Soil transplantation

How can former arable fields be restored to nature? How can we turn a heavily managed soil into a species-rich grassland or heathland? And what is the role of soil organisms in steering plant communities?

Transporting soil from a donor area and spreading this soil over another area is what we call soil transplantation. Soil from a donor area is distributed (transplanted) thinly over the surface of a different area. Soil transplantation is often used to speed up nature development on former arable lands, using soil from nature reserves to kick-start nature in the new location.