Land cover changes following rewetting of 73 thousand hectares of peatland after the severe 2010 peat fires in Moscow Region (Russia) were monitored using multispectral remote sensing. The results revealed a reduction in the area of bare peat and dry grasslands, the rapid expansion of willow and birch vegetation, and a steady increase in wet grasslands and open water. Both the number and area of peat

Effective grassland restoration practices can promote degraded meadows recovery. However, little has been documented regarding the effect of water addition on the restoration of degraded meadows in the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau (QTP). A field experiment with five water addition levels was established to identify the interactions between soil bio-physicochemical properties and plant of the degraded alpine

Transplantation of soil and plant litter has been suggested as a tool to speed up the establishment of target communities during restoration. In this study, we explored the effect of transplanting soil and plant litter on plant and soil biota communities in an already afforested limestone quarry. Soil or plant litter from a mature deciduous forest was transplanted into post-mining sites overgrown by

Railway networks are linear landscape elements that are mostly accompanied by adjacent lineside vegetation. In order to maintain safe railway operation, lineside vegetation must be continuously monitored and maintained. A large-scale assessment approach to identify safety-relevant woody vegetation structures along a railway corridor is presented in this paper. Based on accurate surface and terrain

To date, urban plant selection has mainly been focused on species-level characteristics such as aesthetics and suitability to form assemblages. In natural environments, however, plant species form natural assemblages based on positive (and negative) ecological interactions. Implementing an assemblage-level approach to plant selection in an urban context that utilises ecological interactions between

The passing efficiency of the fishway for water plant dam in Liuxi River was evaluated by statistical analysis and comparison with other fishway based on the monitoring data from August in 2015 to July in 2016. The main contents of this paper includes that identifying the fish species, analyzing the influence factors of season and upper water level on passing efficiency, and comparing the result with

Runoff is an important factor in maintaining the normal operation of wetland ecosystems. An effective runoff simulation can provide an important decision basis for wetland protection and ecological restoration. Aiming to make the spatial resolution of remotely sensed precipitation products match the existing high-precision digital elevation model (DEM), this study used multiple linear regression (MLR)

Runoff decrease triggered or exacerbated by human activities over the past decades on the Loess Plateau has been drawing nationwide concerns; quantifying human-induced runoff-altering factors is of great significance for decision-making on maintaining regional water, ecological and economic security. Sediment-trapping dams (STDs) construction and revegetation are the two major soil-water conservation

This study analyzed the capability of two species to take up metals from gold mine tailing storage facility seepage in a constructed wetland with horizontal subsurface flow. Naturally populated Typha domingensis (cattail) and introduced Chrysopogon zizanioides (vetiver) were sampled on a regular basis in two experimentation cycles; a monoculture of T. domingensis in the first cycle and a mixed culture

As coral restoration efforts increase globally, there is a growing need to not only increase post-restoration monitoring, but also advance reef restoration monitoring methods. Utilizing autonomous technology to compliment manual, SCUBA-based monitoring will diversify the types of data available to coral restoration practitioners and aid in determining the efficacy of restoration efforts. This study

A conventionally-designed bioretention cell, consisting of very sandy media meant to achieve high infiltration rates, was studied for its hydrologic and treatment performance over two monitoring periods: 2013–2014 (immediately post-construction) and 2017–2018 (4–5 years post-construction). Given the limited literature on mature performance of bioretention, the purpose of this study was to determine

Highly disturbed landscapes, including fallowed or abandoned farmland, are known to experience losses in native plant diversity that negatively impact the ecological functions and services provided by an ecosystem. The restoration of native species to the post-agricultural landscape using principles derived from indigenous knowledge could reverse this damage. This study examines the effects of three

Anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) plays an important role in regulating methane (CH4) emissions from coastal wetland ecosystems. In recent decades, coastal estuarine wetlands have been subjected to great environmental pressure associated with terrestrial nitrogen (N) input. Here, we used 13CH4 to quantify AOM rates in coastal wetland sediments with and without vegetation in the Yangtze River Estuary

Eutrophication is the prime water quality issue in inland waters. Eutrophication and its key symptom, harmful cyanobacterial blooms, is expected to further increase in the future, which highlights the importance of managing the issue. The reduction of external nutrient load is crucial but might not bring fast relief to eutrophic waters due to ongoing diffuse pollution and legacy nutrients in the sediment

