Conservation status and trends in the transformation of Molinia meadows in the Łąki w Komborni Natura 2000 site, SE Poland

Abstract

The aim of this study was to provide a phytosociological and ecological characterization of meadow communities in the Łąki w Komborni Natura 2000 site (SE Poland), assess the trends in their transformation, and indicate the major threats impacting on their conservation. The study was conducted in 2015-2016. Three types of meadow communities were distinguished (alliances Molinion, Arrhenatherion, Filipendulion), due to the absence of the species characteristic for associations. The species richness noted per relevé differed significantly between the types of meadows (Kruskal-Wallis test: H = 21.65, p < 0.05). The highest floristic biodiversity (H' = 2.99) was noted for the meadow patches classified as in the Molinion alliance and the lowest (H' = 2.50) was found for the patches from the Filipendulion alliance. Mean values of the ecological indicators (F, R, N) differed between the meadow communities. The greatest disparity was noted for the mean values of the soil moisture indicator (from 6.42 to 7.45). Patches classified in the Filipendulion alliance were developed on the wettest soil substratum, whereas the patches classified in the Arrhenatherion alliance were predominant on a relatively dry substratum. The abandonment of traditional management practices (grazing, mowing) has contributed to transformation of the Molinia meadows, disappearance of characteristic species and succession of shrubs. The Molinia meadow habitat should be conserved by improvement of protection measures (appropriate mowing regime and removal of biomass) to conserve a high species richness and the rare and protected plant species.

The Influence of Konik Horses Grazing and Meteorological Conditions on Wetland Communities

“…The communities from the Molinion alliance, which dominated at the studied area, belong to the most nature-valuable communities in Poland [46][47][48][49] and Central Europe [50,51]. Their conservation is important not only in terms of plant species, but also for the protection of meadow-nesting birds [52,53].…”

Vegetation changes at oligotrophic grasslands managed for a declining butterfly

“…Nutrient loads of grasslands are amenable by management interventions, such as removal of the biomass by mowing (Pecháčková et al 2010;Ziaja et al 2017;Swacha et al 2018;Yang et al 2019;Sienkiewicz-Paderewska et al 2020). In our results, however, the 'management' effect on plant species' composition was counterintuitive, with nitrogen-demanding plants inclining towards mowing (both conventional or conservation-minded) and relatively thermophilous plants inclining towards either conservation mowing or neglect.…”

Niche differentiation, competition or habitat filtering? Mechanisms explaining co‐occurrence of plant species on wet meadows of high conservation value

“…Therefore, we regarded species typical of mesic meadows (belonging to the Arrhenatherion alliance) as indicators of drainage combined with too frequent and intensive, mechanical mowing (practised more than two times per year) (Ziaja et al, 2017). Species typical of wet, Calthion meadows we recognised as indicators of a combination of episodic flooding, fertilisation, and moderate mowing (practised one to two times per year; Ratyńska et al, 2010), whereas hygrophilous tall herbs (Filipendulion) as indicators of either high nitrogen content in the soil, corresponding to high biomass production (Blackstock et al, 1998), or secondary succession of vegetation due to the cessation of mowing (Rion et al, 2016).…”