Restoring cut-over restiad peat bogs: A factorial experiment of nutrients, seed and cultivation

Autor: Louis A. Schipper, Beverley R. Clarkson, R Webster, Maja Vojvodic-Vukovic
Rok vydání: 2002
Předmět:
Zdroj: Ecological Engineering. 19:29-40
ISSN: 0925-8574
DOI: 10.1016/s0925-8574(02)00013-7
Popis: More than 75% of the original restiad peat bogs of the Waikato region, New Zealand, have been converted to agricultural use. Restiad bogs are also mined for peat but there is little information on methods for the post-harvest restoration of restiad bogs. We established a restoration trial on a mined bog with a full factorial experiment of four fertiliser additions (nitrogen, phosphorus, nitrogen plus phosphorus, and control), three seed additions ( Leptospermum scoparium , Sporadanthus ferrugineus , and no seed added [control] and three cultivation techniques (lightly-tilled, deeply-tilled and raised). All combinations were duplicated in 5×5 m plots. The first restoration goal was to establish rapidly a vegetation cover to minimise peat degradation. All plots in the raised cultivation treatments exceeded 88% cover by 2 years, whereas the other cultivation treatments had significantly less cover, ranging between 1 and 75%. The best combination within the raised treatments was nitrogen plus phosphorus fertiliser with L. scoparium seed, which reached 100% cover. A second goal was to establish the late successional species S. ferrugineus. Although cover of this species was greatest on the raised plots (up to 32%), the benefits of seed and fertiliser applications were not clear. Measured changes in nitrogen and phosphorus pools showed that nutrient status of the peat had returned to background levels within 2 years, minimising the potential for invasion by weeds with greater nutrient requirements.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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