How do management and restoration needs of mountain grasslands depend on moisture regime? Experimental study from north‐western Slovakia (Western Carpathians)

Galvánek, Dobromil; Lepš, Jan

doi:10.1111/j.1654-109x.2009.01022.x

Cited by 21 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…It can therefore be assumed that if this part were still traditionally managed, the vegetation would have a character similar to that of the lower part. This expectation was also confirmed by our previous study, in which the mown plots in the upper part were moving towards acquiring the species structure of the plots in the bottom part and the abandoned plots in the lower part towards the species structure of the plots in the upper part of the locality (Galvánek and Lepš 2009). …”

Section: Experimental Design and Samplingsupporting

confidence: 80%

The effect of management on productivity, litter accumulation and seedling recruitment in a Carpathian mountain grassland

Galvánek

Lepš

2011

Plant Ecol

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The management regime may have a significant impact on the productivity and dynamics of grasslands, but the causal relationships influencing grassland conservation value are still not completely understood. Changes of selected community characteristics, such as standing crop, proportion of forbs in the standing crop, litter amount, litter decomposition and seedling recruitment, were investigated in a 4 year manipulative experiment in a mountain grassland in Slovakia. The aim of the research was to compare changes in newly abandoned sites and sites where restoration measures were applied after 20 years of abandonment. The sites were located in areas containing two vegetation types of the Arrhenatherion alliance (wet Poo-Trisetetum and dry AnthoxanthoAgrostietum) with different moisture regimes. The expected increase of the standing crop after abandonment was rather slow, and more pronounced towards the end of the experiment, and in the wet meadow type (*30% increase). The restoration mowing promoted forb proportions in the biomass, but it did not decrease the standing biomass in the restored grasslands. Strong litter accumulation after abandonment was observed in subsequent years after abandonment, when the amount of litter increased about 100% in abandoned plots. Decrease in litter was also significant after the start of restoration mowing (a decrease from 258 to 159 g m -2 in wet type and from 287 to 147 g m -2 in dry type was noted). Accumulated litter was negatively correlated to seedling recruitment (r = -0.63 at the end of the experiment). The litterbag experiment showed that the wet type has a higher rate of decomposition, with 20% more biomass decomposed during the litter-bag experiment. The experiment confirmed a negative role of litter accumulation on seedling recruitment, with the number of seedlings per m 2 decreasing from 413 to 321 individuals in the abandoned wet-type site. This may lead to a decrease in species richness. Mowing along with raking of mowed biomass may be a useful tool to restore degraded mountain grasslands and to remove accumulated litter from the stands.

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Section: Experimental Design and Samplingsupporting

confidence: 80%

The effect of management on productivity, litter accumulation and seedling recruitment in a Carpathian mountain grassland

Galvánek

Lepš

2011

Plant Ecol

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“…To preserve grasslands of high natural value, the impacts of the environmental factors should also be considered in addition to becoming acquainted with the history and present conditions of the landscape use [36,[46][47][48][49][50].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Correlation between the Diversity and Land Use in Cleared Grassland Areas in the Pannon Mountains

Fehér¹,

Hajnáczki²,

Penksza³

et al. 2015

JEASE

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Nowadays, mowing has an increasing role in the management of semi-natural and nature conservation areas. Semi-dry grasslands have been planted on cleared areas of forest in the Pannon Mountains, which would be reclaimed by forest without use of the areas by humans. In our work we analysed cleared grasslands. The questions we tried to answer were which changes were caused by different land use, how favourable mowing can be for the purpose of grassland management and nature protection, do the composition of the plant species and the diversity vary within two years when conditions of precipitation are different. In four sampling areas, in 4 × 10 quadrats we registered the plant species and their cover values. We performed a site assessment in April, June and October, 2013-2014. We analysed the data by using cluster and ordination processes and we compared the sampling areas on the basis of the humidity preference and Shannon's index of diversity. According to the results, the composition of species and diversity on the analysed areas used for different purposes considerably deviate from each other. Further, we found a difference between two portions of the area whose had minor deviation in water management.

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“…This suggests that the vegetation inside the fence will change to an alternative state [24]. Galvánek and Lepš [3] showed that the species composition of the restored plots after the reintroduction of mowing was still far from the target composition. Therefore, different management methods are needed to ensure the correct succession pathways are followed for ecological restoration and to enhance colonization of the target species [34], rather than the restored site resulting in an alternative state [24].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, most of these have been abandoned with changes in lifestyle and farming methods [2], as in other countries (e.g., [3]). In Japan, forests cover 78% of the land area [4] and the mild, humid climate promotes the growth of forests [5].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, undesirable results, in which execution at ecological restoration might lead to alternative states [24], can occasionally occur when fencing is used as a tool for conservation in overgrazed environments [25]. Therefore, restoration efforts should be checked by comparing the results with the restoration target [3,4]. This paper presents the vegetation recovery pattern in seminatural grassland in central Japan after preventing grazing with fencing and addresses the following question: can I. sanguinea and a vegetation community recover to the original situation and community before they were affected by sika deer?…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Vegetation Recovery in Response to the Exclusion of Grazing by Sika Deer (Cervus nippon) in Seminatural Grassland on Mt. Kushigata, Japan

2014

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We examined the recovery of vegetation in seminatural grassland in central Japan after eliminating grazing by sika deer (Cervus nippon) by fencing. By 2012, after 5 years of fencing for exclusion of sika deer, the species composition of quadrats within the enclosure reverted to the original species composition in 1981, not browsed by sika deer. Conversely, outside the fence was different from the baseline quadrats in 1981. Iris sanguinea, a prominent flower in the area, recovered within the enclosure, while it continued to decrease with grazing outside the fence. Nevertheless, the I. sanguinea cover had not recovered to the 1981 levels in the enclosure. Fencing can effectively restore vegetation as the species composition within the enclosure gradually reverts to the original vegetation. Preventing grazing in intensively grazed seminatural grassland might lead to different successional pathways. Since I. sanguinea did not recover fully within the enclosure and the species composition differed slightly from the original vegetation, this suggests that the vegetation within the enclosure will change to an alternative state. Therefore, different management is needed to promote the correct succession pathways for ecological restoration, perhaps by enhancing the colonization of target species, to prevent restored sites from giving rise to alternative states.

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How do management and restoration needs of mountain grasslands depend on moisture regime? Experimental study from north‐western Slovakia (Western Carpathians)

Cited by 21 publications

References 42 publications

The effect of management on productivity, litter accumulation and seedling recruitment in a Carpathian mountain grassland

The effect of management on productivity, litter accumulation and seedling recruitment in a Carpathian mountain grassland

Correlation between the Diversity and Land Use in Cleared Grassland Areas in the Pannon Mountains

Vegetation Recovery in Response to the Exclusion of Grazing by Sika Deer (Cervus nippon) in Seminatural Grassland on Mt. Kushigata, Japan

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