When biodiversity and pollution go hand in hand: a historical, ecological and experimental approach to restoring a declining calamine grassland

When biodiversity and pollution go hand in hand: a historical, ecological and experimental approach to restoring a declining calamine grassland | Authorea try { document.documentElement.classList.add('js'); } catch (e) { } var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'G-8VDV14Y67G']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })(); Skip to main content Preprints Collections Wiley Open Research IET Open Research Ecological Society of Japan All Collections About About Authorea FAQs Contact Us Quick Search anywhere Search for preprint articles, keywords, etc. Search Search ADVANCED SEARCH SCROLL This is a preprint and has not been peer reviewed. Data may be preliminary. 28 April 2025 V1 Latest version Share on When biodiversity and pollution go hand in hand: a historical, ecological and experimental approach to restoring a declining calamine grassland Authors : Maxime Pauwels [email protected] , Gabriel Billon , David Dumoulin , Thierry Cornier , Christophe Blondel , Nathalie Faure , Eric Schmitt , Florian Delerue 0000-0002-9809-5321 , and Hélène Frérot 0000-0001-9128-4632 Authors Info & Affiliations https://doi.org/10.22541/au.174585449.96036607/v1 Published Water, Air, & Soil Pollution Version of record Peer review timeline 194 views 114 downloads Contents Abstract Supplementary Material Information & Authors Metrics & Citations View Options References Figures Tables Media Share Abstract Soil pollution is usually associated with biodiversity loss. However, soils enriched with zinc, lead and cadmium can support unique vegetation such as calamine grasslands, which are priority habitats for nature conservation programmes. This study investigates a declining calamine grassland in Northern France, which developed in the 1960s in the immediate vicinity of a former smelting plant. It was initially dominated by two locally rare and absolute metallophyte dicot species, Armeria maritima and metal-hyperaccumulating Arabidopsis halleri, in association with Agrostis capillaris. From then on, the grassland gradually declined and developed into a meadow, largely dominated by a tussock-forming grass: Arrhenatherum elatius. Possible explanations include landscaping, a decrease in soil metal concentrations or the replacement of pioneer species by later successional species. To better understand the causes of the decline and to discuss restoration strategies, we carried out an ecological study including: (1) compilation of available data to reconstruct the history of the site, (2) chemical analysis of soil element concentrations, (3) functional analysis of potential plant-plant interactions, and (4) a 7-year restoration experiment including vegetation monitoring. The results suggest that in the absence of significant anthropogenic disturbance, while soil metal concentrations remain elevated, grassland decline is best explained by plant successional dynamics. Accordingly, repeated disturbances, such as the removal of A. elatius tussocks by annual mowing of the vegetation with organic matter removal, not only stopped the expansion of A. elatius but also allowed a partial recovery of the calamine grassland. Supplementary Material File (oik-11624-file001.docx) Download 111.68 KB File (oik-11624-file003.pptx) Download 5.98 MB File (oik-11624-file004.pptx) Download 11.92 MB File (oik-11624-file005.pptx) Download 187.80 KB File (oik-11624-file006.pptx) Download 273.64 KB File (oik-11624-file007.pptx) Download 169.00 KB File (oik-11624-file008.pptx) Download 267.98 KB Information & Authors Information Version history V1 Version 1 28 April 2025 Peer review timeline Published Water, Air, & Soil Pollution Version of Record 13 Jan 2026 Published Copyright This work is licensed under a Non Exclusive No Reuse License. Keywords calamine grassland conservation functional traits interspecific interactions metal pollution plant succession Authors Affiliations Maxime Pauwels [email protected] University of Lille View all articles by this author Gabriel Billon University of Lille View all articles by this author David Dumoulin University of Lille View all articles by this author Thierry Cornier National Botanical Conservatory of Bailleul View all articles by this author Christophe Blondel National Botanical Conservatory of Bailleul View all articles by this author Nathalie Faure University of Lille View all articles by this author Eric Schmitt Université de Lille View all articles by this author Florian Delerue 0000-0002-9809-5321 Bordeaux INP View all articles by this author Hélène Frérot 0000-0001-9128-4632 University of Lille View all articles by this author Metrics & Citations Metrics Article Usage 194 views 114 downloads .FvxKWukQNSOunydq8rnd { width: 100px; } Citations Download citation Maxime Pauwels, Gabriel Billon, David Dumoulin, et al. When biodiversity and pollution go hand in hand: a historical, ecological and experimental approach to restoring a declining calamine grassland. Authorea . 28 April 2025. DOI: https://doi.org/10.22541/au.174585449.96036607/v1 If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download. For more information or tips please see 'Downloading to a citation manager' in the Help menu . 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