Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
When a site has to support an intensive
use incompatible with conservation,
neighbouring areas may be protected or
restored in compensation.
COMPENSATION
Flat topography
Degraded substrate
Ruderal flora
Camp site
REHABILITATION
Semi-natural dune ecosystem and seafront walk
Fig. 17.5
Compensation undertaken in coastal ecosystems to transform a former campsite into a restored dune
ecosystem integrated in the seafront pedestrian area and urbanization programme. Original from N. Abad.
dynamics, including siltation and salinization in the
medium term, two
Juncus
species and various gram-
inoid species with different tolerance to flooding and
salinization were used, including
Scirpus maritimus
,
Scirpus holoschoenus
and
Saccharum ravennae.
Most plants were introduced in the form of trans-
planted seedlings cultivated in specialized nurseries,
after a period of experimental trial. Some seeds were
specifically collected for the project in nearby areas.
Seeding was carried out for some herbaceous spe-
cies to reinforce the transplantings. No post-planting
care was provided, and nor was irrigation applied.
Only labelling and fencing of the planted areas was
undertaken.
herbaceous species were established at high rates and
most were expanding naturally (naturalizing) through-
out the area. With the exception of
Pistacia lentiscus
and
Tamarix
spp., woody shrubs and pines showed poor
establishment rates as a result of water stress and
aerosol damage in the growing stems. The use of
biodegradable tree shelters significantly improved
results for these species. The construction of a rigid
pathway along the top of the first dune system pro-
duced the almost immediate fixation of that dune,
thereby interrupting its natural dynamics. This path-
way was a requirement of the municipality for public
access and use of the area. It is a good example of
the kind of conflict that often occurs, and need for
compromise, between ecosystem rehabilitation and
social or community uses in peri-urban areas.
Trampling is one of the major disturbances for
dune reconstruction in densely visited areas (Andersen
1995) that represent a limiting factor, and negotiating
point, in finding the compatibility of social use and
Global evaluation: ecological and social criteria
Four years after the dune-system reconstruction, a
general rehabilitation of the various habitats was
considered to be successful, with some limitations. Key
