importante biodiversité et qui, comme bien d'autres écosystèmes de montagne, fournissent de précieux services écosystémiques tels que la filtration de l’eau. Ils ont été, et sont encore, grandement affectés par les activités humaines (les travaux de génie civil, les carrières ou les mines). Le premier objectif de cette thèse était de décrire l'écosystème de référence, afin de définir clairement un objectif de restauration et mesurer les progrès et le succès de la restauration. Nous avons montré que les campos rupestres sont composés d'au moins deux communautés végétales distinctes (une avec un substrat caillouteux et l’autre avec un substrat sableux), chacune ayant une composition en espèces et une structure particulières ainsi qu’une grande biodiversité. La phénologie reproductive varie au sein des communautés herbacées: la majorité des espèces fleurissent et fructifient pendant la saison des pluies, d'autres se reproduisent en revanche durant la saison sèche. Tout au long de nos 2 années de suivis phénologiques, certaines espèces dominantes, notamment des Poaceae, n'ont pas été observées en fleur impliquant une dispersion limitée de ces espèces vers les zones dégradées. Les communautés végétales de campos rupestres ne sont pas résilientes aux fortes perturbations: plusieurs années après, presque aucune des espèces cibles n’ont été trouvées en zones dégradées, les sols ont complètement été modifiés et les banques de graines ne se sont recomposées qu’avec des espèces rudérales non désirées. Selon le modèle des filtres, une communauté résulte d’un pool régional d’espèce sélectionné par un ensemble de filtres : de dispersion, abiotique et biotique. Les interventions de restauration mises en place avaient pour but d’agir sur ces différents filtres afin de diriger la dynamique des communautés végétales. Nous avons mis en place trois protocoles de restauration in-situ (le transfert de foin, la translocation d’espèce et la translocation de plaque de végétation) pour restaurer les deux types de communautés de campos rupestres identifiées. Le transfert de foin n’a pas permis la restauration des communautés végétales de campos rupestres en raison de l’importante altération des sols et, surtout, à cause de la mauvaise qualité des graines. En effet, nos études de germination ont montré que, alors que certaines espèces de Xyridaceae et Velloziaceae germent très bien, certaines espèces dominantes de Poaceae, de Cyperaceae ou d’Asteraceae ont des graines soit vides, soit non viables, soit dormantes ; le semis se révèle alors peu efficace. Nous n’avons pas mis en évidence d’effet positif du feu sur la germination des espèces de campos rupestres. La translocation d'espèces s’avère un succès pour une seule espèce, Paspalum erianthum. Pour les autres, les dommages causés au niveau des racines lors de la translocation limitent probablement leur survie. Enfin la translocation de plaques de végétation s’avère être la méthode la plus efficace permettant à de nombreuses espèces d’être réintroduites en zones dégradées. En raison de la faible résilience des campos rupestres dans lesquels les plaques de végétation ont été prélevées, cette méthode ne peut être envisagée que pour sauver des habitats dans le cas extrême où leur destruction est inévitable. Face à la difficulté de restaurer les campos rupestres, leur protection et leur conservation doit être une priorité / Global environmental changes, especially land-use changes, have profound effects on both ecosystem functioning and biodiversity, having already altered many ecosystem services. These losses emphasize the need to preserve what remains; however when conservation programs are not sufficient, restoring areas that have been destroyed or disturbed can improve conservation efforts and mitigate damages. This work focuses on campos rupestres, Neotropical grasslands found at altitudes, which are part of the Cerrado (Brazilian savannas). They host a great biodiversity with a high level of endemism and, like other mountain ecosystems, provide valuable ecosystem services, such as water purification and recreational services. They have been and still are being impacted by human activities, such as civil engineering construction, quarrying or mining. The first objective of this thesis was to describe the reference ecosystem in order to aim for a clear restoration target and to monitor progress and success. We show that campos rupestres are composed of at least two distinct plant communities (i.e. sandy and stony grasslands), each having a specific composition and structure, hosting a great biodiversity. Several phenological patterns occur among the herbaceous communities: the majority of species flowers and fruits appear during the rainy season but other patterns can be observed. During our 2-year survey, some dominant species belonging to Poaceae, among others, were not observed reproducing, which implies limited chances to disperse on degraded areas. Campo rupestre vegetation is not resilient following a strong disturbance: several years after the disturbance, almost no native species are encountered on the degraded areas, soils are completely altered and seed bank recomposes only with non-target ruderal species. According to the filter model, a local community is a subset of the regional species pool determined by a set of dispersal, abiotic and biotic filters. Acting on the different