Topic
Habitat restoration research, explained
7 open-access habitat restoration studies, each with a flashcard deck and a quiz.
- Flower-rich, mixed landscapes support more pollinators
Across 20 natural communities, wild pollinator abundance rose with local flower richness and landscape heterogeneity, linking land-use homogenization to weaker pollination networks.
- Cellulose plus C4 grass steers prairie soil microbes
Adding cellulose and heat-tolerant Andropogon gerardii shifted restored prairie soils toward higher fungal biomass and slower-growing bacteria that may retain carbon.
- Land cover and flying insect diversity
Low vegetation boosted insect biomass and richness more than expected across German monitoring sites.
- River wood restoration boosted native fish numbers
Reintroducing thousands of large wood pieces into a Murray River reach increased Murray cod and golden perch by drawing immigrants from connected source populations.
- China’s planted forests net far less than natural ones
After water, land, and management costs, afforestation’s net ecosystem-service value is 55.9% lower per hectare than natural forest.
- Safe wild-seed harvest depends on generation time
Across 280 species, annuals can spare only about 2% of seeds each year, while long-lived plants can lose far more without collapsing.
- Constructed Everglades islands differ in soil fungi
After ~18 years, constructed tree islands match natural islands in fungal diversity but not composition, and that difference changes tree growth when hydrology is unconstrained.