Afforestation of Abandoned Agricultural and Degraded Land
Haoyue Wang, MLWS 2022
Afforestation helps to restore abandoned agricultural and degraded land into productive forests. Abandoned agricultural land and degraded land with improper use can have significant long-term losses of ecosystem function and services. Afforestation establishes a forest community on the land and helps the land recover to continue to provide ecological goods and services. The relationship between the microbial community and afforestation was found to be the most important factor for a successful outcome. Afforestation can increase microbial diversity, and the application of mulches, legumes, and biofertilizers are considered as good methods to adapt the microbe community and promote the success of afforestation. It is recommended that the general procedure for afforestation is by first defining the reference system and then describing a mix-species plantation with native tree species.