filters to influence the plant community was the core of our restoration interventions. We then applied three in-situ restoration protocols (hay transfer, species translocation and turf translocation) to restore both kinds of grassland. Hay transfer does not allow the restoration of campo rupestre vegetation because of soil alteration and mainly because of poor seed quality. Indeed, germination studies show that, while some Xyridaceae and Velloziaceae have a high germinability, some dominant Poaceae, Cyperaceae or Asteraceae species have embryoless, unviable or dormant seeds, which makes seeding less efficient. There is no evidence that fire-related cues enhance germination in campos rupestres. Species translocation is successful for only one species, Paspalum erianthum; for the others, root damages probably impede survival. Finally, turf translocation is the most successful method, since numerous species are re-introduced on degraded areas. However due to the low resilience of pristine campos rupestres where turfs are taken from, turf translocation can only be considered in the case of habitat rescue, in circumstances when complete habitat destruction is otherwise unavoidable. Face to the difficulty to restore these peculiar grasslands, the protection and the conservation of campos rupestres must be made a high priority

1. The resource management issue under consideration is the conservation and ecological restoration of natural lowland forest and its associated plant and animal communities (referred to here as native bush), which have considerable human-use and intrinsic values. 2. Within the issue of native bush conservation in New Zealand, the topic of this research is the phenomenon of citizens’ involvement as pro-active volunteers, tackling ‘bush restoration’ on public or trust-owned sites. This phenomenon is not rare but is little researched. Some key initial questions are: How extensive is citizen-led bush restoration as a means of environmental management? What motivates the volunteers and what factors advance or hinder their efforts? Why is this phenomenon not more widespread in New Zealand society, and how could it be? 3. The research strategy adopted to address the selected topic is firstly a scoping study to define the issue in context, including multi-disciplinary literature review, followed by a structured qualitative telephone survey of a representative sample of restoration project spokespeople. An analysis of these information sources provides insights and understanding related to the research questions, and raises additional questions. 4. Conclusions offer a potential contribution to the national and local-scale policy agenda in support of citizen-led bush restoration. Recommendations seek to recognise the value of voluntary bush restoration, better enable the committed volunteers, promote new voluntary action and improve the skills of volunteers with a view to enhanced quality of work.

Before the arrival of Euro-Americans, the inland Pacific Northwest was settled by native people whose frequent intentional burning of the landscape promoted open stands dominated by large fire-resistant ponderosa pine. Fire suppression for nearly a century, livestock grazing, and logging of the largest trees has resulted in forests characterized by increased densities of small trees with closed canopies and unusually high fuel loads. Such structural changes to the forest ecosystem are particularly evident in the Blue Mountains of Oregon and Washington where forest managers are applying prescribed fire and thinning to reduce the risk of stand-replacing wildfire and reestablish stand structure characteristics seen prior to Euro-American settlement. Aboveground ecosystem recovery after disturbance is directly linked to the survival of ectomycorrhizal fungi (EMF) that form an obligate symbiosis with roots of tree species in the Pinaceae. EMF are critical for the uptake of nutrients by the tree host. The research comprising this dissertation explores the response of the EMF community structure and composition, live fine root biomass, and duff (decaying material) levels to (i) seasonal burning (fall vs. spring) and (ii) alternative fuel reducing restoration treatments (thinned only, prescribed burned only, thinned and prescribed burned). In both studies, treatments significantly reducing duff depth (e.g. fall burning and both restoration burning treatments) negatively impacted EMF species richness and live fine root biomass. The EMF community is characterized by a large number of species scattered at low frequencies across the sites. The frequent occurrence of a few species (e.g. Rhizopogon salebrosus and Wilcoxina rehmii), in both studies before and after treatment applications, demonstrates that some EMF species survive or rapidly reestablish after disturbance. The initial reduction of EMF species richness, fine root biomass, and duff levels after prescribed fire has important implications for whether managers can achieve the desired future condition of stands with large-tree retention and low fuel loads. The impacts of prescribed fire on the soil microbial community, along with the recovery potential of a site and the impending risk of stand-replacing wildfire in stands differing in structure from historic conditions, bear consideration when developing restoration prescriptions. / Graduation date: 2005

