Abstract
Recently, the engineering methods that use the topsoil and those that promote natural plant invasion are widely being used in slope-revegetation as a strategy for biodiversity conservation. In this study, we organized the records of surveys of 26 sites where artificial slopes that used the topsoil had been applied and 25 sites where artificial slopes that promoted natural invasion had been applied. Thereafter, we compared the vegetation restoration effect of the two revegetation methods in these sites. The coverage number of months (mc50) required to achieve 50% vegetation cover was lower for areas where the sites to promote natural invasion had been applied and a significant difference was observed between the two different methods. It is likely that the difference in the structure of the method and the site condition where the method is applied is the reason. Secondly, we assessed the environmental factors that affect the site conditions, which could in turn affect the mc50, and found no marked impact. On the other hand, they suggested that the method of using the topsoil better encouraged plant community growth and quicker development into woody plant communities than that by the natural invasion method.