Hydropeaking is an anthropogenic regime that results from the strong flow variations in the receiving waters of storage hydropower plants. These variations are due to flexible energy production, i.e. the sudden increase of electricity demands or from its decrease, affecting the fish assemblages of that river stretch. We evaluated the mitigation potential of the hydropeaking diversion hydropower plant

Pavements, rooftops and compacted soils inhibit rainfall infiltration across our cities and drains built to prevent flooding can further reduce water availability to urban ecosystems. These hydrological changes diminish the provision of ecosystem service benefits to local populations and negatively impact downstream communities and environments. Stormwater engineering can help restore infiltration

The Great Dismal Swamp (GDS) is a 45,000-ha state and federally protected Coastal Plain peatland located on the border of North Carolina and Virginia that contains stands of Bald cypress and the globally threatened Atlantic white cedar. Centuries of drainage and logging have substantially altered the hydrology of the GDS, negatively affecting its ecosystem structure and function. To restore a seasonally

Degraded tropical forests that were converted into pastures dominated by exotic grasses are a challenge for restoration due to arrested succession. Nucleation is a suitable strategy to restore such abandoned pastures as it can overcome seed and site limitation, and would foster the recovery of structural, functional, and species diversity. To explore the outcomes of different nucleation techniques

Vegetation restoration tends to enhance soil carbon storage in severely degraded lands, which is of great significance to mitigate climate change. In this study, soil organic carbon, inorganic carbon and soil properties were investigated in a restored post-mining area in Shanxi province, eastern Loess Plateau. Through artificially planting Rhus typhina, Quercus liaotungensis and Pinus tabuliformis

Restoring fauna is a fundamental objective of ecological restoration. For organisms that depend on vegetation structures (e.g., hunting support), such as spiders, this can be difficult, especially in early stages of intervention. Multifunctionality in restoration practices occurs when one action can achieve more than one objective. Given the complexity of restoration actions and the general scarcity

As seagrasses are not available with commercial nursery stocks, the removal of a large amount of plant materials may damage donor populations. We evaluated the recovery of the eelgrass Zostera marina following the removal of entire plant patches (0.01–0.49 m2) at the edge and interior of an eelgrass bed in Rongcheng Bay, Shandong Peninsula, China, through a field experiment. We investigated the shoot

Trees have been found to have significant cooling effect on outdoor thermal environment. This study explores the characteristics of a tree component (crown) that accounts for a large portion of the cooling effect. A field measurement was conducted in the Gold Coast, Australia, which has a subtropical climate (Cfa), according to the Köppen climate classification. The characteristics of the tree crown

The high-risk nature of low-lying coastal areas means that many are characterised by protective dikes, sea walls, and earthen embankments. Across Europe, such structures are employed to limit landward sea flooding and have been used historically to reclaim wetlands, many of which have since gained international protected habitat status. Sea level rise and storms threaten the future viability of fixed

Changes in climate have a direct impact on basin hydrology, soil erosion, and sediment yield and this could adversely affect the water availability and efficiency of hydraulic structures. Hence, there is a need to assess the relationship between climate, hydrology, and related processes. In this study, future climate data on three regional climate models: REMO, CNRM, and MPI under RCP 4.5 and 8.5 scenarios

The understory is an important reservoir of plant biodiversity and a driver of ecological processes in Canada's boreal forest, making its re-establishment following reclamation of oil sands mines crucial. This study examined understory plant community development with time using two cover soil types (forest floor mineral mix (FMM) and peat mineral mix (PMM)) in Alberta oil sands reclamation sites.

Liquid-phase nonpoint source pollution dispersion and removal on sustainable urban drainage systems (SUDS) is an important issue for urban pollution mitigation which remains a challenge, as current researches mostly focus on pollutants removal by settling. Nevertheless, most of liquid-phase pollutants behave as dissolved substances on overland flow and, therefore, they cannot be trapped, but uptake

In this study, we explored different methods to build methane emissions prediction models of temperate reservoirs on a regional field scale, and then we examined the performances and adaptation of these prediction models. First, four statistical model learning methods and two machine learning methods were used to develop methane emissions prediction models based on environmental factors (i.e., temperature

Bioenergy buffers planted with fast-growing woody crops such as hybrid poplars (Populus spp.) are increasingly integrated into agricultural land to enhance the provision of ecosystem services. Genotype and planting stock type selection may influence buffer establishment success and soil properties, which may affect buffer functions such as soil nutrient removal, hydrological regulation (i.e. soil dewatering)