Entre 1999 i 2003 es va desenvolupar un projecte Life de restauració a la maresma de La Pletera, afectada per un pla urbanització, i a la llacuna del Ter Vell, amb un elevat grau d'eutròfia (aiguamolls del Baix Ter, NE Península Ibèrica). L'objectiu d'aquesta tesi és establir el funcionament d'ambdós ecosistemes, analitzar-ne la problemàtica ambiental i avaluar els efectes de la restauració. A la maresma de la Pletera, es va analitzar el paper de la hidrologia en la composició i dinàmica dels nutrients i del zooplàncton en cinc llacunes, tres de les quals havien estat creades dins el projecte de restauració com a nous refugis per una espècie de peix amenaçada (Aphanius iberus). La hidrologia es va caracteritzar per un llarg període de confinament sense entrades d'aigua, interromput de manera irregular per inundacions puntuals. La dinàmica del nitrogen inorgànic es va relacionar amb les entrades d'aigua, mentre que la del fòsfor, del nitrogen total i de la matèria orgànica es va relacionar amb els processos d'acumulació i reciclatge intern durant el confinament. El zooplàncton es va analitzar mitjançant la combinació d'aproximacions taxonòmiques i de mides. L'estructura de mides de la comunitat es va veure més afectada per les interaccions tròfiques (depredació i competència) mentre que l'estructura taxonòmica va ser més sensible a factors abiòtics (nutrients). El ràpid creixement de la població A. iberus en les noves llacunes va suggerir que aquestes havien proporcionat l'hàbitat adequat per a l'espècie, almenys a curt termini. Les actuacions de restauració a la llacuna del Ter Vell es van centrar en la millora de la qualitat de l'aigua mitjançant (1) la construcció d'uns aiguamolls per depurar l'aigua d'entrada i (2) el dragat del sediment en diversos punts. Simultàniament a la restauració, però de forma independent, la gestió agrícola de l'aigua va reduir dràsticament el cabal d'entrada d'aigua dolça a la llacuna, provocant un canvi en el règim hídric. Es van analitzar els efectes a curt termini d'aquest canvi sobre la limnologia i el zooplàncton de la llacuna. Abans del canvi, la hidrologia era artificial ja que s'havia prolongat l'entrada d'aigua dolça d'acord amb la demanda agrícola, i per tant la llacuna presentava una elevada taxa de renovació de l'aigua i majors concentracions de nutrients. Després del canvi, la hidrologia va dependre més del clima, es van reduir les entrades d'aigua i es va allargar el període de confinament. La composició y dinàmica dels nutrients va tendir a assemblar-se a l'observada a les llacunes de la maresma, mentre que la comunitat del zooplàncton no ho va fer. L'estat ecològic de la llacuna va millorar després del canvi en el règim hídric. / Between 1999 and 2003, a restoration Life project was developed in La Pletera salt marshes, affected by an urbanisation plan, and in the Ter Vell lagoon, a highly eutrophic lagoon (Baix Ter Wetlands, NE Iberian Peninsula). The aim of this thesis is to establish the natural functioning of both ecosystems, analyze their environmental problematic and also to evaluate the effects of the restoration measures.In La Pletera salt marshes, the role of the hydrological regime in the nutrient and zooplankton composition and dynamics was analysed in five brackish lagoons. Three of them were created in the framework of the restoration project as new refuges for an endangered fish species (A. iberus). The hydrology was determined by a prolonged period of confinement without water inputs, irregularly interrupted by sudden flooding events. While the dynamics of inorganic nitrogen depended on the water inputs variability, dynamics of phosphorus, total nitrogen and organic matter was related more to the cumulative mechanisms and internal recycling during the confinement periods. The zooplankton community structure was analysed by means of the combination of taxon- and size-based approaches. Whereas the community size structure was more affected by trophic interactions (predation and competition), the taxonomic structure appeared to be more sensitive to abiotic factors (nutrients). The fast growth of the size population of A. iberus in the new lagoons suggested that they had provided a suitable refuge for this species, at least in the short-term.Restoration actions in the Ter Vell lagoon were focused on the improvement of the water quality by means of (1) wetlands construction to reduce nutrient inputs and (2) sediment dredging. Simultaneously, but independent of the restoration activities, water management in agriculture drastically reduced the freshwater inflow to the lagoon and, therefore, changed the hydrological regime. The short-term effects of this hydrological change on the limnological characteristics and the zooplankton of the lagoon were analysed. Before the change, the hydrology was artificial since the freshwater flooding period was prolonged due to the high agricultural demand. As a result, the lagoon showed a high water turnover rate and high nutrient concentrations. After the change, hydrology was climate-dependent, with scarce water inputs and prolonged confinement periods. Then, the nutrient composition and dynamics tended to be more similar to those observed in the salt marsh lagoons. However, zooplankton did not tend to resemble to that of the salt marsh lagoons. The ecological status of the Ter Vell lagoon was improved after the hydrological change.

