Abstract:
Vegetation damage caused by wind farms can lead to a decline in ecosystem services. Thus, scientific and efficient ecological restoration is important for sustainable development of wind power. In this study, we explored the ecological restoration model for the degraded grassland vegetation at the Runze Wind Farm in Xing'an League. The experiment adopted a split-plot design to investigate an appropriate grassland ecological restoration model by examining different forage reseeding configurations, row spacings, soil covering thickness, and fertilization treatments. Based on measurements of soil physicochemical properties, forage coverage, and aboveground biomass, the ecological benefits of different restoration models were evaluated using an ecological product value approach. The results are as follows: 1) Compared with 10 cm cover-soil treatment, the aboveground biomass with 20 cm cover-soil treatment was significantly increased by 22.9%. Fertilization significantly increased the aboveground biomass by 23.3%. In addition, 20 cm cover-soil treatment and wide row spacing significantly increased the grassland coverage. 2) Soil cover thickness and fertilization have both increased the value of products, carbon sequestration, and oxygen release. Water conservation value was mainly influenced by soil-cover thickness. 3) The total ecological benefits were about 2810 CNY for every wind turbine under the mode of the 20 cm cover-soil and fertilization (13.01 CNY m
-2). In 2025, the promotion of this ecological restoration model in Xing'an league region could generate ecological benefits amount to 3,838,460 CNY. This study can provide a scientific basis and practical experience for grassland ecological restoration in wind farm, and the synergistic realization of both renewable energy and ecosystem product value.