Phytosociological and nature conservation assessment of the herb layer of 6-, 15-and 20-yearold post-mining Austrian pine stands was conducted in reclaimed bauxite quarries in Hungary. Great differences among the vegetations were found. Disturbance-tolerant species were dominant, subdominant and subordinated in the youngest, middle-aged and oldest pine stand, respectively. In parallel, proportion of the species characteristic for natural habitats increased gradually, leading to growing diversity and naturalness. The increasing pine cover reduced the species number and the coverage of herb layer. Postmining flora differed significantly from both the potential mature oak forest vegetation of the areas and from the associations developed through regenerative succession on clear-cut areas of oak forests. Vegetation of the reclaimed quarries had lower naturalness: relative abundances of disturbance-tolerant and ruderal species were higher, but ratio of natural broad-leaved forest's species was smaller than in the potential vegetation. Similar differences were shown by comparison of the flora of bauxite quarries with the same-aged stages of regenerative succession of oak forests. In pine stands the repression of weeds parallel to the spreading of natural competitors was slower, and natural geophytes and protected species remained absent. Deficiency of propagule sources in reclaimed areas could contribute to the retentive effect of Austrian pine on vegetation succession.
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