Restoration of Riparian Buffer Function in Reclaimed Surface Mine Soils

Ecosystem processes such as water infiltration and denitrification largely determine how riparian buffers function to protect surface water quality. Reclaimed mine areas offer a unique opportunity to study the restoration of riparian function without the confounding influence of past land use. Between 1980 and 2000 in southern Illinois, agricultural fields with forest buffers were established along three restored stream reaches in reclaimed mine land. Our research objective was to compare common indicators of soil quality (infiltration, soil C and N, bulk density, and soil moisture) between forest and cultivated riparian zones to determine if riparian function was being restored. Soil bulk density was significantly lower in the forest buffers compared to the agricultural fields. The forest buffers had greater soil total C, total N, and moisture levels than agricultural fields likely due to greater organic matter inputs. Soil total C and N levels in forest buffers were positively related to age of restoration, indicating soil quality is gradually being restored in the buffers. Restoration success of riparian buffers should not be estimated by the return of structure alone; it also includes reestablishment of functions such as nutrient cycling and water retention that largely determine water quality benefits. Watershed planning efforts can expect a lag time on the order of decades between riparian restoration activities and surface water quality improvement.     

Ecological Restoration of Coal Mine‐Degraded Lands in Dry Tropical Climate: What Has Been Done and What Needs to Be Done?

In developed countries, ecological restoration is a widely accepted practice to restore the productivity of degraded coal mine spoils and prevent mine‐degraded sites from acting as sources of pollution. During the past decade, ecologists realized the global need for ecological restoration, and the benefit of restoration is now assessed on the basis of ecosystem services that the restored lands can provide. In this article, the knowledge gap between crude reclamation and ecological restoration is examined, the steps crucial to ecological restoration in tropical conditions are identified, and simple guidelines are given for easy understanding. Restoration issues, such as modification of the forestry restoration approach, reestablishment of biodiversity, removal and reuse of topsoil during progressive and final stages of ecological restoration, drainage, promotion of a plant‐succession‐based approach, use of a grass–legume mixture as an initial colonizer, stabilization of steep slopes, and soil blanketing, are discussed. Those attributes of a degraded ecosystem that are responsible for the success of any restoration project are critically examined, and the opportunities provided by ecological restoration are explored.     

对加快推进我国矿山生态修复的思考

绿色矿山建设是矿业领域践行"绿水青山就是金山银山"的重要体现。本文从矿山生态修复的内涵到外延，从问题识别到任务措施，从单一治理修复目标到生态系统功能修复目标，从矿山生态修复系统到与经济社会发展系统相结合等多个方面，系统地梳理矿山生态修复的解决路径，围绕矿业绿色发展提出一系列建议。     

Effects of Soil Conditions on Survival and Growth of Black Willow Cuttings

Current streambank restoration efforts focus on providing bank stability, enhancing water quality, and improving woody habitat using native vegetation rather than traditional engineering techniques. However, in most cases harsh site conditions limit restoration success. A two-year field study was conducted at Twentymile Creek, in northern Mississippi, investigating edaphic factors governing the survival of black willow (Salix nigra) cuttings used for streambank restoration. Low height growth, above-ground biomass production, and average leaf area were observed in willow cuttings grown in plots subjected to moisture deficits. However, sediment texture emerged as the dominant factor determining willow post growth, health, and survival. Shoot biomass, leaf biomass, and total above-ground biomass were 15-, 10-, and 14-fold greater for large willow cuttings (posts) grown in plots with sandy sediments relative to those grown in plots with similar moisture and soil redox potential but with silt and clay sediments. Average leaf size, average leaf mass and specific leaf area were all lower in fine textured plots. Under moisture conditions present at our sites, coarse-grained sediment (sand) was more conducive to willow growth, biomass production, and survival than were fine-grained sediments (silt/clay). Our results strongly suggest that soil texture and moisture conditions can determine restoration success. Therefore, it is critical that site conditions are factored into the selection of project locations prior to the initiation of willow planting restoration projects.     

