Revegetation techniques on clay soil slopes in northern Italy

Abstract

Several standard techniques currently used in the reclamation and revegetation of former quarry land in Italy's northern Apennine region were compared. The trial site, a 40-degree slope with clay soil, high pH and a little organic matter, was arranged in a randomized block design. The techniques assayed were hydro-seeding+tillage, hydro-seeding on sod, straw mulch+tar, jute mats+tillage+hydro-seeding, jute mats+tillage and a control. Each plot was enriched with equal amounts of chopped straw (120 g m−2), worm compost (140 g m−2) and the fertilizer Biosol® (140 g m−2); the binder Terravest® (36 g m−2) was also used in the three hydro-seeded plots. Ground cover, species, runoff and erosion were compared in each treatment. The overall 3-year data indicate significant differences in the treatments tested. There is a clear distinction between the treatments that promoted good grass cover growth and checked erosion (straw and tar, jute on tilled soil, and hydro-seeding on jute and tilled soil) on the one hand and the hydro-seeded treatments (on sod and on tilled soil), which showed no differences from control, on the other. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.