Green hay transfer for grassland restoration: species capture and establishment

Wagner, Markus; Hulmes, S.; Hulmes, Lucy; Redhead, John W.; Nowakowski, M.; Pywell, R. F.

doi:10.1111/rec.13259

Cited by 19 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…Papers in this Special Issue explored various types of seed and site limitation, during tests of restoration methods. Wagner et al (2021 a ) illustrated the benefits of green hay transfer for reestablishing meadow vegetation in England, particularly for species that were abundant at the donor sites. Thus, reestablishment was most likely when green hay alleviated dispersal limitation.…”

Section: Limiting Factors and Novel Measures Of Restoration Successmentioning

confidence: 99%

The present and future of grassland restoration

Török

Brudvig

Kollmann

et al. 2021

Restoration Ecology

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Grasslands contribute greatly to biodiversity and human livelihoods; they support 70% of the world's agricultural area, but are heavily degraded by human land use. Grassland restoration research and management receives less attention than forests or freshwater habitats, although grasslands are critical for sustaining ecosystems multifunctionality and capacity to support biodiversity. In this article, we introduce a Special Issue which considers major trends and prospects in grassland restoration. We identified three key topics: First, restoration must confront widespread seed and site limitations, and new monitoring methods, including remote sensing techniques, are critical for restoration projects. Second, we highlight that restored grasslands typically require ongoing disturbance management and that research is required to determine optimal approaches for implementing this management during restoration. Third, global and regional restoration agendas should be harmonized with site‐level goals, and syntheses of current knowledge and research needs must guide grassland restoration across scales. We also identify research gaps to be filled, and challenges which grasslands face in the future: (1) a need for careful target vegetation selection and climate‐adaptive restoration; (2) lack of knowledge in dynamics and restoration of several regions and grassland types, including drylands and (sub)tropical regions; (3) increased importance of species arrival sequence, and high stochasticity of species establishment; and finally (4) issues of post‐restoration management to guarantee long‐term sustainability of restored sites. A new generation of research and restoration projects to bridge these gaps is necessary to mitigate environmental challenges spanning localities to the globe as we commence the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.

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Section: Limiting Factors and Novel Measures Of Restoration Successmentioning

confidence: 99%

The present and future of grassland restoration

Török

Brudvig

Kollmann

et al. 2021

Restoration Ecology

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“…grazing, mowing, cutting of stems or reproductive parts, or even chemical control (Tyler et al 2006; Nielsen et al 2007; Ramula 2020; and see also Kettenring & Adams 2011). Thereafter, target communities may be promoted by sowing, turf or green hay transfer or soil seed bank activation (Kiehl et al 2010; Klaus et al 2018; Wagner et al 2021). Many plant species build up persistent soil seed banks to overcome unfavorable times (Thompson et al 1997).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Constraints in the restoration of mountain meadows invaded by the legume Lupinus polyphyllus

Hansen

Klinger

Otte

et al. 2022

Restoration Ecology

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Semi-natural grasslands invaded by the legume Lupinus polyphyllus need the introduction of target species in order to promote highly endangered native target plant communities. However, which techniques are best suited to achieve both invader control and the introduction of target species at the same time? Few studies have investigated restoration techniques that support native plant communities in mountain meadows and control the invader simultaneously. We employed the restoration techniques seed bank activation and green hay transfer in combination with manual removal of the invasive L. polyphyllus on three types of grassland (Nardus grassland, mesic and wet mountain hay meadows) in the low mountain ranges of the Rhön UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in central Germany. Vegetation reacted differently to specific measures depending on the type of grassland. L. polyphyllus cover could be effectively reduced by L. polyphyllus removal in Nardus grassland and mesic hay meadow sites, but not in wet meadows. In Nardus grassland, the cover of target species was lowered by the application of green hay. The target species cover of wet mountain hay meadows declined in response to seed bank activation. When restoring mountain meadows, restoration practitioners should thus first consider the specific vegetation types. As our study indicates that target mountain meadow species may react negatively to restoration measures in the short term, the long-term effects of the application of green hay should be studied.

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“…The successful germination of our seeds was promoted by cold stratification. During dry storage, seeds of many species have a chance to after-ripen and become capable of germination ( Wagner et al, 2021 ). The seed dormancy strategy is species-specific, and the cold stratification is required to enhance seed germination ( Schröder, Glandorf & Kiehl, 2018 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seeds harvested during mowing from semi-natural grasslands as an ad hoc but effective solution for grassland restoration

Perera

Nocoń

Mollashahi

et al. 2022

PeerJ

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Species-rich grasslands formed by local ecotypes of native species provide numerous ecosystem services both in rural areas as well as urban grasslands. Nonetheless, their area is still too small, making grasslands one of the most frequently restored habitats. Successful restoration requires high-quality seed material, which is expensive and often not easy to acquire. In this study, we tested the potential of seeds accidentally collected during the mowing of a semi-natural grassland for grassland restoration. We tested seed purity, species composition, and germination capability in both laboratory and field conditions. Ninety percent of the collected material consisted of pure seeds of numerous species. Their germination capability was relatively low but still sufficient for successful grassland restoration under a typical seed density/mass per unit area seeding ratio. The germination capacity was the highest in the first two weeks after sowing and increased with overwintering seed storage. The results suggested that the seeds could be successfully used for species-rich grassland restoration. In terms of advantages, the seed mixture had a low cost and contained native species seeds representing local ecotypes. In terms of disadvantages, there was a relatively low amount of seed material and an inability to plan the time of seed harvesting. Thus, the use of the accidentally collected seeds can be considered an effective but rather ad hoc solution.

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Green hay transfer for grassland restoration: species capture and establishment

Cited by 19 publications

References 33 publications

The present and future of grassland restoration

The present and future of grassland restoration

Constraints in the restoration of mountain meadows invaded by the legume Lupinus polyphyllus

Seeds harvested during mowing from semi-natural grasslands as an ad hoc but effective solution for grassland restoration

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