<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p> We investigated early spontaneous colonisation patterns during semi-dry grassland restoration at two sites in SE Austria. The sites were left to regenerate passively without addition of plant propagules on a former arable field and an apple orchard. The sites were prepared only by ploughing (arable field) or clear cutting (apple orchard) and subsequently mowed annually. We studied whether, four years after project initiation, target species from adjacent semi-dry grasslands had established at the restored sites. We asked: 1) Does passive restoration lead to the establishment of target species? 2) Do abiotic parameters or distance to reference sites explain early colonisation patterns? 3) Do plant traits predict the colonisation success of different species? At each site, we collected data in 4 m × 4 m plots, in which we sampled the vegetation, analysed abiotic parameters (soil potassium- and phosphorus-content, soil-pH, slope) and recorded the minimum distance to the reference site. We tested for correlations between abiotic variables, plant traits and colonisation success. Colonisation patterns were not driven by abiotic soil conditions but rather by nearest distance to the reference sites. In addition, the vegetation developed differently in the former arable field and the apple orchard. Competitive species of the Arrhenatherion and thermophilic ruderal associations dominated the early restoration stage at both sites. Passive restoration of semi-dry grasslands on former agricultural land is unlikely to succeed unless complemented by initial ploughing, nutrient stripping and addition of propagules of rare species.</p></abstract>

We investigated early spontaneous colonisation patterns during semi-dry grassland restoration at two sites in SE Austria. The sites were left to regenerate passively without addition of plant propagules on a former arable field and an apple orchard. The sites were prepared only by ploughing (arable field) or clear cutting (apple orchard) and subsequently mowed annually. We studied whether, four years after project initiation, target species from adjacent semi-dry grasslands had established at the restored sites. We asked: 1) Does passive restoration lead to the establishment of target species? 2) Do abiotic parameters or distance to reference sites explain early colonisation patterns? 3) Do plant traits predict the colonisation success of different species? At each site, we collected data in 4 m × 4 m plots, in which we sampled the vegetation, analysed abiotic parameters (soil potassium- and phosphorus-content, soil-pH, slope) and recorded the minimum distance to the reference site. We tested for correlations between abiotic variables, plant traits and colonisation success. Colonisation patterns were not driven by abiotic soil conditions but rather by nearest distance to the reference sites. In addition, the vegetation developed differently in the former arable field and the apple orchard. Competitive species of the Arrhenatherion and thermophilic ruderal associations dominated the early restoration stage at both sites. Passive restoration of semi-dry grasslands on former agricultural land is unlikely to succeed unless complemented by initial ploughing, nutrient stripping and addition of propagules of rare species.

Semi-Dry Grassland Restoration in the Se Alpine Foreland of Austria – A Study of Early Spontaneous Colonisation Patterns

Institute of Plant Sciences, University of Graz, Holteigasse 6, 8010 Graz, Austria

Department of Botany and Zoology, Masaryk University, Kotlařska 2, 611 37 Brno, Czech Republic

Hacquetia

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

We investigated early spontaneous colonisation patterns during semi-dry grassland restoration at two sites in SE Austria. The sites were left to regenerate...

Semi-Dry Grassland Restoration in the Se Alpine Foreland of Austria – A Study of Early Spontaneous Colonisation Patterns

Published Online: Aug 27, 2015

Page range: 97 - 112

Received: Apr 30, 2014

Accepted: Nov 18, 2014

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/hacq-2015-0006

© by Philipp Sengl

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.