Soil carbon and nitrogen in 28-year-old land uses in reclaimed coal mine soils of Ohio

Carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) play an important role in the restoration of ecosystem functions of reclaimed mine soils (RMSs). Postreclamation land use in RMSs affects soil C and N pools and fluxes. We compared the effects of 28-yr-old postreclamation land uses (forest, hay, and pasture) on selected chemical properties of soil, and C and N pools in reference to undisturbed forest and moderately disturbed agricultural land use in southeastern Ohio. The electrical conductivity was higher in RMSs under hay than that in pasture and forest land uses. The RMSs under pasture, hay, and forest had moderately acidic, neutral to slightly alkaline, and slightly alkaline pH, respectively. In the 0- to 5-cm soil depth, soil organic C (SOC) was higher in RMSs under pasture by 99% and under hay by 52% over that under forest. Similarly, total nitrogen (TN) was higher in RMSs under pasture by 98% and under hay by 43% over that under forest. Aggregate-associated SOC concentration in the 0- to 5-cm depth decreased in the order of RMSs under hay > RMSs under pasture > RMSs under forest. The SOC pools in the 0- to 30-cm depth decreased in the order of RMSs under hay = RMSs under pasture > RMSs under forest = undisturbed forest = agriculture land use. Nitrogen pools followed a similar trend. Hay land use has a better potential for improving soil quality in RMSs by enhancing chemical properties and SOC and TN pools than forest or pasture land uses.     

面向管理的海洋修复工程生态绩效考核指标体系构建研究

目前国内关于海洋修复工程的考核研究多为修复工程的生态效果考核,极少包含成本效益考核,以致无法比较和分析不同类型、不同规模的海洋修复工程的生态绩效,不利于海洋修复工程的考核和验收管理。根据当前自然资源部实施“蓝色海湾”等整治修复工程的检查验收管理的新需求,本文构建了基于海洋生态系统健康恢复、生态系统服务价值增长和单位成本生态效益等理论的海洋修复工程生态绩效考核指标体系。此外,本文以温州海域2014—2016年海洋修复的生态绩效的考核为例,结合考核结果以及直接相关性、独立性、可测量性和业务化等指标选取原则,对指标体系进行了改进。结果表明本指标体系可以在海洋修复工程的检查验收中被用于生态绩效考核,管理部门可根据海洋修复工程的类型和管理需求,有选择性地采纳部分或全部指标进行考核。     

Soil and Water Characteristics in Restored Canebrake and Forest Riparian Zones1

Andrews, Danielle M., Christopher D. Barton, Randall K. Kolka, Charles C. Rhoades, and Adam J. Dattilo, 2011. Soil and Water Characteristics in Restored Canebrake and Forest Riparian Zones. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 47(4):772‐784. DOI: 10.1111/j.1752‐1688.2011.00555.x Abstract: The degradation of streams has been widespread in the United States. In Kentucky, for instance, almost all of its large streams have been impounded or channelized. A restoration project was initiated in a channelized section of Wilson Creek (Nelson Co., Kentucky) to return its predisturbance meandering configuration. A goal of the project was to restore the native riparian corridor with giant cane and bottomland forest species. The objective of this study was to evaluate the use of giant cane in riparian restoration and to compare water quality and soil attributes between restored cane and forested communities. Comparison of data to replicated sites of similar size in undisturbed upstream areas (control) was also examined to evaluate restoration success. Vegetation establishment was initially hindered by frequent flooding in 2004, but mean survival was good after two growing seasons with rates of 80 and 61% for forest and cane plots, respectively. Results showed an improvement in stream water quality due to restoration activities. Significant differences between the cane and forested plots in shallow groundwater dissolved oxygen, NO₃^?‐N, NH₄⁺‐N, and Mn concentrations suggest that soil redox conditions were not similar between the two vegetation types. Retention and transformation of carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) within the restored riparian system also differed by vegetation treatment; however, both communities appeared to be advancing toward conditions exhibited in the control section of Wilson Creek.     

