The importance of Butea monosperma for the restoration of degraded lands

•Butea is a multi-potential tree species.•Effective in restoration of degraded and disturbed landscapes.•Increases the soil organic carbon and water holding capacity in soil. The present study emphasized the importance of Butea monosperma (native tree species), not only as an ideal economic investme...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Ecological engineering 2016-12, Vol.97, p.619-623
Main Authors: Rai, Apurva, Singh, Ashutosh Kumar, Pandey, Vimal Chandra, Ghosal, Nandita, Singh, Nandita
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alkaline phosphatase
Bare land
Biomass
Butea
Butea monosperma
Capacity
Degraded lands
Ecological monitoring
Economic conditions
Electrical conductivity
Electrical resistivity
Environmental restoration
Enzyme activities
Enzyme activity
Forest management
Glucosidase
Land degradation
Microorganisms
Mineral nutrients
Native species
Nitrogen
Nutrients
Organic carbon
Organic phosphorus
pH effects
Phosphatase
Phosphorus
Restoration
Rhizosphere
Rhizospheric soil
Soil
Soil chemistry
Soil nutrients
Soil pH
Soil water
Soils
Species
Vegetation
Vegetation establishment
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Summary:•Butea is a multi-potential tree species.•Effective in restoration of degraded and disturbed landscapes.•Increases the soil organic carbon and water holding capacity in soil. The present study emphasized the importance of Butea monosperma (native tree species), not only as an ideal economic investment that can be utilized in many different manners but also as an species of enormous potential for restoration of degraded lands. Here, we evaluate the changes in chemical, microbial and enzymatic activities of rhizosphere soils (RS) of Butea and compared with bare lands (disturbed lands) to assess its ecological suitability for recovery. We collected 50 soil samples from Butea rhizosphere as well as from bare land soil. Soil pH and electrical conductivity (EC) were significantly lower in rhizospheric soils in comparison to bare land soils, while water holding capacity (WHC), organic carbon (OC), total nitrogen (N), available phosphorus (P), microbial biomass carbon (MBC), dehydrogenase, β-glucosidase and alkaline phosphatase activities were significantly higher in rhizospheric soil. Decrease in soil pH, EC and increases in soil nutrients, microbial biomass and soil enzyme activities suggests that Butea can be potential species to restore and enhance the biological activities of degraded lands and further to facilitate the vegetation establishment. However, further extensive research is required for better insights in this aspect.
ISSN:0925-8574
1872-6992
DOI:10.1016/j.ecoleng.2016.10.032