HjerkinnPRO restoration of removed roads

HjerkinnPRO: restoration of removed roads. The roads at the Hjerkinn military training area in Dovrefjell, Central Norway, were constructed during the 1960s by adding crushed stone and gravel on top of undisturbed terrain and vegetation. In 2002, a pilot project removing 1.2 km of roads was initiated. An ecological monitoring program was established to evaluate the recovery of the vegetation following removal using different restoration treatments. The pilot project was established along three road sections (sites). To remove the roads in August 2002, a shell-proof excavator first removed the crushed stone down to the original terrain surface. Then the upper soil layer was stirred down to 20 cm as the excavator grab lifted the compressed surface. Four restoration treatments were tested: (1) Soil preparation by stirring as described above (Soil treatment), (2) Fertilization, where 20 g/m2 of granulated N-K-P fertilizer was added to the stirred topsoil, (3) Fertilization and seeding, where 7 g/m2 of commercial seeds of Festuca rubra were added to the stirred and fertilized topsoil. In addition, a fourth restoration treatment, in which the added gravel was not removed, but the topsoil and gravel were stirred together, was tested (No removal of gravel) at two of the three sites. At all sites, vegetation turfs (≤ 1 m2 in size) were transplanted from nearby road margins, at a 5‒10 m planting distance.