生态修复技术在水库水土保持中的应用

水土保持对维持良好的水库水生态环境具有重要的影响.生态修复技术作为一种新的水土保持措施,可实现受损水库生态环境的修复.围绕水库消落带、水库涵养林、库区耕地和水库水环境等方面来研究生态修复技术在水库水土保持中的应用情况.     

Restoring Forests and Associated Ecosystem Services on Appalachian Coal Surface Mines

Surface coal mining in Appalachia has caused extensive replacement of forest with non-forested land cover, much of which is unmanaged and unproductive. Although forested ecosystems are valued by society for both marketable products and ecosystem services, forests have not been restored on most Appalachian mined lands because traditional reclamation practices, encouraged by regulatory policies, created conditions poorly suited for reforestation. Reclamation scientists have studied productive forests growing on older mine sites, established forest vegetation experimentally on recent mines, and identified mine reclamation practices that encourage forest vegetation re-establishment. Based on these findings, they developed a Forestry Reclamation Approach (FRA) that can be employed by coal mining firms to restore forest vegetation. Scientists and mine regulators, working collaboratively, have communicated the FRA to the coal industry and to regulatory enforcement personnel. Today, the FRA is used routinely by many coal mining firms, and thousands of mined hectares have been reclaimed to restore productive mine soils and planted with native forest trees. Reclamation of coal mines using the FRA is expected to restore these lands’ capabilities to provide forest-based ecosystem services, such as wood production, atmospheric carbon sequestration, wildlife habitat, watershed protection, and water quality protection to a greater extent than conventional reclamation practices.     

An Ecological Basis for Managing Giant Sequoia Ecosystems

A strategy for management of giant sequoia groves is formulated using a conceptual framework for ecosystem management recently developed by Region Five of the USDA Forest Service. The framework includes physical, biological, and social dimensions. Environmental indicators and reference variability for key ecosystem elements are discussed in this paper. The selected ecosystem elements include: 1) attitudes, beliefs, and values; 2) economics and subsistence; 3) stream channel morphology; 4) sediment; 5) water; 6) fire; 7) organic debris; and 8) vegetation mosaic. Recommendations are made for the attributes of environmental indicators that characterize these elements. These elements and associated indicators will define and control management activities for the protection, preservation, and restoration of national forest giant sequoia ecosystems.     

Development of Soils and Communities of Plants and Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi on West Virginia Surface Mines

Surface mining followed by reclamation to pasture is a major driver of land use and cover change in Appalachia. Prior research suggests that many aspects of ecosystem recovery are either slow or incomplete. We examined ecosystem structure—including soil physical and chemical properties, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal (AMF) infectivity and community composition, and plant diversity and community composition—on a chronosequence of pasture-reclaimed surface mines and a non-mined pasture in northern West Virginia. Surface mining and reclamation dramatically altered ecosystem structure. Some aspects of ecosystem structure, including many measures of soil chemistry and infectivity of AMF, returned rapidly to levels found on the non-mined reference site. Other aspects of ecosystem structure, notably soil physical properties and AMF and plant communities, showed incomplete or no recovery over the short-to-medium term. In addition, invasive plants were prevalent on reclaimed mine sites. The results point to the need for investigation on how reclamation practices could minimize establishment of exotic invasive plant species and reduce the long-term impacts of mining on ecosystem structure and function.     

