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Is manure an alternative to topsoil in road embankment restoration?

One of the main steps in road and railway embankment restoration is the spreading of previously removed topsoil, which provides an input of seeds, organic matter and microorganisms and encourages the establishment of a vegetation cover, essential to stabilise the embankment and blend it with the lan...

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Autores principales: Peco, Begoña, Rivera, Desirée, García-Palacios, Pablo, Jauregui, Berta M.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2017
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5367811/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28346511
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0174622
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author Peco, Begoña
Rivera, Desirée
García-Palacios, Pablo
Jauregui, Berta M.
author_facet Peco, Begoña
Rivera, Desirée
García-Palacios, Pablo
Jauregui, Berta M.
author_sort Peco, Begoña
collection PubMed
description One of the main steps in road and railway embankment restoration is the spreading of previously removed topsoil, which provides an input of seeds, organic matter and microorganisms and encourages the establishment of a vegetation cover, essential to stabilise the embankment and blend it with the landscape. However, topsoil is a scarce resource, prompting the search for economic alternatives with similar results. The present study compares the results of spreading topsoil with an organic amendment (manure) for the soil's physico-chemical properties, erosion resistance and microbial activity, floristic richness and composition, and bare soil cover. For this purpose, experimental plots with three treatments (Control, Topsoil and Manure) were maintained on a recently built embankment in Central Spain for 20 months. Manure was found to be an effective alternative to topsoil for the improvement of soil fertility (organic matter content and total nitrogen). The two types of organic amendment produced similar reductions in bare soil cover and erosion rates. However, plots with topsoil showed greater soil respiration and species richness and a different floristic composition in comparison to those treated with manure, which was closer to control plots. These results suggest that manure can be used to replace topsoil to enhance embankment stability during the early stages of restoration. However, if the aim of the restoration process is to promote plant diversity, topsoil is recommended.
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spelling pubmed-53678112017-04-06 Is manure an alternative to topsoil in road embankment restoration? Peco, Begoña Rivera, Desirée García-Palacios, Pablo Jauregui, Berta M. PLoS One Research Article One of the main steps in road and railway embankment restoration is the spreading of previously removed topsoil, which provides an input of seeds, organic matter and microorganisms and encourages the establishment of a vegetation cover, essential to stabilise the embankment and blend it with the landscape. However, topsoil is a scarce resource, prompting the search for economic alternatives with similar results. The present study compares the results of spreading topsoil with an organic amendment (manure) for the soil's physico-chemical properties, erosion resistance and microbial activity, floristic richness and composition, and bare soil cover. For this purpose, experimental plots with three treatments (Control, Topsoil and Manure) were maintained on a recently built embankment in Central Spain for 20 months. Manure was found to be an effective alternative to topsoil for the improvement of soil fertility (organic matter content and total nitrogen). The two types of organic amendment produced similar reductions in bare soil cover and erosion rates. However, plots with topsoil showed greater soil respiration and species richness and a different floristic composition in comparison to those treated with manure, which was closer to control plots. These results suggest that manure can be used to replace topsoil to enhance embankment stability during the early stages of restoration. However, if the aim of the restoration process is to promote plant diversity, topsoil is recommended. Public Library of Science 2017-03-27 /pmc/articles/PMC5367811/ /pubmed/28346511 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0174622 Text en © 2017 Peco et al http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Peco, Begoña
Rivera, Desirée
García-Palacios, Pablo
Jauregui, Berta M.
Is manure an alternative to topsoil in road embankment restoration?
title Is manure an alternative to topsoil in road embankment restoration?
title_full Is manure an alternative to topsoil in road embankment restoration?
title_fullStr Is manure an alternative to topsoil in road embankment restoration?
title_full_unstemmed Is manure an alternative to topsoil in road embankment restoration?
title_short Is manure an alternative to topsoil in road embankment restoration?
title_sort is manure an alternative to topsoil in road embankment restoration?
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5367811/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28346511
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0174622
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