How much can assisted natural regeneration contribute to ecological restoration in arid lands?

Abstract

AbstractIn many arid shrubland lands around the world, such as the Monte Desert of Argentina, ecological restoration efforts often prioritize direct seeding or outplantings. Another restorative intervention with lower costs, such as assisted natural regeneration (ANR) through soil tillage, are poorly studied and implemented. In this context, we selected 16 abandoned petroleum drilling platforms that were scarified with furrows to evaluate the natural establishment of vegetation. An equal number of neighboring sites were chosen as ecological reference sites. Five years after scarification, an analysis was conducted on the similarity, richness, diversity of species, plant coverage, density, and soil in soil‐scarified petroleum drilling platforms and ecological reference sites. Similarity, diversity, plant coverage, and density were low between degraded and reference sites. However, 40% of the total species found in the ecological reference colonized one or more of the degraded sites studied. The species found in degraded sites belonged to various life forms (shrubs, perennial, and annual herbs). Additionally, the colonization exhibited notable differences with the typical succession sequence of pioneer, intermediate, and mature species. Many of them were considered typical of climax states in previous studies, such as the case of Larrea divaricata and Larrea cuneifolia. The discussion addresses the succession process in arid lands and highlights the importance of considering ANR with more emphasis on restoration efforts.