A long-term evaluation of applied nucleation as a strategy to facilitate forest restoration

Applied nucleation is a restoration technique that seeks to facilitate woody plant establishment by attracting birds or other animals that may introduce seeds of dispersal-limited species. In 1991, an experimental test of applied nucleation was initiated in an abandoned landfill in New Jersey, USA. Trees and shrubs were planted into 16 10 × 10-m plots, covering less than 3% of the 6 ha site. In 2010-2011, we sampled the plant community to test the impact of the treatments on forest cover and plant biodiversity. Site-wide forest cover increased substantially in the 19 years since planting from none to 59%. The original planted plots had significantly higher stem density, particularly of bird-dispersed species, than unplanted areas. Species composition outside the planted plots was dominated by the wind-dispersed Fraxinus americana and several small-seeded bird-dispersed species, but there were few species indicative of later successional stages. The expected model of successional develop...人工成核（applied nucleation）是一种旨在通过吸引鸟类或其他动物，使其携带扩散受限物种的种子，从而促进木本植物定植的修复技术。1991年，研究人员在美国新泽西州的一处废弃填埋场启动了一项人工成核技术的实验测试。研究人员在16块10×10米的样地中栽种乔木与灌木，这些样地的总面积不足6公顷样地的3%。2010-2011年，我们对植物群落开展采样，以验证该处理对森林覆盖度与植物生物多样性的影响。自栽种以来的19年间，样地整体的森林覆盖度大幅提升，从无覆盖增至59%。原始栽种样地的茎秆密度显著高于未种植区域，尤其是鸟类传播物种的茎秆密度。未种植区域的物种组成以风传的美国白蜡（Fraxinus americana）以及数种小型种子的鸟类传播物种为主，但几乎没有指示演替后期阶段的物种。预期的演替发育模型……