The effects of landscape restoration on greenhouse gas emissions and plant species and abundance

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of landscape restoration on two main parameters: greenhouse gas emissions (GHG; carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide) and plants (species - including crop and weed species - and abundance). Two field experiments and two growth chamber experiments were completed over a two-year period to fulfill this objective. The two field experiments were similar in nature and examined the impacts of landscape restoration on both parameters under field-scale conditions. Greenhouse gases and plants were studied in separate growth chamber experiments. The growth chamber experiments complemented the field experiments but focused on one of the two parameters.; In the field, soil was removed from the lower slope riparian area of the landscape where soil had accumulated due to past tillage erosion, and was added to the eroded upper slope area. Nitrous oxide (N2O), and methane (CH4) emissions were not influenced by the removal of soil; however, carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions were reduced in the first year following soil removal. In the upper slope area where soil was added, greenhouse gas emissions were not impacted. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)...