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Lázaro-González A, Andivia E, Hampe A, Hasegawa S, Marzano R, Santos AMC, Castro J, Leverkus AB. Revegetation through seeding or planting: A worldwide systematic map. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT 2023; 337:117713. [PMID: 36958277 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.117713] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2022] [Revised: 03/07/2023] [Accepted: 03/08/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
Roughly 2 billion ha of land are degraded and in need of ecological restoration worldwide. Active restoration frequently involves revegetation, which leads to the dilemma of whether to conduct direct seeding or to plant nursery-grown seedlings. The choice of revegetation method can regulate plant survival and performance, with economic implications that ultimately feed back to our capacity to conduct restoration. We followed a peer-reviewed protocol to develop a systematic map that collates, describes and catalogues the available studies on how seeding compares to planting in achieving restoration targets. We compiled a database with the characteristics of all retrieved studies, which can be searched to identify studies of particular locations and habitats, objectives of restoration, plant material, technical aspects, and outcomes measured. The search was made in eight languages and retrieved 3355 publications, of which 178 were retained. The systematic map identifies research gaps, such as a lack of studies in the global South, in tropical rainforests, and covering a long time period, which represent opportunities to expand field-based research. Additionally, many studies overlooked reporting on important technical aspects such as seed provenance and nursery cultivation methods, and others such as watering or seedling protection were more frequently applied for planting than for seeding, which limits our capacity to learn from past research. Most studies measured outcomes related to the target plants but avoided measuring general restoration outcomes or economic aspects. This represents a relevant gap in research, as the choice of revegetation method is greatly based on economic aspects and the achievement of restoration goals goes beyond the establishment of plants. Finally, we identified a substantial volume of studies conducted in temperate regions and over short periods (0-5 y). This research cluster calls for a future in-depth synthesis, potentially through meta-analysis, to reveal the overall balance between seeding and planting and assess whether the response to this question is mediated by species traits, environmental characteristics, or technical aspects. Besides identifying research clusters and gaps, the systematic map database allows managers to find the most relevant scientific literature on the appropriateness of seeding vs. planting for particular conditions, such as certain species or habitats.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alba Lázaro-González
- Department of Ecology, Faculty of Science, University of Granada, 18071, Granada, Spain; INRAE, University of Bordeaux, BIOGECO, F-33610, Cestas, France.
| | - Enrique Andivia
- Department of Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolution, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain
| | - Arndt Hampe
- INRAE, University of Bordeaux, BIOGECO, F-33610, Cestas, France
| | - Shun Hasegawa
- Department of Forest Ecology and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Umeå, Sweden; Department of Ecology and Environmental Science, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden
| | - Raffaella Marzano
- University of Torino, Department of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences, Largo Paolo Braccini 2, IT, 10095, Grugliasco, TO, Italy
| | - Ana M C Santos
- Terrestrial Ecology Group (TEG-UAM), Departamento de Ecología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain; Centro de Investigación en Biodiversidad y Cambio Global (CIBC-UAM), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
| | - Jorge Castro
- Department of Ecology, Faculty of Science, University of Granada, 18071, Granada, Spain
| | - Alexandro B Leverkus
- Department of Ecology, Faculty of Science, University of Granada, 18071, Granada, Spain; Laboratorio de Ecología, Instituto Interuniversitario de Investigación Del Sistema Tierra en Andalucía (IISTA), University of Granada, 18006, Granada, Spain
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