Passive restoration and applied nucleation are important strategies for large-scale gains and cost reduction in ecological restoration projects. Passive restoration uses the natural regeneration potential while applied nucleation recreates microhabitats, which facilitates ecological succession. In this study, we assessed floristic composition, structure and functional groups as ecological indicators

Woodchip denitrification walls are a tried and tested groundwater nitrate remediation concept in shallow sandy aquifer conditions. There are however no published case studies of them having been applied in heterogeneous, fast-flowing gravel aquifers. Such a pilot study is being made in a shallow alluvial gravel aquifer on the Canterbury Plains, New Zealand, as part of an assessment of whether denitrification

In this study, we compared the early fish colonization of three types of artificial reefs deployed in the coastal waters of Saba and St Eustatius in the Caribbean: reef balls®, layered cakes and piles of locally obtained basaltic rock. As an indicator of performance, three fish assemblage parameters (abundance, biomass, species richness) were measured using underwater visual censuses at 11 months post-deployment

Using local and recycled materials is a sustainable way to establish a vegetated roof. In order to understand how the roof ecosystem functions and returns ecosystem services, it is important to study vegetation, soil organisms and runoff quality. We established a vegetated roof experiment based on a substrate containing lightweight crushed concrete, an alkaline side product from a concrete factory

A braided gravel-bed river provides essential habitats for various plants and animals. However, human regulation of rivers, such as dams, channelization, and other engineering works, alter flow and sediment regimes, which generally cause the degradation of river and riparian ecosystems. One of the prominent changes prevailing in Japanese rivers is forest expansion over gravel bars, and many native

Understanding how fish traverse man-made barriers (e.g. road-crossings and culverts) ensures that engineering and design guidelines achieve positive outcomes for fish communities. Water velocity, depth and fish body size are interrelated factors that influence fish passage through culverts. Velocity barriers have been a major focus of culvert remediation efforts to improve fish passage, however wide

Degradation of cliff-top habitats due to industrial activity is infrequent, leading to unique challenges when activity ceases and a site requires remediation. Dounreay, an ex-nuclear power facility on the north coast of Scotland, is currently being decommissioned prior to complete demolition of all buildings. A small area of the site will then be covered in a 1000 mm capping layer to prevent contamination

The aim of this study was to estimate the carbon footprint (CFP) of constructed wetlands for winery wastewater treatment. In particular, a constructed wetland scenario was compared to the previous scenario (third-party management) and to an activated sludge system. CFP considered both indirect and direct greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions measured on-site. Moreover, an economic analysis of the considered

Oxbow lakes generated from meandering river cutoffs are an indispensable component of riparian ecosystem. This study aimed to examine whether predictable patterns in water properties arise relative to oxbow lake geometry and lake-channel connectivity. We selected 24 oxbow lakes along a meandering river belt in Zoige Basin, the Tibetan Plateau, to conduct field work at the beginning (May) and the end

Different additions of attapulgite, zeolite and hydroxyapatite were applied in vanadium (V)-contaminated soil to investigate and compare their stable efficiencies to vanadium. The results of the stabilization experiments showed that the optimal amounts of passivators were 2%, and their performance was as follows: attapulgite > hydroxyphosphate > zeolite. The highest stable efficiencies of hydroxyphosphate

Wetlands provide diverse ecosystem services: they create habitats, provide hydrological control, and regulate biogeochemical cycles of flora and fauna through interaction with surrounding wetlands. These services vary temporally, depending primarily on hydro-climatic conditions and the type of wetland. To better understand the functions of wetlands, it is necessary to analyze the effect of stochastic

Karst regions in southwest China are characterized by vulnerable ecological environment. Knowledge on the driving factors of vegetation cover change could provide valuable information for ecological restoration management. However, quantitative identification of the key drivers for the vegetation restoration remains challenging in karst trough valleys. In this study, we used normalized difference vegetation

Discharge from high dam causes total dissolved gas (TDG) supersaturation, which dissipates slowly along the downstream river and induces fish bubble disease. The dissipation process is closely related to the hydraulic condition. In most TDG prediction models, the hydraulic condition is lumped in a parameter called the dissipation coefficient (k), whose determination usually contains large uncertainty

Phosphorus (P) leaching from agricultural to tile drainage land contributes to nonpoint pollution of surface waters. Drainage filter technologies are potentially cost-effective technologies at the field scale for mitigating P losses. The objective of this study was to evaluate the removal efficiency for dissolved P (PRE) in a porous reactive filter constructed from crushed seashells, which was part