Spreading topsoil encourages ecological restoration on embankments: soil fertility, microbial activity and vegetation cover.

ABSTRACT: The construction of linear transport infrastructure has severe effects on ecosystem functions and properties, and the restoration of the associated roadslopes contributes to reduce its impact. This restoration is usually approached from the perspective of plant cover regeneration, ignoring plant-soil interactions and the consequences for plant growth. The addition of a 30 cm layer of topsoil is a common practice in roadslope restoration projects to increase vegetation recovery. However topsoil is a scarce resource. This study assesses the effects of topsoil spreading and its depth (10 to 30 cm) on two surrogates of microbial activity (β-glucosidase and phosphatase enzymes activity and soil respiration), and on plant cover, plant species richness and floristic composition of embankment vege

SUBMITTER: Rivera D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4077791 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature