Study

Vegetational restoration techniques on reclaimed phosphate strip mines in Florida

  • Published source details Clewell A.F. (1981) Vegetational restoration techniques on reclaimed phosphate strip mines in Florida. Wetlands, 1, 158-170.

Actions

This study is summarised as evidence for the following.

Action Category

Transplant or replace wetland soil: freshwater marshes

Action Link
Marsh and Swamp Conservation

Directly plant trees/shrubs: freshwater wetlands

Action Link
Marsh and Swamp Conservation
  1. Transplant or replace wetland soil: freshwater marshes

    A before-and-after study in the 1980s in a marsh developing on reclaimed mining land in Florida, USA (Clewell 1981) reported that following the addition of soil from a natural marsh, the number of plant species increased. Before soil was added, the marsh contained 45 plant species. One year after soil was added, the marsh contained 88 plant species, “many” of which occurred in the donor sites. Methods: In the early 1980s, a 5-cm-thick layer of topsoil from natural marshes was added to a developing marsh. The site had been planted with dry pasture grasses four years earlier, but had since developed marsh vegetation because it was kept wet by seepage from a settling pond. The study does not report precise dates and details of monitoring.

    (Summarised by: Nigel Taylor)

  2. Directly plant trees/shrubs: freshwater wetlands

    A study in 1980–1981 of a swamp restoration project in Florida, USA (Clewell 1981) reported that 46–91% of planted tree seedlings survived over one year. Eight species were planted, but the study only reports results for three. The survival rate was 46% for slash pine Pinus elliotti, 85% for red maple Acer rubrum and 91% for sweetgum Liquidamar styraciflua. Methods: In early 1980, five 0.19-ha plots were planted with approximately 3,000 tree seedlings (600 seedlings/plot; mixed species). The site was historically a swamp, then mined for phosphate. Existing grass-like plants were burned before planting trees. Survival of planted seedlings was recorded in early 1981.

    (Summarised by: Nigel Taylor)

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