Question: How are plant species and functional group composition, and potential sward height affected by implementation of different grazing regimes on previously abandoned seminatural grassland? Location: The Jizerské mountains, northern Czech Republic. Methods: We established a randomized block experiment with the following treatments: unmanaged control (U), intensive (IG) and extensive (EG) continuous grazing, first cut followed by intensive (ICG) and first cut followed by extensive (ECG) continuous grazing for the rest of the growing season. The percentage cover of all vascular plant species was recorded in 40 permanent plots. Results: Total plant species richness increased in all managed treatments, whereas species number was reduced in U at the end of the experiment. Tall forbs (Aegopodium podagraria, Galium album, Anthriscus sylvestris, Cirsium arvense) as well as tall grasses (Elytrigia repens and Alopecurus pratensis) were more abundant in U. Species associated with both grazing treatments (IG, EG) were Dactylis glomerata, Festuca rubra agg. and Phleum pratense. Agrostis capillaris, Taraxacum spp., Trifolium repens, Ranunculus repens and Cirsium vulgare were promoted by ECG and ICG. Abundance of tall grasses and tall forbs reflected the intensity of management in the order U>EG, ECG>IG, ICG. Prostrate forbs, on the other hand, increased their cover with increasing intensity: ICG>IG>ECG>EG. Conclusions: Plant species composition of semi-natural grasslands is affected by the defoliation regime. Continuous grazing on abandoned grassland alters the sward structure towards a permanent pasture with short, light-sensitive grasses and prostrate forbs. To maintain or enhance plant species richness in semi-natural grasslands, understanding the effects of different grazing regimes on plant species composition is necessary.

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Changes in plant density were evaluated monthly in the first three vegetation seasons after imposing different grazing management treatments on abandoned semi-natural grassland in the Czech Republic. There was no agricultural management in the 5 years before the start of the experiment in 1998. A completely randomized block experiment was established with the following five treatments: unmanaged control, intensive continuous grazing, extensive continuous grazing and a harvest in June followed by either intensive or extensive continuous grazing for the rest of the growing season. The sward was maintained at a target height of 5 and 10 cm under the intensive and extensive grazing managements respectively. An almost immediate increase in the densities of all sward components, especially grass tillers, occurred after the introduction of grazing on the previously abandoned grassland in comparison with the unmanaged control treatment. Trifolium repens was able to colonize and increase the number of its stolon growing-points in all managed treatments, particularly in intensively grazed patches during the second and third experimental seasons. Delay to defoliation in both treatments containing a harvest in June resulted in an increase in the number of forb plants, particularly in the number of Taraxacum spp. plants, most probably due to an enabling of its seed production. It is evident that increases in plant density as a function of intensive defoliation are not restricted to the frequently documented effect on grass tillers but also can occur in many legume and forb species in species-rich grasslands.

Two polychlorinated biphenyl‐contaminated sites in the Czech Republic, a soil at Zamberk and a sediment sludge at Milevsko, were screened for the presence of chlorobenzoate degraders. Sixteen different chlorobenzoate degraders were isolated from the soil compared with only three strains isolated from the sediment. From these strains, only four soil degraders and one strain isolated from the sediment, respectively, were shown to possess a complete chlorobenzoate (CB) pathway. Bacteria isolated from the soil have expressed more flexibility for CB degradation, namely in the case of ortho‐chlorinated benzoates. They all possessed large plasmids, the restriction patterns of which were compared. Plasmids in Pseudomonas sp. A7, A8, A18 and A19, respectively, were cured and found to encode at least part of the metabolic pathway involved in the growth on ortho‐chlorinated benzoates.