Large‐Scale Restoration of Dry Grasslands on Ex‐Arable Land Using a Regional Seed Mixture: Establishment of Target Species

Prach, Karel; Jongepierová, Ivana; Řehounková, Klára

doi:10.1111/j.1526-100x.2012.00872.x

Cited by 43 publications

(52 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…; Carter & Blair ). This result is reassuring: the composition of the seed mix may be one representation of the target community that land managers are hoping to establish (Prach, Jongepierova & Rehounkova ). Management accounted for nearly 65% of variation in sown species richness, an encouraging result given the strong research and management focus on increasing the species richness of sown species of the target community (Ruiz‐Jaen & Aide ; Brudvig ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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EDITOR'S CHOICE: Confronting contingency in restoration: management and site history determine outcomes of assembling prairies, but site characteristics and landscape context have little effect

Grman

Bassett

Brudvig

2013

Journal of Applied Ecology

113

159

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The outcomes of ecological restoration are notoriously unpredictable, but we have no general predictive understanding of this contingency. Management decisions can have strong effects on restoration outcomes, but in other cases may be overwhelmed by site characteristics (e.g. soil conditions), landscape context (e.g. abundance of similar habitat) or historical factors (e.g. priority effects). However, we generally cannot predict which of these four classes of drivers will affect restoration outcomes. Disparate aspects of restoration outcomes (e.g. species richness, beta diversity and community composition) and their unique responses further complicate our understanding. Finally, these four classes of drivers might differentially affect subsets of the restored community, where, for example, management might shape the abundance and distribution of species of the target community, while other species are more contingent on site, landscape or historical factors. 2. Here, we used variation partitioning to compare the relative importance of management, site, landscape and historical factors for determining the plant community outcomes of 27 prairie restorations in south-west Michigan. 3. We found that management, especially the composition, diversity and density of seed mixes applied, and history, especially site age, were the most important drivers of prairie restoration species richness, beta diversity and composition. Site and landscape factors were only rarely important for restoration outcomes. 4. Finally, we found that comparing the unique responses of sown and non-sown species typically increased our understanding of the dynamics contributing to community-wide restoration outcomes. 5. Synthesis and applications. This is, to our knowledge, the first quantitative comparison of how four major classes of drivers determine the outcome of restoration. Historical legacies and management decisions, but generally not landscape context or local site conditions, shaped plant communities at restored sites. These findings represent an important step towards developing a more predictive framework for understanding contingency in restoration outcomes.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Sluis ; Fagan et al . ; Cumming & George ; Woodcock, McDonald & Pywell ; Prach, Jongepierova & Rehounkova ; but see Holl & Crone ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

EDITOR'S CHOICE: Confronting contingency in restoration: management and site history determine outcomes of assembling prairies, but site characteristics and landscape context have little effect

Grman

Bassett

Brudvig

2013

Journal of Applied Ecology

113

159

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“…; Klimkowska et al . ; Baasch, Kirmer & Tischew ), of seeds extracted from fresh hay by onsite threshing (see Scotton, Kirmer & Krautzer ) as well as sowing of regional seed mixtures (Bullock, Pywell & Walker ; Kirmer, Baasch & Tischew ; Prach, Jongepierová & Řehounková ). While most of the studies used one of the specified approaches, studies comparing the restoration success of different methods are rare (but see Edwards et al .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Functional community ecology meets restoration ecology: Assessing the restoration success of alluvial floodplain meadows with functional traits

