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Mixed-Species Plantings

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Regreening the Bare Hills

Part of the book series: World Forests ((WFSE,volume 8))

Abstract

The third way in which forests might be re-established (and the second way in which degraded land might be replanted) is to use multi-species plantations or polycultures. As was the case with monocultural plantations, these plantings are usually undertaken when natural regeneration is thought to be unreliable or when species with having particular economic advantages are required. Mixed-species forests are not half-hearted attempts to mimic the diversity present in natural forests but they do seek to take advantage of some of the functional advantages of species-rich natural systems including their capacity to use resources more efficiently and to reduce nutrient losses from the system.

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  1. Centre for Mined Land Rehabilitation, University of Queensland, Brisbane, 4072, Australia

    David Lamb

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Lamb, D. (2011). Mixed-Species Plantings. In: Regreening the Bare Hills. World Forests, vol 8. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9870-2_7

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