Soil and knowledge transfer
I love scientific vulgarisation, increasing my knowledge of a subject by diving in scientific literature and sharing my discoveries in fun ways. I am doing this at T2 Environnement since 2023. Since January 2025, I’m taking part in this famous scientific literacy. I’m doing a master’s project in plant biology! My master is with Université Laval, in Monique Poulin’s laboratory. Plus, I’m lucky enough to be funded by the Fonds de recherche du Québec – Secteur Nature et Technologies. My subject is soil transfer, an active revegetation technique used in ecological restoration. I took a passage in research because wetlands are close to my heart, because ecological restoration is an essential complement to wetland conservation, and because soil transfer is an intriguing technique. I’d like to introduce you to my project, what soil transfer is and where I am.
What is soil transfer?
As the name suggests, it involves transferring a soil sample from a donor site (natural ecosystem) to a receiver site (ecosystem to be restored). Only the first few centimeters of soil are harvested. This active revegetation technique transfers : seeds, roots, rhizomes and living vegetation, as well as nutrients, minerals, microorganisms and small soil animals (pedofauna) such as insects. The soil sample is then more or less fragmented and mixed before deposition, in a thin layer, over the surface of the receiving site. The transfer ratio between donor and receiver sites can range from 1:1 to 1:10. In this way, a small soil sample can be used to promote the revegetation of a large disturbed area.
A number of studies on dry grasslands, forests and wetlands have shown that soil transfer results in an interesting plant recovery. Specifically, a plant community rich and diversified in native species can be recovered, as well as a good plant cover on the site. However, it is impossible to get exactly the plant community of the donor site or even of the reference ecosystem prior to degradation. Plus, this technique is not always successful.
Made by Audrey Thériault on Canva
My master’s project
I’m interested in the success of this technique to restore vegetation of wet meadows, marshes and swamps. My experiments are in a greenhouse and outdoor. My project aims to understand the impact of different parameters on the success of soil transfer: the water level, the soil type, the presence or absence of mulch and the choice of donor site. I want to know how these parameters influence the plant community that develops following soil transfer. I’ve already started my experiments, and all summer long I’ll be observing the growth of my plants. In two years, I’m going to publish the results of my research and contribute to scientific knowledge in the field of ecological restoration of wetlands, using an active revegetation technique named soil transfer.
Soil sample collected for one of my experiments
In short, soil transfer is an interesting technique for revegetating degraded natural environments. My master’s project focuses specifically on its effectiveness in wet meadows, marshes and swamps. If you’re patient enough, I’ll be happy to share my findings with you in another blog post!
