Ecological facilitation, though accepted as a main mechanism of plant community assembly, is just starting to be utilized in restoration programmes. Constructing nurse objects that mimic the effect of natural nurse species can be an option to trigger plant nucleation processes in disturbed stressful ecosystems.

We hypothesized that arranged log piles might imitate plant facilitation by alleviating abiotic stress and expanding the regeneration niche of beneficiary species, eventually promoting plant establishment, fitness and diversity. With this aim, within a pilot restoration programme in abandoned mining structures in SE Spain where climatic and edaphic stresses concur, we constructed 133 pine log piles from natural wastes generated by local silvicultural activities. We monitored 51 of them plus their adjacent open areas for 15 months, measuring soil temperature, radiation and humidity. We recorded natural seedling establishment, plant nutritional status and heavy metal accumulation. We further performed a seed sowing experiment to investigate how log piles affect plant taxonomic and functional diversity based on 11 establishment and phytostabilization traits.

Pine log piles significantly softened microclimatic conditions and accelerated plant establishment in unfertile and metal-polluted mining substrates, simultaneously capturing water, providing shade and pine seeds. Plant communities that naturally established beneath the piles were 15 times denser and five times taxonomically more diverse than those in open areas, despite being skewed towards pine recruitment. Experimental communities sown under log piles were also 1.4 times functionally more diverse, as theory predicts for relaxed abiotic conditions. Log piles improved seedling nutritional status, in terms of P and K content, at the cost of increased metal accumulation.

At the landscape scale, nurse objects triggered plant establishment promoting taxonomic and functional diversity in extremely stressful environments. This study exemplifies how soft restoration tools can be based on mechanisms that are widely accepted in the ecological theory.

生态便利化虽然被认为是植物群落组装的主要机制，但才刚刚开始在恢复计划中得到利用。构造模仿自然护士物种影响的护士对象可以是在受干扰的压力生态系统中触发植物成核过程的一种选择。

我们假设排列好的原木堆可以通过缓解非生物胁迫和扩大受益物种的再生位来模仿植物的便利化，最终促进植物的建立，适应性和多样性。为此，在西班牙东南部因气候和水文压力而集中的废弃采矿结构的试点修复计划中，我们用当地造林活动产生的自然废物建造了133根松木原木桩。我们对其中的51个以及附近的空旷地区进行了15个月的监测，测量了土壤温度，辐射和湿度。我们记录了自然幼苗的建立，植物营养状况和重金属积累。

松木原木桩显着软化了微气候条件，并加速了在不肥沃和金属污染的采矿底物中的植物生长，同时捕获了水，提供了阴影和松树种子。尽管偏向于松树募集，但自然形成的植物群落比开放地区的植物群落密度高15倍，分类学上的多样性高5倍。正如理论预测的那样，在非生物条件宽松的条件下，在原木堆下播种的实验群落在功能上也要多样化1.4倍。原木桩以磷和钾的含量改善了幼苗的营养状况，但以增加金属积累为代价。

在景观尺度上，护理对象触发了植物的建立，从而促进了在极端压力环境中的分类学和功能多样性。这项研究举例说明了软修复工具如何基于生态学理论中广泛接受的机制。