Mechanisms of Forest Restoration in Landslide Treatment Areas

Reforestation after a landslide facilitates competition between herbaceous plants and arborous plants. Tangible variations in grassland areas in regions susceptible to landslides can only be found within collections of trees. A landslide area in the Sule Watershed was investigated. Relative illuminance results reveal that the Rhodes grass (Chloris gayana Kunth) biomass in this landslide area increases with relative illuminance. A comparison of regions with tree islands indicates that the size of the grassland areas decreased and the number of tree islands increased during 2005–2010. Furthermore, a germination experiment in a soil-seed bank indicates that more woody plant species exist around the tree island than in other areas in the landslide region. Trees in a tree island change the micro-climate of the landslide region, and they gather as many nutrients and as much moisture as possible, enabling vegetation to expand around the tree island. Additionally, the area with Rhodes grass and its biomass declined annually in the tree island region. Investigation results show that tree islands and soil-seed banks are suited to reforestation in landslide regions. The pioneering research will assist regional landslide management in Taiwan. OPEN ACCESS Sustainability 2014, 6 6767