Drivers of seedling establishment success in dryland restoration efforts

N. Shackelford; G. B. Paterno; D. E. Winkler; T. E. Erickson; E. A. Leger; L. N. Svejcar; M. F. Breed; A. M. Faist; P. A. Harrison; M. F. Curran; Q. Guo; A. Kirmer; D. J. Law; K. Z. Mganga; S. M. Munson; L. M. Porensky; R. E. Quiroga; P. Torok; C. E. Wainwright; A. Abdullahi; M. A. Bahm; E. A. Ballenger; N. Barger; O. W. Baughman; C. Becker; M. E. Lucas-Borja; C. S. Boyd; C. M. Burton; P. J. Burton; E. Calleja; P. J. Carrick; A. Caruana; C. D. Clements; K. W. Davies; B. Deak; J. Drake; S. Dullau; J. Eldridge; E. Espeland; H. L. Farrell; S. E. Fick; M. Garbowski; E. G. de la Riva; P. J. Golos; P. A. Grey; B. Heydenrych; P. M. Holmes; J. J. James; J. Jonas-Bratten; R. Kiss; A. T. Kramer; J. E. Larson; . Lorite; C. E. Mayence; L. Merino-Martin; T. Miglecz; S. J. Milton; T. A. Monaco; A. M. Montalvo; J. A. Navarro-Cano; M. W. Paschke; P. L. Peri; M. L. Pokorny; M. J. Rinella; N. Saaymen; M. C. Schantz; T. Parkhurst; E. W. Seabloom; K. L. Stuble; S. M. Uselman; O. Valko; K. Veblen; S. Wilson; M. Wong; Z. Xu; K. L. Suding

doi:10.1038/s41559-021-01510-3

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Drivers of seedling establishment success in dryland restoration efforts

Journal article

Peer reviewed

Drivers of seedling establishment success in dryland restoration efforts

N. Shackelford, G. B. Paterno, D. E. Winkler, T. E. Erickson, E. A. Leger, L. N. Svejcar, M. F. Breed, A. M. Faist, P. A. Harrison, M. F. Curran, …

Nature ecology & evolution, Vol.5(9), pp.1283-1290

2021

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-021-01510-3

PMID: 34294898

Abstract

Ecology

Environmental Sciences & Ecology

Evolutionary Biology

Life Sciences & Biomedicine

Science & Technology

Restoration of degraded drylands is urgently needed to mitigate climate change, reverse desertification and secure livelihoods for the two billion people who live in these areas. Bold global targets have been set for dryland restoration to restore millions of hectares of degraded land. These targets have been questioned as overly ambitious, but without a global evaluation of successes and failures it is impossible to gauge feasibility. Here we examine restoration seeding outcomes across 174 sites on six continents, encompassing 594,065 observations of 671 plant species. Our findings suggest reasons for optimism. Seeding had a positive impact on species presence: in almost a third of all treatments, 100% of species seeded were growing at first monitoring. However, dryland restoration is risky: 17% of projects failed, with no establishment of any seeded species, and consistent declines were found in seeded species as projects matured. Across projects, higher seeding rates and larger seed sizes resulted in a greater probability of recruitment, with further influences on species success including site aridity, taxonomic identity and species life form. Our findings suggest that investigations examining these predictive factors will yield more effective and informed restoration decision-making. The seeding of native species is critical to the success of dryland restoration efforts. Here the authors evaluate success of seeding establishment at 174 sites on six continents, finding that some sites had nearly 100% of species successfully recruit, while 17% of sites had zero seedling success.

