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Ground covers measured in five categories: non-native herbaceous plants, leaf litter, bare ground, moss or ferns, displayed as percent cover with relation to forest age. * Significant breakpoint detected.
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Successfully reconstructing functioning forest ecosystems from early-successional tree plantings is a long-term process that often lacks monitoring. Many projects lack observations of critical successional information, such as the restoration trajectory of key ecosystem attributes and ecological thresholds, which signal that management actions are...
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Context 1
... cover summary measurements are summarised in Table 2, and those of note are also shown graphically with their associated statistical results ( Figure 4C-E). Non-native herbaceous cover decreased with forest age, beginning at 100%, and declining to 0%, with a significant breakpoint at 10.9 years ( Figure 4C; Table 2). ...Context 2
... cover summary measurements are summarised in Table 2, and those of note are also shown graphically with their associated statistical results ( Figure 4C-E). Non-native herbaceous cover decreased with forest age, beginning at 100%, and declining to 0%, with a significant breakpoint at 10.9 years ( Figure 4C; Table 2). Leaf litter cover accrued with forest age ( Figure 4D) from 0% to 95% and peaked at 20 times greater than in youngest plots, with a significant breakpoint at 10.8 years (95% cover; Table 2), after which it declined. ...Context 3
... herbaceous cover decreased with forest age, beginning at 100%, and declining to 0%, with a significant breakpoint at 10.9 years ( Figure 4C; Table 2). Leaf litter cover accrued with forest age ( Figure 4D) from 0% to 95% and peaked at 20 times greater than in youngest plots, with a significant breakpoint at 10.8 years (95% cover; Table 2), after which it declined. Ferns began to appear approximately 10 years after initial plantings and increased with age to 65% cover in the years following, but without a significant breakpoint detected ( Figure 4E; Table 2). ...Context 4
... litter cover accrued with forest age ( Figure 4D) from 0% to 95% and peaked at 20 times greater than in youngest plots, with a significant breakpoint at 10.8 years (95% cover; Table 2), after which it declined. Ferns began to appear approximately 10 years after initial plantings and increased with age to 65% cover in the years following, but without a significant breakpoint detected ( Figure 4E; Table 2). There was generally little bare ground (no more than 15%, with the exception of 60% in one 7-years-old plot; Table 2), which was marginally inversely related to forest age (R 2 = 0.30, P = 0.063; threshold 7 years). ...Context 5
... began to appear approximately 10 years after initial plantings and increased with age to 65% cover in the years following, but without a significant breakpoint detected ( Figure 4E; Table 2). There was generally little bare ground (no more than 15%, with the exception of 60% in one 7-years-old plot; Table 2), which was marginally inversely related to forest age (R 2 = 0.30, P = 0.063; threshold 7 years). Moss cover displayed a marginally significant increase during forest development (R 2 = 0.09, P = 0.074), but no breakpoint was evident. ...Context 6
... cover displayed a marginally significant increase during forest development (R 2 = 0.09, P = 0.074), but no breakpoint was evident. Moss was completely absent in plantings seven years or younger and only occurred in very low quantities thereafter (~1% cover; Table 2). The number of dead adult trees significantly increased with forest age (threshold 11 years; Figure 4F). ...Similar publications
Increases in the magnitude and frequency of rainfall events in New Zealand due to climate change, coupled with existing concerns about sediment and nutrient contamination of waterways, are changing policy and practice around erosion management and land use. We describe the challenges around slope erosion reduction, cover current legislation and man...
Citations
... Nonetheless, these activities have generated useful practical information regarding restoration practices and outcomes (Porteous, 1993), some of which is available, for instance, via local government or non-governmental organization websites (e.g., Tane's Tree Trust 1 ). Shorter term (multiple year) experimental and observational research studies have provided more detailed scientific insights into critical aspects of native forest restoration, including: survival and performance of planted trees (e.g., MacKay et al., 2011), direct seeding techniques and related seed and site preparation (e.g., Douglas et al., 2007;Paul et al., 2020), mammalian herbivore control and fencing (e.g., Dodd et al., 2011;Burns et al., 2012), successional trajectories and natural regeneration (e.g., Wallace et al., 2022), impacts of invasive species (Norton, 2009), and management interventions to improve native forest establishment and success (e.g., Forbes et al., 2020;Tulod and Norton, 2020), among others. However, there remains a paucity of longer-term restoration experiments in New Zealand to fill knowledge gaps regarding the performance and function of native species in agroecosystems, to track biodiversity and ecosystem function in the face of climatic change, and to support the ongoing development of NbS planning and policy frameworks. ...
Tree planting has long played a major role in the New Zealand Government’s approach to climate mitigation and is increasingly understood as important for climate adaptation. However, large-scale tree planting in Aotearoa New Zealand has been dominated by exotic species. Although there is growing public and expert support for using native species for forest revegetation in farm landscapes, there are two key barriers. First, the lack of ecological and economic data on native species performance in different environmental conditions. Second, policy and market-related mechanisms associated with carbon sequestration, such as the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme, favor the continuing use of exotic tree species, especially Pinus radiata , over native species. Consequently, there are strong incentives for exotic forests and insufficient financial support for natives, even when native forest re-establishment is often the preference of landowners, Indigenous peoples, and local communities. The AUT Living Laboratories Program is a long-term, transdisciplinary, experimental restoration research program aimed at addressing scientific, social, and economic knowledge gaps for native revegetation as a Nature-based Solution (NbS) on farmland soils. Here, we present the project design and establishment information from the three experimental restoration sites, which vary in native species composition, planting configuration, and environmental and socio-cultural context. Each site involves partnerships with Indigenous communities, specifically Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei, Ngāti Manuhiri, and Ngāti Pāoa, to value and embed mātauranga Māori as Indigenous knowledge. Monitoring carbon sequestration along with changes in ecological functions and outcomes, including native biodiversity, will be critical to ensure that large-scale tree-planting aligns with the government’s strategies for climate change, native biodiversity, and economic prosperity.
