Restoring grassland biodiversity: Sowing low-diversity seed mixtures can lead to rapid favourable changes

Török, Péter; Deák, Balázs; Vida, Enikő; Valkó, Orsolya; Lengyel, Szabolcs; Tóthmérész, Béla

doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2009.12.024

Cited by 96 publications

(96 citation statements)

References 50 publications

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“…Alpha diversity was lower in all transects dominated by yellow bluestem. This is consistent with previous studies on Bothriochloa ischaemum [22,43] and other grasses [44][45][46]. As an unexpected result, we found significant decrease in beta diversity as well.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

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Grazed Pannonian grassland beta-diversity changes due to C4 yellow bluestem

Szentes

Sutyinszki

Szabó³

et al. 2012

Open Life Sciences

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This study investigates how yellow bluestem affects biodiversity in a typical Pannonian grassland. Beta diversity (i.e. the finescale spatial variability of species compositions), was estimated by the realized number of species combinations sampled at various scales. Sampling was performed by a standard protocol. Presences of plant species were recorded along 52.2 m long belt transect of 1044 units of 0.05x0.05 m contiguous microquadrats. According to the results the massive presence of tested C4 grass significantly reduced species richness of the grassland. Beta diversity assessment revealed that 90% of species combinations were lost due to yellow bluestem invasion. Fine-scale spatial pattern analyses showed complete local extinctions of other species from microsites dominated by yellow bluestem. This local extinction is enhanced by the specific clonal architecture of this species and by the accumulation of litter. Other dominant grasses had no effect on fine scale diversity, i.e. they could coexist well with other elements of the local flora. This study presents currently developed microhabitat types, forecasts and also draws attention to the danger that climate warming will probably enhance the spread of this detrimental C4 species.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

“…This means that these species do not hinder the colonization of subordinate species. The influence of existing vegetation on the immigration of new species is an important issue in vegetation succession [44,45]. The rate of immigration is the highest in early succession then it decreases exponentially.…”

Section: Figurementioning

confidence: 99%

Grazed Pannonian grassland beta-diversity changes due to C4 yellow bluestem

Szentes

Sutyinszki

Szabó³

et al. 2012

Open Life Sciences

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“…In a recent study, Kelemen et al (2013) found that loess grasslands are especially threatned by degradation, because even a slight change in total biomass production can result in a decrease of species richness in these grasslands. Abandonment or inappropriate management by overgrazing alter biomass conditions in loess grasslands, leading to fewer and less suitable microsites for the germination and establishment of target species (Deák et al, 2010;Miglécz et al, 2013). Our results suggest that the local seed banks have only a minor contribution to the maintenance of diversity in both degraded and semi-natural loess grasslands.…”

Section: Implications For Restorationmentioning

confidence: 66%

Soil Seed Banks in Loess Grasslands and Their Role in Grassland Recovery

Tóth¹

2014

Appl Ecol Env Res

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Abstract. Loess grasslands are among the most species-rich grasslands in Europe. In many regions only species-poor degraded fragments of formerly species-rich loess grasslands remained due to the agricultural intensification in the last century. To preserve and restore loess grasslands it is necessary to understand, how soil seed banks can contribute to the maintenance of diversity. We studied the vegetation and seed banks of (i) a loess grassland in a semi-natural state and (ii) a degraded loess pasture. We found that species richness was significantly lower in the degraded loess pasture (10.2 species/m 2 ) than in the semi-natural loess grassland (27.0 species/m 2 ). Mean seed bank densities were quite similar in the two grassland types (22,800 and 20,200 seeds/m 2 , respectively). Out of the frequent graminoids in the vegetation, only Poa angustifolia possessed considerable dense seed banks. Forb species having considerable seed banks were mainly disturbance-tolerant species (e.g. Euphorbia cyparissias, Galium verum or Hypericum perforatum). Most characteristic forb species possessed only sporadic seed banks (e.g. Filipendula vulgaris, Pimpinella saxifraga and Salvia nemorosa). Our results suggest that seed banks have only a limited role in the recovery of loess grasslands.

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“…Seeds of rare species (characteristic grassland species usually in scattered populations, e.g. in loess grasslands-Phlomis tuberosa, Thalictrum minus, Török et al 2010b) are often not commercially available or very expensive, and often originate from non-native source populations (Manchester et al 1999). Thus, the compilation of a HD mixture that also contains rare species can be unfeasible.…”

Section: Sowing Seedsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Grassland restoration on former croplands in Europe: an assessment of applicability of techniques and costs

et al. 2011

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Grasslands used to be vital landscape elements throughout Europe. Nowadays, the area of grasslands is dramatically reduced, especially in industrial countries. Grassland restoration is widely applied to increase the naturalness of the landscape and preserve biodiversity. We reviewed the most frequently used restoration techniques (spontaneous succession, sowing seed mixtures, transfer of plant material, topsoil removal and transfer) and techniques used to improve species richness (planting, grazing and mowing) to recover natural-like grasslands from ex-arable lands. We focus on the usefulness of methods in restoring biodiversity, their practical feasibility and costs. We conclude that the success of each technique depends on the site conditions, history, availability of propagules and/or donor sites, and on the budget and time available for restoration. Spontaneous succession can be an option for restoration when no rapid result is expected, and is likely to lead to the target in areas with high availability of propagules. Sowing low-diversity seed mixtures is recommended when we aim at to create basic grassland vegetation in large areas and/or in a short time. The compilation of high-diversity seed mixtures for large sites is rather difficult and expensive; thus, it may be applied rather on smaller areas. We recommend combining the two kinds of seed sowing methods by sowing low-diversity mixtures in a large area and high-diversity mixtures in small blocks to create species-rich source patches for the spontaneous colonization of nearby areas. When proper local hay sources are available, the restoration with plant material transfer can be a fast and effective method for restoration.

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Restoring grassland biodiversity: Sowing low-diversity seed mixtures can lead to rapid favourable changes

Cited by 96 publications

References 50 publications

Grazed Pannonian grassland beta-diversity changes due to C4 yellow bluestem

Grazed Pannonian grassland beta-diversity changes due to C4 yellow bluestem

Soil Seed Banks in Loess Grasslands and Their Role in Grassland Recovery

Grassland restoration on former croplands in Europe: an assessment of applicability of techniques and costs

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