Long-term effects of topsoil transfer assessed thirty years after rehabilitation of dry alluvial quarries in Southeastern France

Of the many techniques tested to date to rehabilitate degraded ecosystems, topsoil transfer appears to offer the best results. However, this method is recent, and results achieved in the short term (months to years) may not provide a sound indication of long-term vegetation reestablishment. In the plain of La Crau in southeastern France, many dry alluvial quarries were exploited in the 1970s–1980s and are nearly all now abandoned. Various...