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Soil as a critical component of vegetation restoration on a sub-alpine mountain summit in Acadia National Park

Lima, Kyle1; Nelson, Peter2; Nadeau, Christopher1; Brumback, William3; Weber, Jill4; Miller-Rushing, Abraham5; Wheeler, Jesse5; Fisichelli, Nicholas1

Published Jun 17, 2025 on Dryad. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.51c59zwm2

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Jun 17, 2025 version files 1.25 MB
Jun 17, 2025 version files 1.25 MB

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Abstract

Aims

Recreational use on mountain summits has caused severe degradation of soils and vegetation, and climate change is exacerbating these impacts. Best practices for restoration of these important ecosystems are unknown. Here we examine the effectiveness of different treatments for restoring native vegetation (plant cover and native species richness) in degraded areas on a mountain summit through an experimental restoration approach.

Location

Cadillac Mountain, Acadia National Park, Maine, USA.

Methods

We tested six restoration-method treatments: control, planting modules, coir erosion control, seed and coir, soil and coir, and soil, seed, and coir. We established four replicates of each restoration-method treatment in 2016 and monitored percent cover and species richness twice per year from 2017-2022. In 2017, we established four more plots for each of three soil-depth treatments (2.5 cm soil, seed, and coir, 13 cm soil and coir, and 13 cm soil, seed, and coir), and monitored percent cover.

Results

Six years after restoration began, native vegetation cover was highest in treatments with added soil. Seeding (502 seeds/m2) had no effect on percent cover. Planting seedlings added vegetative cover initially, but did not increase over time. Cover was equally high in treatments with shallow soil (2.5 cm deep) and deep soil (13 cm deep). Treatments with added soil also had the highest native species richness. Adding a small amount of soil (2.5 cm soil depth) with erosion control (i.e., coir matting) successfully restored vegetation to previously degraded areas of the Cadillac Mountain summit.

Conclusions

Mountain ecosystems will continue to experience degradation from human recreation and climate change. Restoration of degraded areas is critical to maintain these rare ecosystems. Our results suggest that restoring and maintaining soil is key to restoring degraded areas. However, more research is needed to understand the long-term implications and success of mountain summit restoration. Our study provides an example of how this work can be done without delaying restoration using an experimental restoration approach.