Details

Title: Drivers of seedling establishment success in dryland restoration efforts
Authors/Creators: N. Shackelford - Univ Victoria, Sch Environm Studies, Victoria, BC, Canada
G. B. Paterno - Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte
D. E. Winkler - US Geol Survey, Southwest Biol Sci Ctr, Moab, UT USA
T. E. Erickson - The University of Western Australia
E. A. Leger - University of Nevada, Reno
L. N. Svejcar - United States Department of Agriculture
M. F. Breed - Flinders University
A. M. Faist - New Mexico State University
P. A. Harrison - University of Tasmania
M. F. Curran - University of Wyoming
Q. Guo - United States Department of Agriculture
A. Kirmer - Anhalt Univ Appl Sci, Dept Nat Conservat & Landscape Planning, Bernburg, Germany
D. J. Law - University of Arizona
K. Z. Mganga - South Eastern Kenya University
S. M. Munson - United States Geological Survey
L. M. Porensky - United States Department of Agriculture
R. E. Quiroga - National University of Catamarca
P. Torok - MTA Lendulet Funct & Restorat Ecol Res Grp, Debrecen, Hungary
C. E. Wainwright - Tennessee Dept Environm & Conservat, Div Water Resources, Nashville, TN USA
A. Abdullahi - Hirola Conservat Programme, Nairobi, Kenya
M. A. Bahm - Natural Resources Conservation Service
E. A. Ballenger - National Park Service
N. Barger - University of Colorado Boulder
O. W. Baughman - The Nature Conservancy
C. Becker - University of Cape Town
M. E. Lucas-Borja - Univ Northern British Columbia, 3333 Univ Way, Prince George, BC, Canada
C. S. Boyd - United States Department of Agriculture
C. M. Burton - University of Northern British Columbia
P. J. Burton - University of Northern British Columbia
E. Calleja - University of Cape Town
P. J. Carrick - University of Cape Town
A. Caruana - University of Cape Town
C. D. Clements - Agricultural Research Service
K. W. Davies - United States Department of Agriculture
B. Deak - ACT
J. Drake - Great Ecol, Denver, CO USA
S. Dullau - Anhalt Univ Appl Sci, Dept Nat Conservat & Landscape Planning, Bernburg, Germany
J. Eldridge - Northern (Arctic) Federal University
E. Espeland - German Ctr Integrat Biodivers Res iDiv, Leipzig, Germany
H. L. Farrell - United States Geological Survey
S. E. Fick - United States Geological Survey
M. Garbowski - Brandenburg Tech Univ Cottbus, Dept Ecol, Cottbus, Germany
E. G. de la Riva - Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg
P. J. Golos - Kings Pk Sci, Dept Biodivers Conservat & Attract, Kings Pk, WA, Australia
P. A. Grey - Greening Australia, Melbourne, Vic, Australia
B. Heydenrych - Stellenbosch Univ, Stellenbosch Cent, Dept Conservat Ecol & Entomol, Stellenbosch, South Africa
P. M. Holmes - Stellenbosch University
J. J. James - Univ Nebraska Kearney, Dept Biol, Kearney, NE USA
J. Jonas-Bratten - University of Nebraska at Kearney
R. Kiss - ACT
A. T. Kramer - Universidad de Granada
J. E. Larson - Nat Conservancy Oregon, Burns, OR USA
. Lorite - Universidad de Granada
C. E. Mayence - Univ Rey Juan Carlos, Dept Biol & Geol, ESCET, Fis & Quim Inorgan, Madrid, Spain
L. Merino-Martin - Universidad Rey Juan Carlos
T. Miglecz - Research Institute of Organic Agriculture
S. J. Milton - Wolwekraal Conservat & Res Org WCRO, Prince Albert, South Africa
T. A. Monaco - United States Department of Agriculture
A. M. Montalvo - University of California, Riverside
J. A. Navarro-Cano - Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas
M. W. Paschke - Colorado State University
P. L. Peri - National University of Austral Patagonia
M. L. Pokorny - United States Department of Agriculture
M. J. Rinella - Agricultural Research Service
N. Saaymen - Product Innovation and Engineering (United States) (United States, Saint James) - LLC
M. C. Schantz - Miles College
T. Parkhurst - Murdoch University, Centre for Terrestrial Ecosystem Science and Sustainability
E. W. Seabloom - University of Minnesota
K. L. Stuble - University of Nevada, Reno
S. M. Uselman - University of Nevada, Reno
O. Valko - ACT
K. Veblen - Utah State University
S. Wilson - University of Regina
M. Wong - Federation University
Z. Xu - Nanjing University
K. L. Suding - Nat Conservancy Oregon, Burns, OR USA
Publication Details: Nature ecology & evolution, Vol.5(9), pp.1283-1290
Publisher: NATURE PORTFOLIO
Number of pages: 20
Identifiers: 991005550569807891
Copyright: © 2022 Springer Nature Limited
Murdoch Affiliation: Centre for Terrestrial Ecosystem Science and Sustainability; Harry Butler Institute
Language: English
Resource Type: Journal article

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Collaboration types: Domestic collaboration; International collaboration
Citation topics: 3 Agriculture, Environment & Ecology; 3.40 Forestry; 3.40.86 Plant Communities
Web Of Science research areas: Ecology; Evolutionary Biology
ESI research areas: Environment/Ecology