One advantageous strategy for the restoration of human-disturbed landscapes is the use of ecologically “important” species such as nurse plants. We propose a field-based approach to measure the functional importance of nurse species (i.e. their relative facilitative effects on other plant species) and to identify which species will yield more efficient revegetation programs regarding their abundance. We identified 30 nurse-beneficiary spatial associations, with the functional importance varying largely among four nurse species and three human-disturbed areas. A Mediterranean endemic palm was the most important nurse species, thus showing its potential key role in revegetation programs by promoting spatial associations with late-successional plant species. We encourage restorers to use nurse species with a disproportionate (regarding their relative abundance) impact on ecosystems to save additional resources.

中文翻译：

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评估护士物种在地中海人类改变地区的相对重要性

恢复人类干扰景观的一种有利策略是使用生态上“重要”的物种，例如护生植物。我们提出了一种基于实地的方法来衡量护生物种的功能重要性（即它们对其他植物物种的相对促进作用），并确定哪些物种将在其丰度方面产生更有效的重新植被计划。我们确定了 30 个护士受益空间关联，功能重要性在四种护士物种和三个人为干扰区域之间差异很大。地中海特有的棕榈树是最重要的护生物种，因此通过促进与后期植物物种的空间关联，显示了其在重新植被计划中的潜在关键作用。