Land use legacy affects ecosystem restoration

Prior agricultural use of land has long-term effects on longleaf pine savannas, lasting up to half a century later, according to a study. Little is known about how the legacy of human land use, such as agriculture or forestry, affects ecosystems or restoration efforts. Lars A. Brudvig and colleagues conducted a large-scale experiment at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. Prior to the 1950s, the land had been used partly to farm corn and cotton and was subsequently densely planted with pine for timber use. In 2011, the authors established 126 research plots, half of which had a history of agriculture. The authors undertook restoration efforts in half of the plots with a history of agricultural use and in half of the plots with no history of agriculture, thinning trees and engaging in prescribed burns. During 2012-2017, the authors quantified 45 ecological variables, including abiotic variables such as temperature and light, as well as species abundance and diversity. Restoration mitigated many effects attributable to forestry but few effects attributable to agriculture, such as soil compaction. According to the authors, given the variable impacts of land use legacies, additional restoration efforts, such as soil manipulation, should be considered, depending on previous land use.

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Article #20-20935: "Large ecosystem-scale effects of restoration fail to mitigate impacts of land use legacies in longleaf pine savannas," by Lars A. Brudvig et al.

MEDIA CONTACT: Lars A. Brudvig, Michigan State University, East Lansing, tel: 517-927-1074; email: <brudvig@msu.edu>

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