Historically, the Kentucky Inner Bluegrass blue ash-oak savanna-woodland was the primary ecosystem of the Inner Bluegrass Region (IBR) of Kentucky. After European settlement, the majority (>99%) of Bluegrass savanna was converted to agricultural and urban land uses. Currently remnant savanna tree species are failing to recruit. Therefore, a long-term restoration ecology project researching competition and disturbance on seedling establishment, survival, and growth has been established at Griffith Woods (the largest remaining savanna in Kentucky) in Harrison Co., KY. Fourteen native hardwood tree species (a total of 6,168 seedlings) have been experimentally planted. Light, soil, surrounding vegetation, and herbivory, factors thought to influence seedling survival, have been initially assessed. Results show that soils differed spatially in P, Ca, Mg, Zn, pH, N percent and soil organic matter percent. Light was significantly reduced by diffusive filtering through vegetation. Vegetation biomass was influenced by pH and Mg. Initial seedling survival was high, but significantly differed by species type, location, and soil pH, Mg, and Zn. This research demonstrates that under a similar range of conditions, native hardwood tree seedling establishment is possible. Therefore, the potential exists to restore Bluegrass savanna-woodland in order to return proper ecological functioning into a degraded landscape.

[Truncated abstract] Establishment of vegetation and ecosystem functioning is central to the mitigation of environmental impacts associated with mining operations. This study investigated the ecophysiological functioning of mature plants in natural vegetation and applied this knowledge to diagnose problems affecting plant health and causes of poor plant cover at a mine-rehabilitation site. Ecophysiological parameters, including plant water relations and mineral nutrition, were studied in conjunction with soil physical, hydraulic and chemical properties. The natural ecosystem at the study location in the Great Sandy Desert is characterised by sand dunes and interdunes with distinct plant communities on each. One of the most notable features of the vegetation is the presence of large Corymbia chippendalei trees high on the dunes and relatively small scattered shrubs in the interdunes. Triodia grasses (spinifex), dominate the vegetation in both habitats but different species occur in each; T. schinzii is restricted entirely to the dunes, and T. basedowii occurs only in the interdunes. It was hypothesised that the deep sandy dunes afford greater water availability but lower nutrient supply to plants in this habitat compared with those occurring in the lower landscape position of the interdunes. Water-relations parameters (leaf water potentials, stomatal conductance, d13C) revealed that dune plants, particularly woody species, displayed higher water status and water use than closely related and often congeneric plants in the interdunes. Nutrient concentrations in soils were significantly higher in the interdunes, but concentrations in foliage were similar for related species between habitats. It is concluded that the dunes provide a greater store of accessible water than the soil profile in the interdunes. ... Following an experimental wetting pulse equivalent to a summer cyclone event, A. ancistrocarpa plants displayed significant increases in stomatal conductance, leaf water potential and sap velocity in lateral roots within three days of irrigation at the natural site and two days at the rehabilitation site. Secondary sinker roots originating from distal sections of lateral roots were evidently supplying water to maintain hydraulic function in laterals, thus enabling a fast pulse response. This was accentuated at the rehabilitation site where roots were confined closer to the surface. These results indicate that plants at the rehabilitation site are more dependent on small pulses of water and have less access to deep reserves than plants at the natural site. It is concluded that high runoff losses and insufficient soil depth are major factors contributing to plant water stress, and combined with the direct impacts of erosion, are largely responsible for plant death and ultimately poor plant cover. These issues can be alleviated if cover soil depth is increased to more than 0.5 m and slope angles are reduced to <12o. This study demonstrates the value of an ecophysiological approach for diagnosing problems affecting plant establishment at mine-rehabilitation sites. Furthermore, it has provided recommendations that will improve the rehabilitation strategy and lead to the development of a well vegetated, resilient ecosystem on a stable and non-polluting land form.