Engst

Baasch

Erfmeier

et al. 2016

Journal of Applied Ecology

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1. Species-rich grasslands are highly endangered habitats in Central Europe. To halt their ongoing loss, many sites have become subjects of restoration efforts. Traditionally, restoration success is measured using target species or by comparing similarity in species composition. Here, we suggest to additionally use functional community composition to assess restoration success as functional traits might offer mechanistic insights into restoration processes. 2. In a 5-year restoration experiment, we annually evaluated the responses of (i) floristic composition and species diversity, (ii) number and cover of target species, (iii) functional identity and (iv) functional diversity to four different methods of assisted recolonization through species introduction: hay transfer and application of threshing material from a local provenance, combined with and without addition of regional seed mixtures of target species, as well as to a control treatment. 3. Across all treatments, floristic composition, species diversity, and number and cover of target species approached the values of reference sites. In the last observation year, Shannon diversity was still lower in all treatment plots than in the reference plots, while the number of target forb species had reached or exceeded the reference levels. We demonstrated that the community was also restored functionally in many aspects, but not in all studied traits. Calculated community-weighted means (CWMs), specific leaf area (SLA) and leaf dry matter content (LDMC) in experimental plots did not differ significantly from the reference plots, thereby indicating that productivity of restored sites had reached target values. In contrast, CWMs of strategy types and pollination modes revealed significant differences, showing that biotic interactions among plant species and with other trophic levels have not yet been fully restored. However, almost all CWMs showed a trajectory towards the reference, thus giving a positive prospect for the future development. With respect to functional diversity (FD), we found steadily increasing FD values for almost all traits analysed. 4. Synthesis and applications. We demonstrated that all applied restoration measures were appropriate to achieve the restoration aim in terms of species composition of a given community and the establishment of target species. With respect to many functional traits, the restored meadows were already as functional as communities from the reference sites. Hence, including functional criteria did not only corroborate traditional criteria of restoration success but also allowed identifying those floodplain meadow's functions that can be quickly and less quickly restored.

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“…Restoration of grasslands having at least a semi‐natural species composition depends on the spontaneous establishment of target species in the case of (i) and (ii), while at least some basic target species are introduced immediately at the start of the restoration process under (iii). However, even in this case, we also have to rely to a certain degree on the gradual spontaneous establishment of species (Török et al ., ; Prach et al ., ). The occurrence of target species in the surroundings of restored grasslands is decisive for their spontaneous establishment in restored grasslands (Tscharntke et al ., ), but recruitment limitations may also operate in codetermining the final success (Zeiter et al ., ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Spontaneous colonization of restored dry grasslands by target species: restoration proceeds beyond sowing regional seed mixtures

Johanidesová

Fajmon

Jongepierová

et al. 2014

Grass and Forage Science

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Dry grasslands are endangered habitats across Europe, and their restoration requires increasing attention, including their re‐creation on arable land. We studied spontaneous colonization by eleven target species on thirty‐five dry grassland sites restored with regional seed mixtures 1–13 years ago in the eastern part of the Czech Republic, a region where species‐rich dry grasslands often occur in the vicinity of the restored grasslands. Occurrence of the target species (not sown in the restored grasslands) was quantified inside and outside each restored grassland up to distances of 100 and 500 m, and the distance to the nearest population outside was assessed. Data were processed using univariate (Spearman rank‐correlation coefficient, generalized linear models) and multivariate (redundancy analysis) statistics. The establishment of all target species was closely related to their occurrence in the surroundings. Occurrence of species at a distance of up to 500 m, minimum distance to the nearest population and time since start of restoration significantly influenced the occurrence of all the species in the restored grasslands, while distance up to 100 m influenced all except two species. The most successful were wind‐dispersed Cirsium canum and Inula salicina and, the least successful was the myrmecochorous Euphorbia virgata. Seeding regional seed mixtures may be considered an appropriate first step in the restoration of species‐rich grasslands on arable land. Following diversification of the vegetation in restored grassland, spontaneous establishment of additional species may occur if the species occur in the vicinity. Results are discussed in the context of grassland restoration and agri‐environmental objectives.

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Large‐Scale Restoration of Dry Grasslands on Ex‐Arable Land Using a Regional Seed Mixture: Establishment of Target Species

Cited by 43 publications

References 29 publications

EDITOR'S CHOICE: Confronting contingency in restoration: management and site history determine outcomes of assembling prairies, but site characteristics and landscape context have little effect

EDITOR'S CHOICE: Confronting contingency in restoration: management and site history determine outcomes of assembling prairies, but site characteristics and landscape context have little effect

Functional community ecology meets restoration ecology: Assessing the restoration success of alluvial floodplain meadows with functional traits

Spontaneous colonization of restored dry grasslands by target species: restoration proceeds beyond sowing regional seed mixtures

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