Large ecosystem-scale effects of restoration fail to mitigate impacts of land-use legacies in longleaf pine savannas
Ecological restoration is a global priority, with potential to reverse biodiversity declines and promote ecosystem functioning. Yet, successful restoration is challenged by lingering legacies of past land-use activities, which are pervasive on lands available for restoration. Although legacies can p...
Saved in:
| Published in: | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS Vol. 118; no. 17; pp. 1 - 6 |
|---|---|
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
United States
National Academy of Sciences
27-04-2021
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | Get full text |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| Summary: | Ecological restoration is a global priority, with potential to reverse biodiversity declines and promote ecosystem functioning. Yet, successful restoration is challenged by lingering legacies of past land-use activities, which are pervasive on lands available for restoration. Although legacies can persist for centuries following cessation of human land uses such as agriculture, we currently lack understanding of how land-use legacies affect entire ecosystems, how they influence restoration outcomes, or whether restoration can mitigate legacy effects. Using a large-scale experiment, we evaluated how restoration by tree thinning and land-use legacies from prior cultivation and subsequent conversion to pine plantations affect fire-suppressed longleaf pine savannas. We evaluated 45 ecological properties across four categories: 1) abiotic attributes, 2) organism abundances, 3) species diversity, and 4) species interactions. The effects of restoration and land-use legacies were pervasive, shaping all categories of properties, with restoration effects roughly twice the magnitude of legacy effects. Restoration effects were of comparable magnitude in savannas with and without a history of intensive human land use; however, restoration did not mitigate numerous legacy effects present prior to restoration. As a result, savannas with a history of intensive human land use supported altered properties, especially related to soils, even after restoration. The signature of past human land-use activities can be remarkably persistent in the face of intensive restoration, influencing the outcome of restoration across diverse ecological properties. Understanding and mitigating land-use legacies will maximize the potential to restore degraded ecosystems. |
|---|---|
| Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 21-04-P EM0003622; 549058; RC-1695 Foundation for Food and Agriculture, Pollinator Health Fund USDOE Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response (CESER), Infrastructure Security and Energy Restoration (ISER) Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program Edited by Robin L. Chazdon, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, and accepted by Editorial Board Member Ruth DeFries March 15, 2021 (received for review October 6, 2020) Author contributions: L.A.B. and N.E.T. designed research; L.A.B., N.E.T., S.L.B., L.B.-D., S.B., E.I.D., S.E.E., J.G., P.G.H., R.I., J.A.L., J.L.O., Q.M.S., and J.D.S. performed research; N.E.T. analyzed data; and L.A.B., N.E.T., S.L.B., L.B.-D., S.B., E.I.D., S.E.E., J.G., P.G.H., R.I., J.A.L., J.L.O., Q.M.S., and J.D.S. wrote the paper. 1L.A.B. and N.E.T. contributed equally to this work. |
| ISSN: | 0027-8424 1091-6490 |
| DOI: | 10.1073/pnas.2020935118 |