Large ecosystem-scale effects of restoration fail to mitigate impacts of land-use legacies in longleaf pine savannas

Brudvig, Lars A.; Turley, Nash E.; Bartel, Savannah L.; Bell-Dereske, Lukas; Breland, Sabrie; Damschen, Ellen I.; Evans, Sarah E.; Gibbs, Jason; Hahn, Philip G.; Isaacs, Rufus; Ledvina, Joe A.; Orrock, John L.; Sorenson, Quinn M.; Stuhler, John D.

doi:10.1073/pnas.2020935118

Title: Large ecosystem-scale effects of restoration fail to mitigate impacts of land-use legacies in longleaf pine savannas

Journal Article · Mon Apr 19 00:00:00 EDT 2021 · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2020935118· OSTI ID:1805172

Brudvig, Lars A. ^[1];

^[2];

^[3];

^[1];

^[3]; Evans, Sarah E. ^[1];

^[4]; Hahn, Philip G. ^[5]; Isaacs, Rufus ^[1];

^[1];

^[3]; Sorenson, Quinn M. ^[6];

^[7]

Michigan State Univ., East Lansing, MI (United States)
Michigan State Univ., East Lansing, MI (United States); Univ. of Central Florida, Orlando, FL (United States)
Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (United States)
Univ. of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB (Canada)
Univ. of Florida, Gainesville, FL (United States)
Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (United States); Univ. of California, Davis, CA (United States)
Texas Tech Univ., Lubbock, TX (United States)

Ecological restoration is a global priority, with potential to reverse biodiversity declines and promote ecosystem functioning. Yet, successful restoration is challenged by lingering legacies of past land-use activities, which are pervasive on lands available for restoration. Although legacies can persist for centuries following cessation of human land uses such as agriculture, we currently lack understanding of how land-use legacies affect entire ecosystems, how they influence restoration outcomes, or whether restoration can mitigate legacy effects. Using a large-scale experiment, we evaluated how restoration by tree thinning and land-use legacies from prior cultivation and subsequent conversion to pine plantations affect fire-suppressed longleaf pine savannas. In this work, we evaluated 45 ecological properties across four categories: 1) abiotic attributes, 2) organism abundances, 3) species diversity, and 4) species interactions. The effects of restoration and land-use legacies were pervasive, shaping all categories of properties, with restoration effects roughly twice the magnitude of legacy effects. Restoration effects were of comparable magnitude in savannas with and without a history of intensive human land use; however, restoration did not mitigate numerous legacy effects present prior to restoration. As a result, savannas with a history of intensive human land use supported altered properties, especially related to soils, even after restoration. The signature of past human land-use activities can be remarkably persistent in the face of intensive restoration, influencing the outcome of restoration across diverse ecological properties. Understanding and mitigating land-use legacies will maximize the potential to restore degraded ecosystems.

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Research Organization:: USDA Forest Service, Savannah River, New Ellenton, SC (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response (CESER), Infrastructure Security and Energy Restoration (ISER); Foundation for Food and Agriculture, Pollinator Health Fund; Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program

Grant/Contract Number:: EM0003622; 549058; RC-1695

OSTI ID:: 1805172

Report Number(s):: 21-04-P; 21-04-P; TRN: US2212715

Journal Information:: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Vol. 118, Issue 17; ISSN 0027-8424

Publisher:: National Academy of SciencesCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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