Prairie grass establishment on calcareous reclaimed mine soil

Reclaimed Appalachian surface mined lands have difficulty in sustaining native deciduous forest communities. Establishing prairie communities could increase ecosystem function; however, a native model system does not exist. We evaluated establishment of 15 North American prairie grasses as monocultures on reclaimed mine soil in southeast Ohio in four randomized complete blocks planted May 2005 and 2006. Population density was assessed 30 d after planting (30 DAP) and in October of the planting year (YR1) and second year following planting (YR2) and expressed as percentage of viable seeds sown (PVSS). Canopy cover of nonnative species reestablishing in the plots was measured in 2007. Eastern gamagrass ( L.) population was >50 PVSS in all censuses. Western wheatgrass [ (Rydb.) A. L?ve] was initially 7 PVSS at 30 DAP, but increased to 154 PVSS by YR2 from rhizomes spreading into gaps. Big bluestem ( Vitman) was 7 PVSS at 30 DAP and 4 PVSS at YR2. Blue grama [ (Willd. ex Kunth) Lag. ex Griffiths] and sideoats grama [ (Michx.) Torr.] did not survive past YR1. Gaps left from poor stand establishment were primarily recolonized by nonnative Kentucky bluegrass ( L.) in the 2005 planting and birdsfoot trefoil ( L.) in the 2006 planting, but was least in eastern gamagrass and tall dropseed [ (P. Beauv.) Kunth]. This research demonstrates the potential for increasing diversity and species richness on mine soil habitats with regionally native grasses that could increase functional quality through ecological resilience.     

金属尾矿废弃地的生态恢复

尾矿废弃地是一种典型的退化生态系统。本文通过对其生态恢复所面临问题的研究，讨论了尾矿废弃地生态恢复的理论和方法，分析了使用外来物种对于尾矿废弃地这一独特的退化生态系统进行恢复的可能性，并探索了尾矿废弃地生态恢复的评价标准。     

Restoration ecology of riverine wetlands: II. An example in a former channel of the Rhône River

Riverine wetlands, which provide numerous valuable functions, are disappearing in floodplains of a channelized European river. A restoration project has been proposed by scientists to restore a former braided channel of the Rhône River by the removal of fine organic sediments in order to enhance groundwater supply. A precise and intensive prerestoration monitoring program during one year (including comparison with a reference channel) has taken into account several variables and ecological performance indicators measured at various spatial and temporal scales. Three restoration techniques were then suggested, taking into account two characteristics of ecosystem functions for increasing restoration success and self-sustainability: (1) the riparian forest as well as the shores must be preserved or disturbed as little as possible; and (2) the upstream alluvial plug must be preserved to prevent direct supply of nutrientrich water from the Rhône River. Among the three restoration options proposed, it was not possible to carry out the less ecologically disturbing one as it was considered too expensive, time consuming, and difficult to realize. A precise and intensive postrestoration monitoring program, conducted over two years, demonstrated restoration success but also unpredicted problems, such as a locally thick layer of fine organic sediment. As long as a self-sustainable state is not achieved, this monitoring should be continued. Afterwards, a less precise and less intensive long-term monitoring should enable the detection of future events that may influence ecosystem changes.     

BLACK WILLOW CUTTING SURVIVAL IN STREAMBANK PLANTINGS,SOUTHEASTERN UNITED STATES1

Field studies were conducted on black willow (Salix nigra) cuttings planted for riparian zone restoration along Harland Creek, Twentymile Creek, and Little Topashaw Creek in Mississippi, USA. Planted cuttings were 2.5 to 3 m long and had base diameters of 2.5 to 7.5 cm. Streams were unstable, deeply incised sand bed channels with eroding banks 1 to 6 m high. Soil texture, redox potential (Eh), depth to water table, and willow survival were monitored for two to three years after planting. While many factors influence willow cuttings at restoration sites, soil texture and moisture are key to plant success. In these studies, plant survival and growth were best for cuttings planted in soils with less than 40 percent silt‐clay content and a water table 0.5 m to 1.0 m below the soil surface during the growing season. These conditions produced soil Eh greater than approximately 200 mV and were most often observed 1 to 2 m higher than the bank toe. These findings suggest criteria useful for preplanting site evaluations. Additional evidence suggests that preplanting soaking enhances performance of black willow cuttings. Additional factors (channel erosion, herbivory by beaver, and competition from exotics) may control performance over periods longer than two to three years.     

