Plant-herbivory feedbacks and selective allocation of a toxic metal are behind the stability of degraded covers dominated by Brachypodium pinnatum in acidic soils

Soil bacterial functional diversity mirrors the loss of plant diversity by the expansion of a native tall-grass in high mountain grasslands

“…The observed higher diversity of bacterial functional groups and the higher level of catabolic activity related to N in diverse compared to poor grasslands, may reflect an enhanced availability of N organic compounds from root exudates (due to a high number of species and functional groups, including N-rich legumes), or/and a higher input of plant labile carbon (which stimulates N microbial immobilisation, Knops et al 2002) in diverse grasslands. In low-diversity grasslands, B. rupestre generates a high amount of plant litter with high C:N ratios (Canals et al 2017) and the soil microbiome may be presumably responding to the recalcitrant nature of these tissues (for instance, by an expecting increase of the fungal community, Paterson et al 2008). Contrary to the results of some studies identifying a significant relationship between plant diversity and soil microbial biomass (Eisenhauer et al 2010;Lange et al 2015), we did not find such a clear relationship.…”

“…In spring 2013, we undertook a general characterization of the sites, by describing the main environmental variables (altitude, topography, slope, aspect, substrate and soil type) and the intensity of the current management (grazing pressure and burning recurrence) (Table 1). This depiction was completed in summer by conducting systematic floristic inventories using the point-intercept methodology (2 transect lines of 20 m per site, with 50 intercepted points per line) for plant community typification (see Canals et al 2017 for more details). The soil samplings were done at the peak of the summer 2013.…”

Disentangling the Effects of Disturbance from Those of Dominant Tall Grass Features in Driving the Functional Variation of Restored Grassland in a Sub-Mediterranean Context

“…In particular, we observed a significant decrease in both aboveground phytomass and plant height. With regard to this, Canals et al [19] stated that recurrent defoliation led to the decrease of reserves allocated to the belowground organs, which, in turn, reflected in the reduction of the aboveground phytomass [50] and cover value [35,51] of individuals. Moreover, leaf removal leads to the decrease in leaf area, leaf dry matter and lignin content, besides the increase in leaf nitrogen content, thus improving leaf palatability and enhancing the probability of leaf consumption by herbivores [12].…”

“…Generally, grazing and mowing are the principle management practices for grasslands. Grazers tend to avoid feeding on Brachypodium species for the presence of unpalatable leaves [19]. For this reason the feeding on this species results in harm to domestic herbivores and their welfare.…”

Pastoral Stone Enclosures as Biological Cultural Heritage: Galician and Cornish Examples of Community Conservation

“…However, vegetation in historical pastoral enclosures is inferred to have arisen from the effects of routine domestic herbivory over centuries, coupled with practices historically associated with pastures, moorland, and heathlands to maintain these ecosystems, such as burning [27]. Species turnover due to customary grazing and mechanisms of the new dominant species to endure after grazing abandonment has been described in the acidic grassland species Brachypodium pinnatum in Western Pyrenees [28]. In the same way, an analysis of British grasslands showed that the seed bank was dominated by propagules of species associated with eutrophic grasslands, so vegetation change would prove difficult to reverse [29]; however, this pasture endurance through seed bank dominance seems more related to improved grasslands than to unimproved grasslands.…”