Study
Target taxa Rewilding practice
Amount of habitat used
Source of taxa
Changes in invertebrate/microbe biodiversity
Changes in function
Wubs et al., (2016)
Soil/plant communities
Soil inoculation
1 – 2.5 l/m2 (over 5000 m2)
Nearby remnant
↑ richness acari/collembola, ↑ biomass microbes
↑ succession rate of desired plant species
Emam, (2016)
Soil/plant communities
Soil inoculation
0.16 l/m2 (over 10m2)
40-year-old stockpiled soil
Not measured
↑ soil N content
Lance et al., (2019) Soil/plant communities Soil inoculation 50 g/plant Nearby remnant Not measured ↑ soil C:N ratio and phosphorous
Lance et al., (2020) Soil/plant communities Soil inoculation 50 g/plant Nearby remnant ∆ microbe community composition Not measured
Rowe, Brown and Paschke, (2009)
Soil/plant communities
Soil inoculation
0.16 l/m2 (over 1.5 m2)
Nearby remnant
Not measured
∆ plant community composition
Soteras, Renison and Becerra, (2014) Soil/plant communities Soil inoculation 30 g/plant Nearby remnant No microbe community changes detected No changes in primary productivity
Grove et al., (2019) Soil/plant communities Soil inoculation 3 l/plant Nearby remnant No microbe community changes detected No changes in above ground biomass
van der Bij et al., (2018)
Soil/plant communities
Sod inoculation
3.33 l/m2 (over 15 m2)
Nearby remnant
↑ acari, nematode, collembola abundance/∆ microbe community
Not measured
Benetková et al., (2020)
Soil and litter communities
Soil and litter inoculation
33% surface coverage of 100 m2 plots
Nearby remnant
↑ number of nematode genera
Not measured
Moradi et al., (2018)
Soil communities
Soil inoculation
400 l/m2 (over 30 m2)
Nearby remnant
↑ number of earthworms and millipedes
↓ soil carbon and C:N ratio than overburden soil
Faist et al., (2020)
Biocrust communities
Soil inoculation
0.5 l/m2 (over 3 m2)
Nearby remnant
Not measured
Weak ↑ in soil stability, highly spatially dependant
Chiquoine, Abella and Bowker, (2016)
Biocrust communities
Soil inoculation
30% surface coverage of 1 m2 plots
Pre-disturbance community
↑ cyanobacteria density
Partial recovery of soil stability
Fisseha, Tamrat and Zerihun, (2019) Soil communities Rhizosphere trap cultures Not measured Remnant trees Not measured No changes in primary productivity
Pywell et al., (2011)
Plant communities
Soil inoculation
24 kg/m2 (over 500 m2)
Nearby remnant
Not measured
No significant differences in plant reassembly
Middleton and Bever, (2012)
Plant communities
Soil inoculation
13.5 ml/seedling
Nearby remnant
Not measured
↑ growth of late-successional plants
Nishihiro, Nishihiro and Washitani, (2006)
Wetland plant communities
Lake sediment
100 l/m2 (over 5,300 – 27,800 m2)
Nearby fishing lake
Not measured (methodological paper)
Not measured
Brown and Bedford, (1997) Wetland plant communities Wetland soil inoculation 150 l/m2 (over 0.75m2) Nearby remnant Not measured ↑ plant growth
Brown, Smith and Batzer, (1997) Wetland macroinvertebrates Wetland soil inoculation 100 l/m2 (over 550 – 950 m2) Nearby remnant ↑ macroinvertebrate abundance Not measured
Dumeier, Lorenz and Kiel, (2020)
Freshwater benthic invertebrates
Capturing whole communities
0.05 kg/m2 of habitat substrate (over 500 m2)
Nearby remnant
Not measured (methodological paper)
Not measured
Haase and Pilotto, (2019)
Freshwater benthic invertebrates
Capturing whole communities
31,250 cm2 habitat per stream
Nearby remnant
Not measured (methodological paper)
Not measured
Haskell et al., (2012)
Plant communities
Dead wood transplants
50% surface coverage of 9 m2 plots
Nearby Remnant
Not measured
↑ plant growth/regulated soil temperatures