In the Sahel of Africa, where 90 % of the population depends on natural resources for their liveli- hood, a large part of the soils are structurally unstable, prone to crusting and hard setting, and have low water hol...In the Sahel of Africa, where 90 % of the population depends on natural resources for their liveli- hood, a large part of the soils are structurally unstable, prone to crusting and hard setting, and have low water holding capacity, which hamper vegetation establishment. The effect of soil restoration techniques on survival and growth of seedlings of Acacia nilotica, Acacia tortilis and Jatropha curcas was tested in completely barren, degraded land in a Sahelian ecosystem in Burkina Faso. A total of 522 seedlings （174 plants of each plant species） were planted in a randomized complete block design with three replicates combining three soil preparation techniques： half-moon, zai＂ and standard plantation. Survival and growth rates evaluated over 20 months were significantly higher using the half-moon technique compared with the other two techniques. Survival rates of plant species planted using half-moon technique were 62.5, 28.57 and 10.71% for A. nilotica, A. tortilis and J. curcas respec- tively, but in za＇i and standard planting, seedling survival was zero. The low survival rate of J. curcas using the half-moon technique may indicate that J. curcas is unsuit- able for barren and degraded land, whereas A. nilotica and A. tortilis appear to be promising tree species for rehabil- itation of degraded land.展开更多
基金financially supported by Understanding and Combating Desertification to Mitigate its Impact on Ecosystem Services project(UNDESERT EU-FP7 no.243906)
文摘In the Sahel of Africa, where 90 % of the population depends on natural resources for their liveli- hood, a large part of the soils are structurally unstable, prone to crusting and hard setting, and have low water holding capacity, which hamper vegetation establishment. The effect of soil restoration techniques on survival and growth of seedlings of Acacia nilotica, Acacia tortilis and Jatropha curcas was tested in completely barren, degraded land in a Sahelian ecosystem in Burkina Faso. A total of 522 seedlings （174 plants of each plant species） were planted in a randomized complete block design with three replicates combining three soil preparation techniques： half-moon, zai＂ and standard plantation. Survival and growth rates evaluated over 20 months were significantly higher using the half-moon technique compared with the other two techniques. Survival rates of plant species planted using half-moon technique were 62.5, 28.57 and 10.71% for A. nilotica, A. tortilis and J. curcas respec- tively, but in za＇i and standard planting, seedling survival was zero. The low survival rate of J. curcas using the half-moon technique may indicate that J. curcas is unsuit- able for barren and degraded land, whereas A. nilotica and A. tortilis appear to be promising tree species for rehabil- itation of degraded land.
