Abstract
The ability of different types of plants to become established was studied on the road sides of the Egnatia highway, Thessaloniki, Greece.Amixture of perennial plants (grasses, legumes and forbs)was sownat equal quantities without any preparation of the sowed soil surface. Plant density (individuals/m2), above and underground dry weight per individual plant (grams/plant), were measured during the growing season. The results showed that drought tolerant species of all plant life forms had high survival percentages and contributed significantly to the vegetation cover at the end of the growing season. Drought tolerance and the existence of rhizomes benefited the establishment ability of grass species. The best adapted species were the grasses Agropyrum cristatum L., Bromus inermis Leyss., Dactylis glomerata L. and Festuca valesiaca Schleich, the legume Medicago sativa L. and the forb Sanguisorba minor Scop.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Aronson J, Ovalle C and Avedano J 1993 Ecological and economic rehabilitation of degraded “Espinales” in the subhumid Mediterranean climate region of central Chile. Landscape Urban Plann. 24, 15–21.
Bogemans J, Nierinck L and Stassart J M 1989 Effect of deicing chloride salts on ion accumulation in spruce (Picea abies (L.) sp.). Plant Soil 113, 3–11.
Brown C S and Bugg R L 2001 Effects of established perennial grasses on introduction of native forbs in California. Restor. Ecol. 9, 38–48.
Bugg R L, Brown C S and Anderson J H 1997 Restoring native perennial grasses to rural roadsides in the Sacramento valley of California: establishment and evaluation. Restor. Ecol. 5, 214–228.
Cook W C and Stubbendieck J 1986 Range Research: Basic Problems and Techniques, 317 pp. Soc. Range Manage, Denver, Colorado.
Farmer A M 1993 The effects of dust on vegetation- a review. Environ. Pollut. 79, 63–75.
Fleck A M, Lacki M J and Sutherland J 1988 Response of white birch (Betula papyrifera) to road salt applications at Cascade Lades, New York. J. Environ. Manage. 27, 369–377.
Forman R T T and Alexander L E 1998 Roads and their major ecological effects. Annu. Rev. Ecol. Syst. 29, 207–231.
Forman R T T and Delinger R D 2000 The ecological road-effect zone of Massachusetts (U.S.A.) suburban highway. Conserv. Biol. 14, 36–46.
Harper J L, Williams J T and Sagar G R 1965 The behavior of seeds in soil. I. The heterogeneity of soil surfaces and its role in determining the establishment of plants. J. Ecol. 539, 273–286.
Harper J L, Lovell P H and Moore K G 1970 The shapes and sizes of seeds. Annu. Rev. Ecol. Syst. 1, 327–356.
Harper-Lore B L 1996 Using native plants as problem solvers. Environ. Manage. 20, 827–830.
Johnston R S, Brown R W and Cravens J 1975 Acid mine rehabilitation problems at high elevation. In Watershed Management Symposium. Amer. Soc. Civil. Eng, pp. 66–79. Logan, Utah, USA.
Lawrence T C 1981 Intermediate Wheatgrass. Can. J. Plant Sci. 61, 467–469.
Paschke M W, DeLeo C and Redente E F 2000 Revegetation of roadcut slopes in Mesa Verde National Park, U.S.A. Restor. Ecol. 8, 276–282.
Petersen S L, Roundy B A and Bryant R M 2004 Revegetation methods for high-elevation roadsides at Bruce Canyon National Park, Utah. Restor. Ecol. 12, 248–257.
Steel R G D and Torrie J H 1980 Principles and Procedures of Statistics. 2nd edition, 633 pp. McGraw-Hill, New York.
Trombulak S C and Frissell C A 2000 Review of ecological effects of roads on terrestrial and aquatic communities. Conserv. Biol. 14, 18–30.
Tyser R W, Asebrook J M, Potter R W and Kurht L L 1998 Roadside vegetation in Glacier National Park, U.S.A.: effects of herbicide and seeding treatments. Restor. Ecol. 6, 197–206.
Watt L A 1981 Establishment of grasses on cracking clay soils. Seedling morphology characteristics. In JA Smith and WV Hays (eds), Proceedings of the XIV International Grassland Congress, pp. 451–453. Westview Press, Boulder, CO.
Wester D B 1991 A summary of range plant seed germination research. International Center for Arid and Semiarid Land Studies (ICASALS) Texas Tech. Univ. Lubbock, T.X. Pub. No 91–92, 112pp.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2007 Springer
About this paper
Cite this paper
Koukoura, Z., Kyriazopoulos, A., Karmiris, I. (2007). Herbaceous plant cover establishment on highway road sides. In: STOKES, A., SPANOS, I., NORRIS, J.E., CAMMERAAT, E. (eds) Eco-and Ground Bio-Engineering: The Use of Vegetation to Improve Slope Stability. Developments in Plant and Soil Sciences, vol 103. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-5593-5_39
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-5593-5_39
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-1-4020-5592-8
Online ISBN: 978-1-4020-5593-5
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)