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Success of long-term restoration of degraded arid land using native trees planted 11 years earlier

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Abstract

Background and aims

Restoration of degraded desert soil with three species of legume trees and the giant cardon cactus was evaluated 11 years after planting in the southern Sonora Desert.

Methods

The trees in six independent field experiments were grown individually or in combination of a legume tree and cardon cactus and were originally treated with plant growth-promoting bacteria, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, or small amounts of cattle compost or a combination of all treatments. Survival and height of trees and cacti and cactus biovolume were measured.

Results

When data were combined from all experiments and analyzed together, the best survivor was the cardon cacti and, to a lesser extent, the legume tree mesquite amargo. Over a decade later, a combination of a legume tree with cardon cactus, while detrimental to the legume, significantly increased the chances of the cactus to survive and grow in degraded soil. The biotic and compost treatments, while enhancing the initial establishment of the plants in 2004, had only marginal benefit on the growth of cactus 11 years later.

Conclusions

Long-term desert restoration with native trees is possible. Because this cactus is the native, long term soil stabilizer, a combination cactus-legume tree is recommended for long term desert restorations.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Bernardo Salazar, Luis Leyva, Claudia Rojas, Rocio Villalpando, Elsa Samano, and Diana Arizmendi at CIBNOR for technical assistance in establishing the initial stages of the field studies and periodic maintenance. This study was supported by The Bashan Institute of Science, USA. This is contribution 2017-022 of the Bashan Institute of Science, USA.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Environmental Microbiology Group, The Northwestern Center for Biological Research (CIBNOR), Av. IPN 195, 23096, La Paz, B.C.S., Mexico

    Manuel Moreno, Luz E. de-Bashan, Blanca R. Lopez & Yoav Bashan

  2. The Bashan Institute of Science, 1730 Post Oak Court, Auburn, AL, 36830, USA

    Luz E. de-Bashan, Juan-Pablo Hernandez, Blanca R. Lopez & Yoav Bashan

  3. Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, Auburn University, 301 Funchess Hall, Auburn, AL, 36849, USA

    Luz E. de-Bashan & Yoav Bashan

  4. Environmental Microbiology Laboratory, Biology Program, El Bosque University, No 131A, Cra. 9 #131a2, Bogota, Colombia

    Juan-Pablo Hernandez

Authors
  1. Manuel Moreno
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  2. Luz E. de-Bashan
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  3. Juan-Pablo Hernandez
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  4. Blanca R. Lopez
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  5. Yoav Bashan
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yoav Bashan.

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Dedication

This study is dedicated for the memory of the German/Spanish mycorrhizae researcher, Dr. Horst Vierheilig (1960–2011) of CSIC-Granada, Spain.

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Responsible Editor: Jesus Mercado-Blanco.

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Fig. S1

Location of the six field experiments and their design. This was published as supplementary material in: Bashan Y, Salazar BG, Moreno M, Lopez BR, Linderman RG (2012) Restoration of eroded soil in the Sonoran Desert with native leguminous trees using plant growth-promoting microorganisms and limited amounts of compost and water. J Environ Manag 102:26–36. (PDF 358 kb)

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Moreno, M., de-Bashan, L., Hernandez, JP. et al. Success of long-term restoration of degraded arid land using native trees planted 11 years earlier. Plant Soil 421, 83–92 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-017-3438-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-017-3438-z

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