Department of Biology, University of Pisa, Italy.
Department of Biology, University of Pisa, Italy.
J Environ Manage. 2019 Dec 1;251:109604. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2019.109604. Epub 2019 Sep 27.
Traditional revegetation techniques employed to restore seagrass meadows and coastal dunes have recently been criticized for their impact on donor populations as well as for the installation of plant anchoring structures made of non-biodegradable or not natural materials in recipient habitats. To improve the ecological sustainability of restoration practices, a novel plantable biodegradable container made of beach-cast seagrass wrack and a bio-based polymer was produced. The long-term performance of two seagrasses, Cymodocea nodosa and Zostera noltei, and two dune plants, Euphorbia paralias and Thinopyrum junceum, grown in nurseries from seeds using the bio-container or a non-biodegradable container of equal size/form made of a conventional plastic (control) was also examined. In addition, the development of bio-container-raised C. nodosa plants in the field was compared to that of plants removed from control containers at the installation and anchored with a traditional system. The bio-container degraded slowly in seawater and in sand and lost its functionality after about three years. In nurseries, all the tested species grown in bio-containers performed as well as, or better than, those raised in non-biodegradable ones. Six months after transplanting into the field, 80% of the C. nodosa nursery-raised plants installed with their bio-container have colonized the surrounding substrate while most of those planted with the traditional system was lost. These results indicate that the new bio-container may support plant growth, and it may also provide protection and anchorage to plants in the field. The use of this bio-container in combination with nursery techniques could improve the environmental sustainability of coastal restoration interventions by providing large plant stocks from seed, thus reducing the impact of collection on donor populations. This approach would also limit the introduction of extraneous materials in recipient habitats and offer an opportunity for valorizing seagrass beach-cast material.
传统的植被恢复技术被用于恢复海草草甸和沿海沙丘，但最近这些技术因其对供体种群的影响，以及在受体生境中安装不可生物降解或非天然材料的植物锚固结构而受到批评。为了提高恢复实践的生态可持续性，我们生产了一种由海滩冲来的海草碎屑和生物基聚合物制成的新型可种植的生物降解容器。使用生物容器或同等大小/形状的由传统塑料制成的不可生物降解容器（对照），从种子中在苗圃中种植两种海草（Cymodocea nodosa 和 Zostera noltei）和两种沙丘植物（Euphorbia paralias 和 Thinopyrum junceum），并检查了它们的长期性能。此外，还比较了在现场用生物容器种植的 C. nodosa 植物的生长情况，以及在安装时从对照容器中取出并用传统系统锚固的植物的生长情况。生物容器在海水中和沙中缓慢降解，大约三年后失去功能。在苗圃中，用生物容器种植的所有测试物种的表现与用不可生物降解容器种植的物种一样好，甚至更好。在野外移植六个月后，80%的用生物容器种植的 C. nodosa 苗圃植物已经在周围基质上定殖，而大多数用传统系统种植的植物已经丢失。这些结果表明，新型生物容器可以支持植物生长，并且还可以为野外植物提供保护和锚固。将这种生物容器与苗圃技术结合使用，可以通过提供来自种子的大量植物苗来提高沿海恢复干预的环境可持续性，从而减少对供体种群的影响。这种方法还将限制在受体生境中引入外来材料，并为利用海草海滩冲来的材料提供机会。
