Herbaceous vegetation restoration of urban sandy areas Assessment of urban greenspaces management

Abstract

Some towns have decided to stop chemical weed control of sandy areas and to transform them into herbaceous plant communities. There is a need for a global assessment of management techniques and their consequences for plant cover. A survey of such practices has been conducted in 13 towns. Vegetation has been recorded at 56 sites within 9 towns. This field study aims to assess the influence of various factors in vegetation restoration. The survey showed that restoration measure may be efficient ; the slowness of the installation of spontaneous herbaceous vegetation may be a problem for the managers of green spaces because it is sometimes negatively perceived by the citizens. Therefore, appropriate communication explaining objectives and interests of these practices is essential to increase their acceptance by the local population.