Spontaneous establishment of woodland during succession in a variety of central European disturbed sites

Řehounková, Klára; Lencová, Kamila; Prach, Karel

doi:10.1016/j.ecoleng.2017.11.016

Cited by 41 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…The spontaneously revegetated disturbed sites certainly may not provide long‐term benefits for the whole spectrum of threatened species. Spontaneous succession in Central European post‐mining sites proceeds rather fast toward woodland with a closed canopy usually established in about 25 years after site abandonment in the majority of habitats (Řehounková et al ). The threatened species specialized for more open habitats retreat rather fast from the aboveground vegetation (Šebelíková et al ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Threatened vascular plant species in spontaneously revegetated post‐mining sites

Řehounková

Vítovcová

Prach

2020

Restoration Ecology

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The occurrence of threatened vascular plant species has been occasionally reported from some disturbed sites. Nevertheless, almost nothing is known about the conservation potential of post-mining habitats for vascular plant species at a landscape scale. We asked how much threatened species occur in the artificial habitats, and if the participation of particular threatened species categories differ over the course of succession. We studied 10 successional series running in 321 post-mining sites across the Czech Republic, Central Europe. In total, 2,597 vegetation samples comprising 935 vascular plant species were analyzed. We found 235 threatened species (14% of the country's threatened flora). The majority of the threatened plants, namely 223, avoided plots overgrown by woody species, in which only 48 species occurred. The importance of spontaneously revegetated habitats for nature conservation differed among successional stages formed by discontinuous vegetation cover (not fully developed and still open, up to approximately 25 years since site abandonment), which harbored especially critically endangered species of open habitats, and continuous vegetation cover (fully developed and closed, over approximately 25 years), which was suitable for specialized threatened species typical of fully established vegetation. A mosaic of various successional stages comprising both categories of vegetation cover should be applied as an effective restoration solution to maintain a variety of habitats for threatened species.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some studies found that increasing woody species cover (Řehounková et al ; Zakkak et al ) changed specific habitat conditions and gradually decreased the habitat heterogeneity of post‐mining sites. This may lead to the complete disappearance of threatened species specialized for at least partly open successional stages (Ursic et al ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Threatened vascular plant species in spontaneously revegetated post‐mining sites

Řehounková

Vítovcová

Prach

2020

Restoration Ecology

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“…Second, increased shading from densely planted trees together with thick litter layers alters site characteristics in forestry reclaimed sites, thus resulting in a decline in species numbers (Thomaes et al, ). Shading increases also on spontaneously revegetated sites as they develop towards woodlands (Řehounková, Lencová, & Prach, ), but the canopy is not as dense, which favours more species in the herb layer (Mudrák et al, ). However, a gradual development to woodland over time might lead to a decrease in plant species numbers in the future.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Second, increased shading from densely planted trees together with thick litter layers alters site characteristics in forestry reclaimed sites, thus resulting in a decline in species numbers (Thomaes et al, 2012). Shading increases also on spontaneously revegetated sites as they develop towards woodlands (Řehounková, Lencová, & Prach, 2018), but the canopy is not as dense, which favours more species in the herb layer (Mudrák et al, 2016 (Sitzia, Campagnaro, Dainese, & Cierjacks, 2012). This is in contrast with studies that observed an enormous negative effect of R. pseudoacacia stands on the herb layer on sandy substrates (Matus, Tóthmérész, & Papp, 2003;.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spontaneous revegetation versus forestry reclamation—Vegetation development in coal mining spoil heaps across Central Europe

et al. 2018

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Comparison of spontaneous revegetation and forestry reclamation can provide valuable information about the trajectories and rate of vegetation development applicable to restoration practice over broader geographical scales. In the current study, we sampled terrestrial vegetation in spontaneously revegetated and forestry reclaimed spoil heaps after brown coal mining differing in age in three regions across Central Europe (Germany, the Czech Republic, and Hungary). The main objective was to compare the course of vegetation development and species richness between the two restoration methods over a large geographical scale. In all geographical regions, species richness was higher on spontaneously revegetated sites. Although the starting point differed across regions, trajectories to woodland development converged with time. In addition, spontaneous revegetation was comparably as fast as forestry reclamation in developing towards woodland. Spontaneous revegetation proved to be more valuable and cost‐effective in terms of nature conservation and should be considered as an alternative restoration strategy to forestry reclamation in Central Europe.

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“…Forestry reclamation means artificial afforestation preceded by land remodeling, topsoil overlay, or fertilization (Kaźmierczak et al ) resulting prevailingly in monocultural stands arranged in dense rows (Pietrzykowski & Socha ) with more or less homogeneous site conditions (Cseresnyés et al ). In the Czech Republic, Pinus sylvestris (Scots pine) is the most frequent woody species planted in afforested sand and sand‐gravel pits being considered as an easy colonizer of nutrient‐poor habitats (Chytrý ; Řehounková et al ). On the other hand, spontaneously revegetated sites developing solely by natural processes exhibit large heterogeneity, mainly in moisture (Prach et al ), topography (Frouz et al ), and substrate characteristics (Bradshaw ), which are particularly important for the establishment of various species differing in ecological characteristics (Řehounková & Prach ; Kompała‐Bąba & Bąba ; Řehounková et al ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vegetation development of forestry reclaimed sand and sand‐gravel pits: is it on a way towards more natural species composition?

Šebelíková

Řehounková

Prach

2020

Restoration Ecology

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Until now, forestry reclamation has been a prevailing method used during mining‐site restoration in Central Europe. Although many studies described the process and outcome of forestry reclamation, none described in detail the vegetation development from initial to late stages. Our study aimed to fill this gap focusing on vegetation description in forestry reclaimed post‐mining sand and sand‐gravel pits across the Czech Republic, identification of the effects of the surrounding vegetation on species composition in forestry reclaimed sites, and comparison of the conservation value in terms of species richness and number of Red List species of sites originating from forestry reclamation and spontaneous revegetation. In the early stages of vegetation development of forestry reclaimed sites, dry and mesic grassland species occurred, with some species belonging to the national Red List. After about 5 years, however, these species rapidly disappeared and were replaced by woodland species. In contrast, spontaneously revegetated sites hosted much more dry and mesic grassland species, as well as Red List species, which persisted during the considered stand age (1–75 years). Although there was a large overlap in species composition between the forestry reclaimed and spontaneously revegetated sites, the study clearly demonstrated that the most valuable sites from a conservation perspective are destroyed within a few years by forestry reclamation. Therefore, spontaneous revegetation should be considered as a low‐cost alternative method to forestry reclamation for vegetation restoration in post‐mining sand and sand‐gravel pits in Central Europe.

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Spontaneous establishment of woodland during succession in a variety of central European disturbed sites

Cited by 41 publications

References 31 publications

Threatened vascular plant species in spontaneously revegetated post‐mining sites

Threatened vascular plant species in spontaneously revegetated post‐mining sites

Spontaneous revegetation versus forestry reclamation—Vegetation development in coal mining spoil heaps across Central Europe

Vegetation development of forestry reclaimed sand and sand‐gravel pits: is it on a way towards more natural species composition?

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