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76 results for “grassland restoration”

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dryad36/100

Experimental extensification of mountain grasslands restores plant species richness but not species composition in the mid-term

<ol> <li>The traditional grasslands that characterize the cultural landscapes of the palaeartic mountain massifs represent biodiversity hotspots. Yet, they are currently threatened by the intensification of farming practices, notably excesses in fertilization and irrigation.</li> <li>We experimentally investigated the passive restoration of montane and subalpine hay meadows after six years of management intensification, with different levels of fertilization and irrigation, followed by five years of release of intensive management, i.e. extensification. More specifically, relying on a full randomized block-design replicated at 11 Swiss study sites constituted of extensively-managed meadows, we exposed during six years (2010-2015) four 20 m diameter plots to three levels of intensification (low, medium and high inputs), while a fourth plot served as a control (no inputs). In the second phase of the experiment (2016-2020), all study meadows underwent farming extensification.</li> <li>We monitored total species richness and plant diversity (Simpson diversity), indicator plant species as well as the composition and variability of the plant communities based on Bray-Curtis dissimilarity distances.</li> <li>We found that total species richness decreased in the most intensified plots after six years of intensification, but all plots retrieved their baseline species richness after five years of re-extensification. Additionally, we found no difference between the years in plant diversity (Simpson diversity) among the treatments. Yet, intensification led to different plants communities' compositions in all three levels of intensification in 2015 compared to the extensive plots, and this structural difference remained after five years of re-extensification.</li> <li>Synthesis and applications. Land-use intensification induces a rapid impoverishment of the flora of mountain meadows. Our results demonstrate the potential of mountain hay meadows to passively restore plant species richness after re-extensification, however plants communities did not fully recover. We recommend maintaining fertilization inputs as low as possible and operating active restoration on grasslands formerly intensified.</li> </ol>

opencc-zeroDec 2022View details →

dryad36/100

The relative effectiveness of different grassland restoration methods: A systematic literature search and meta-analysis

1. Active grassland restoration has gained in importance to mitigate the dramatic decline of farmland biodiversity. While there is evidence that such operations are generally effective in promoting plant diversity, little is known about the effectiveness of the different methods applied. Restoration methods can differ in intensity of seed bed preparation, seed source and technique of seed application. 2. In this systematic literature search and meta-analysis, we screened the literature for studies of the restoration of mesic grasslands in temperate Europe. We focused on active restoration experiments that included a treatment and lasted more than three years. We evaluated the influence of restoration factors on plant species richness relative to non-restored controls. 3. We found 187 articles that investigated the outcome of operations aimed at actively restoring mesic temperate grasslands. Most articles focused on plants, with only 9.6% dealing with other organisms (e.g. beetles, pollinating insects). Many papers had to be excluded due to incomplete data, too short study duration and/or lack of an adequate control. This resulted in 13 articles fulfilling our criteria for inclusion, yielding a total of 56 data points for the meta-analysis. 4. Restoration actions increased plant species richness by, on average, 17.4%, compared to controls. The seed source explained a significant amount of variation in plant species richness: seeds originating from a speciose donor grassland had a positive effect. This effect was even enhanced when combined with a commercial seed mix, whereas commercial seed mixes alone had no significant effect. We did not observe any effect of other factors, such as the type of seed bed preparation or the seed application method. 5. A seed-source obtained from species-rich grasslands seems to be key to efficient grassland restoration in mesic grasslands of temperate Europe. Even though seeds from a speciose donor grassland should be preferred over commercial seeds, associating natural and commercial seed mixes increases plant species richness. This systematic literature search further revealed two major research gaps in grassland restoration ecology: a deficit in long-term investigations as well as a deficit in studies focusing on non-plant organisms.

opencc-zeroFeb 2023View details →

dryad36/100

Large-scale restoration of species-rich dry grasslands on arable land: Environmental filtering drives successful species establishment over a period of 10 years

Sowing of regionally specific seed mixtures on former arable land is increasingly used to restore species-rich grasslands, but it often faces important obstacles in environmental conditions and colonisation from preserved surrounding grasslands. Long-term landscape scale studies, which explore the processes governing plant establishment from seed mixtures and later colonisation from the surrounding landscape are scarce. We studied the species and functional trait composition of 32 grasslands restored 1–11 years before the first sampling by sowing regional seed mixtures in the White Carpathian Mts (SE Czech Republic). We compared them with 23 well-preserved permanent grasslands in their surroundings. In each grassland we estimated plant species cover in three plots of 25 m2, in restored grasslands in 2009, 2014 and 2019, in permanent grasslands in 2009. The species composition of the restored grasslands converged towards the permanent grasslands due to expansion of dry grassland species and retreat of mesic grassland and weed species. The majority (60–71%) of the vegetation cover of restored grasslands was formed by sown species, while the species number was mainly determined by colonising unsown species (61–63%). The species number of restored grasslands remained lower than that in permanent grasslands. Functional trait composition (Community Weighted Mean) of the sown seed mixtures, permanent grasslands and restored grasslands overlapped in all three samplings. With increasing grassland age, species with resource-retaining traits of low specific leaf area and high leaf dry matter content, lower stature, higher seed mass, and lower capacity for clonal reproduction expanded. Functional trait diversity of the plots was mostly lower than expected by null model randomisations of community, which indicates strong environmental filtering. Comparison of newly colonising species and extinct species indicated that mainly species with traits similar to the rest of the community are able to colonise the grasslands successfully. Synthesis and applications. Sowing of regionally specific seed mixtures was successful and demonstrated to be a fast way of grassland restoration, particularly in terms of functional trait composition. The resulting species diversity depended on the colonisation processes, which are controlled by the functional composition of the local communities.

opencc-zeroJun 2023View details →

dryad36/100