... Ecological restoration can be classified into large-scale (e.g., on the Loess Plateau [17]), medium-scale (e.g., river channels [18], water bodies [19], forests [20], wetlands [21]), and small-scale ecological restoration (e.g., mines [22], landfills [23]). Based on the restoration object, scientists distinguish mountain [24], river [25], soil [26], and plant ecological restoration [27], among other types. There is also the view that ecological restoration needs to be enhanced through social channels [28]. ...
With the deterioration of the global/regional ecological environment, ecological restoration plays an important role in sustainable development. However, due to the differences in research methods, objectives, and perspectives, the research results are highly diverse. This makes it necessary to sort the publications related to ecological restoration, clarify the research status, grasp the research hotspots, and predict the future research trends. Here, 23,755 articles from the core database of Web of Science were retrieved, and bibliometric analysis was carried out to understand the global ecological restoration research progress from 1990 to 2022 from a macro perspective, with the aim to determine the future development direction. The results are as follows. (1) From 1990 to 2022, the number of publications in the field of ecological restoration constantly increased, and the fluctuation of the average annual citations increased. The most important articles were published in high-ranking journals. (2) Ecological restoration covers a wide range of research areas, including biodiversity, ecosystem services, climate change, land use, and ecological restoration theories and technologies. The four main hotspots in this field are heavy metal removal, soil microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen concentrations, grassland ecological restoration, and evaluation framework and modeling of ecological restoration’s effects. Currently, studies focus on river basin remediation, heavy metal removal, and forest restoration. (3) Future ecological restoration research should strengthen the multi-object aspect and multi-scale ecological restoration research, improve the ecological restoration effect evaluation system, and incorporate social and economic issues. This study identified current research hotspots and predicted potential future research directions, providing a scientific reference for future studies in the field of ecological restoration.
... Once dominated by temperate lowland rainforest and wetlands, the city's indigenous vegetation cover has been reduced to approximately 1.8%. The city has a mild climate with an annual mean temperature of about 14.6°C and an annual mean precipitation of about 1110 mm [43]. ...
Identifying appropriate restoration strategies is vital for successful urban remnant restoration, but projects often lack consistent methods that distinguish them. In New Zealand, there are unique opportunities to restore depleted Dacrycarpus dacrydioides (A.Rich.) de Laub. (kahikatea, white pine) semi-swamp forest remnants in numerous urban centres. To assess potential restoration strategies for three kahikatea remnants in Hamilton City, we compared their physical features, native vascular species composition, age structures, life forms and epiphytes with a notional reference site (Te Papanui). Numerous native vascular species gaps are revealed among Te Papanui (66 species), Totara Park (40 species), Hillcrest Park (15 species) and Grove Park (nine species). Age structure analyses suggest that Hillcrest Park comprises the oldest kahikatea population, with an average age of 82 years, followed by Grove Park (70 years), Te Papanui (60 years) and Totara Park (32 years). A native floristic analysis of thirteen life forms found that Te Papanui contains the most (11), followed by Totara Park (eight), Grove Park (six) and Hillcrest Park (five). Despite the abundance of invasive plants at Totara Park, its high-water table and favourable humid, sheltered conditions support more epiphytes (nine) than Te Papanui (six), Hillcrest Park (one; Pyrrosia eleagnifolia), and Grove Park (none). Epiphytes absent from Te Papanui found at Totara Park may be due to the loss of the once abundant tree fern and host, Dicksonia squarrosa (whekī). Totara Park requires careful manipulation of troublesome weeds, whereas Hillcrest Park and Grove Park necessitate buffer extensions and native understory plantings. This study provides a simple framework that uses biophysical differences among urban remnants and a reference site to reveal suitable restoration strategies that could guide other urban restoration projects regionally and nationally.
... The Restoration Plantings research is directly focusing on ecological restoration projects already underway. The design entails surveying planted urban forests of different ages and linking these with the processes that would foster further ecosystem succession or development (e.g., canopy closure and native seedling regeneration) [39]. In three of their focal cities, researchers are planting important native tree seedlings to enrich the forest ecosystem restoration process and observing the best conditions for their growth. ...
As life emerged on Earth, it began to affect its environments. It still does. The complex interactions between living things and their environments mediate the character of both. Today, this is apparent in the global impacts humans have made on ecosystems, with resultant reciprocal impacts on human health. This paper is concerned with that reciprocity, which may be considered as a link between ecosystems and human populations. We will distinguish an ecosystem approach to human health—or ecohealth—from One Health and planetary health perspectives. We will also propose a conceptual framework that can be used to distinguish human settlements as Ecohealth Villages. Broadly defined, an Ecohealth Village is a settlement that recognizes the interactions between healthy ecosystems and the health of people who live, work, learn, and play in it. The key principles of an Ecohealth Villages are as follows: community ownership, ecological restoration, sustainability, social and gender equity, integrated perspectives, and traditional practices and knowledge. Together, they support a holistic, ecosystem approach to health in human settlements, as demonstrated in case studies from Mexico and Aotearoa New Zealand.
