title: Restoration of areas degraded by alluvial sand mining: use of soil microbiological activity and plant biomass growth to assess evolution of restored riparian vegetation.
abstract: River or alluvial sand mining is causing a variety of environmental problems in the Itajaí-açú river basin in Santa Catarina State (south of Brazil). When this type of commercial activity degrades areas around rivers, environmental restoration programs need to be executed. In this context, the aim of this study was to assess the evolution of a restored riparian forest based on data on the soil microbial activity and plant biomass growth. A reference site and three sites with soil degradation were studied over a 3-year period. Five campaigns were performed to determine the hydrolysis of the soil enzyme fluorescein diacetate (FDA), and the biomass productivity was determined at the end of the studied period. The variation in the enzyme activity for the different campaigns at each site was low, but this parameter did differ significantly according to the site. Well-managed sites showed the highest biomass productivity, and this, in turn, showed a strong positive correlation with soil enzyme activity. In conclusion, soil enzyme activity could form the basis for monitoring and the early prediction of the success of vegetal restoration programs, since responses at the higher level of biological organization take longer, inhibiting the assessment of the project within an acceptable time frame.
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Conservação, Gestão e Governança Costeira, UNIVALI-Universidade do Vale do Itajaí, Rua Uruguai, 458, Itajaí, SC, 88302-202, Brazil.
authors.forename: Graziela R
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Venson
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Conservação, Gestão e Governança Costeira, UNIVALI-Universidade do Vale do Itajaí, Rua Uruguai, 458, Itajaí, SC, 88302-202, Brazil.
authors.forename: Rosemeri C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Marenzi
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Ecologia de Comunidades, UNIVALI-Universidade do Vale do Itajaí, Rua Uruguai, 458, Itajaí, SC, 88302-202, Brazil.
authors.forename: Tito César M
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Almeida
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Conservação, Gestão e Governança Costeira, UNIVALI-Universidade do Vale do Itajaí, Rua Uruguai, 458, Itajaí, SC, 88302-202, Brazil.
authors.forename: Alexandre
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Deschamps-Schmidt
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Remediação Ambiental, UNIVALI-Universidade do Vale do Itajaí, Rua Uruguai, 458, Itajaí, SC, 88302-202, Brazil.
authors.forename: Renan C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Testolin
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Ficologia, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Campus Trindade, Florianópolis, SC, 88040-970, Brazil.
authors.forename: Leonardo R
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Rörig
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Remediação Ambiental, UNIVALI-Universidade do Vale do Itajaí, Rua Uruguai, 458, Itajaí, SC, 88302-202, Brazil. radetski@univali.br.
authors.forename: Claudemir M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Radetski
mesh_terms: D018533:Biomass; D001938:Brazil; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D052918:Environmental Restoration and Remediation / Q000379:methods*; D065928:Forests; D008906:Mining; D063245:Plant Development; D045483:Rivers; D012987:Soil / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D012987:Soil
keywords: Alluvial sand mining; Degraded riverbank; Fluorescein diacetate hydrolysis; Plant biomass; Riparian soil reforestation