Restoring grassland on arable land: an example of a fast spontaneous succession without weed-dominated stages.

Ivana Jongepierová 1 , Jan W. Jongepier 2 & Leoš Klimeš 3

Affiliations

  1. Administration of the Protected Landscape Area Bílé Karpaty, Bartolomějské nám. 47, CZ-698 01 Veselí nad Moravou, Czech Republic
  2. Národních mučedníků 948, CZ-698 01 Veselí nad Moravou, Czech Republic
  3. Institute of Botany, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Dukelská 135, CZ-379 01 Třeboň, Czech Republic
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Abstract

Vegetation succession was studied for 12 years on an abandoned nutrient- poor small field surrounded by a strip of natural grassland. No fertilizers or herbicides were applied. Few weeds or annuals were present during this period. Only two plants, i.e. Agrostis capillaris and Festuca rubra, dominated during the 12 years. At two spatial scales (0.04 and 0.4 m2) a dramatic increase in species richness was recorded during the first two years. However, no further trend in species richness occurred after the sixth year of succession. Successional changes were directed and continuous. The rate of succession depended on the distance from the neighbouring meadow. Vegetation at the margins of the transect developed more slowly and diverged from the middle during the succession.

Keywords

Czech Republic, divergent succession, grassland restoration, long-term dynamics, monitoring, mowing, oldfield, rate of succession, secondary succession, species richness

How to cite

Jongepierová I., Jongepier J. W. & Klimeš L. (2004) Restoring grassland on arable land: an example of a fast spontaneous succession without weed-dominated stages. – Preslia 76: 361–369