我国新时期生态保护修复总体战略与重大任务

生态保护修复是美丽中国建设的重大任务，是加快推进生态文明建设的优先行动，是推动生态产品价值实现的重要基础。近年来，我国生态保护修复取得显著进展，但生态系统本底脆弱、保护修复基础薄弱、管理机制不协调等问题依然突出。在大力推进生态文明建设的新的历史时期，面对百年未有之大变局，我国生态保护修复工作所面临的形势更加严峻，与实现国家生态治理体系和治理能力现代化的要求依然存在较大差距，尚难以满足人民日益增长的优质生态产品需要。本文在总结近年来我国生态保护修复主要进展基础上，分析了未来一段时期生态保护修复面临的问题与挑战，提出新时期生态保护修复应以习近平生态文明思想为统领，以提升生态系统服务功能、协同改善生态环境质量、维护国家生态安全为核心，探索构建生态保护修复与污染防治统筹推进机制，强化监管制度设计、示范样板引领、体制机制创新，加快实现山水林田湖草整体保护、系统修复、综合治理，筑牢美丽中国生态根基。     

安徽寿县矿山生态环境现状调查及分析

通过对安徽省寿县矿山生态环境现状的调查及统计分析得知,目前该县矿山在其开发利用过程中严重破坏了当地的生态环境,其中耕地、林地、草地及其它类型用地破坏面积分别约占总土地破坏面积的54%、19%、18%和9%。截止2004年,全县总体矿山生态环境恢复治理率仅为20.33%,明显低于六安市2005年矿山生态恢复总体规划实现治理率达25%的目标。当前寿县在矿山生态环境恢复治理工作中存在着恢复治理任务量分配不合理、管理执法不到位等问题,需加大生态恢复治理力度。     

Water quality trends at inflows to Everglades National Park, 1977-2005

Restoration of the Florida Everglades is important for the health of the natural system, including both the "River of Grass" and its downstream estuaries. Water quality improvement is one indicator of successful restoration in this complex ecosystem. Using the period of record of 1977 through 2005, we evaluated data from seven inflow sites to the Everglades National Park (ENP) for temporal trends of various forms of phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N) and analyzed them using principal component analysis and factor analysis without flow adjustments. Locally estimated scatter plot smoothing (LOESS) trend lines identified two inflection points (three time periods) of changing trend in total P (TP) concentration at the seven sites. Results indicated that overall water quality in ENP inflow improved from 1977 to 2005, with significant downward trends in TP concentration. The overall trend ofTP is probably mediated by hydrology, which is evident by a negative relationship between flow and annual average TP concentration at the majority of stations within the available data, although additional changes in vegetation due to hydroperiod may have some effects. Total N (TN), total Kjeldahl N, and total organic N concentrations also generally decreased at inflow sites. Water quality standards for TP, TN, and NH4+ -N were exceeded at selected sites during the study period. Principle component analysis and factor analysis detected a grouping of sampling sites related to the water delivery system that could be used as indicators to better manage monitoring resources. Study results suggest that water quality data analyses could provide additional insight into the success of a restoration management plan and on how monitoring may be modified for more efficient use ofresources.     

中国生态保护修复20年：回顾与展望

近20年来，中国生态保护修复事业取得长足进步，为保障国家生态安全、推进美丽中国建设提供了重要基础支撑。国家通过实施一系列生态保护修复政策和重大工程，生态保护修复取得明显进展，生态产品供给能力保持总体稳定。本文回顾了近20年中国生态保护修复发展历程，分别从国土生态空间管控、生态系统保护修复、生物多样性保护、生态文明示范建设等重点领域总结了主要进展和成效。面向建设美丽中国以及实现碳达峰碳中和目标愿景，以维护国家和区域生态安全、恢复和提升生态系统服务功能、推动生态产品价值实现为着力点，对新时期中国生态保护修复提出未来展望。