Dynamics of plant cover of meadow steppes after the cessation of traditional management in Opillia

Meadow steppes of Opillia (western edge of Podillia Upland, Western Ukraine) belong to xerothermic calcareous grasslands which are the most species-rich habitats in Europe. This paper contains results of a nine-year study (2010–2018 years) of plant species composition in ‘Ostrivets’ grassland after the cessation of traditional management (mowing). The patch had been burnt for at least five years running and then abandoned for five more years. The patch was chosen as a model grassland of abandoned meadow steppes. We examined plant species richness and composition on three sample plots of 5 x 5 m2. In 2010, at the beginning of annual burning practice the plots harboured 114 species. One year after cessation of disturbance by fire (2014), species richness decreased to 108 species. In 2018, after five years of abandonment it reached 83 species. Abundance of the dominant species (Brachypodium pinnatum) remained unchanged when the patch was under annual burning regime. After abandonment of the habitat Molinia arundinacea became the dominant species. Species composition experienced changed as well. Only 37.9% of species remained in the sample plots from 2010 till 2018. The proportion of meadow-steppe species halved, they were substituted by species of forests, forest edges and ruderal species. Percent of meadow species did not significantly change, however this group of species began to dominate within the community. The cover of woody vegetation reached 15–20% in 2018. Rubus caesius encroached on the grassland in 2014 and gained 20% of projective cover in 2018. Ten out of thirteen rare species disappeared from the habitat during the study period. ‘Ostrivets’ habitat requires urgent measures to be taken to restore and preserve meadow-steppe species composition. We suggest the following measures: elimination of trees and shrubs, regular moving and overseeding of extinct species.

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Impacts of erosion control treatments on native vegetation recovery after severe wildfire in the Eastern Cascades, USA

International Journal of Wildland Fire ◽

10.1071/wf08194 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 19 (4) ◽

pp. 490 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Erich K. Dodson ◽

David W. Peterson ◽

Richy J. Harrod

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

Plant Species ◽

Native Species ◽

Plant Cover ◽

Plant Species Richness ◽

Tree Regeneration ◽

Vegetation Recovery ◽

Native Vegetation ◽

Individual Plant ◽

Native Plant

Slope stabilisation treatments like mulching and seeding are used to increase soil cover and reduce runoff and erosion following severe wildfires, but may also retard native vegetation recovery. We evaluated the effects of seeding and fertilisation on the cover and richness of native and exotic plants and on individual plant species following the 2004 Pot Peak wildfire in Washington State, USA. We applied four seeding and three fertilisation treatments to experimental plots at eight burned sites in spring 2005 and surveyed vegetation during the first two growing seasons after fire. Seeding significantly reduced native non-seeded species richness and cover by the second year. Fertilisation increased native plant cover in both years, but did not affect plant species richness. Seeding and fertilisation significantly increased exotic cover, especially when applied in combination. However, exotic cover and richness were low and treatment effects were greatest in the first year. Seeding suppressed several native plant species, especially disturbance-adapted forbs. Fertilisation, in contrast, favoured several native understorey plant species but reduced tree regeneration. Seeding, even with native species, appears to interfere with the natural recovery of native vegetation whereas fertilisation increases total plant cover, primarily by facilitating native vegetation recovery.

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Sowing Mixtures of Native Plant Species: Are There Any Differences between Hydroseeding and Regular Seeding?

Plants ◽

10.3390/plants10112507 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (11) ◽

pp. 2507

Author(s):

Vilma Gudyniene ◽

Sigitas Juzenas ◽

Vaclovas Stukonis ◽

Egle Norkeviciene

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

Plant Species ◽

Native Species ◽

Growth Traits ◽

Plant Cover ◽

Species Abundance ◽

Legume Species ◽

Competitive Growth ◽

Native Plant ◽

Native Plant Species

Hydroseeding is a convenient, low-cost way to plant seeds. Traditionally, fast-growing commercial species that are cheap to obtain are preferred in hydroseeding, while native species have limited use. Nowadays, the use of native species is often desired in revegetation projects. However, there is a paucity of information about hydroseeding native species in Northern areas of Europe. Therefore, we aimed to determine whether hydroseeding has any effects on native plant cover formation, species richness and abundance, the development of plant morphological features, or aboveground biomass. A total of 40 native plant species in Lithuania were sowed using hydroseeding and regular seeding. The experimental plots were assessed for two years. The results show a relatively small and short positive effect of hydroseeding on plant cover formation. No significant differences were found in species richness between the sowing treatments. However, a comparison of species composition revealed significant differences between the sowing treatments that were more associated with species abundance than species diversity. Hydroseeding was favoured by legume species, such as Onobrychis viciifolia, Ononis arvensis, Lotus corniculatus, and Trifolium medium, while Festuca rubra favoured the regular seeding treatment. Overall, our findings emphasize that legume species that display more competitive growth traits should be included in the seed mixture in lower proportions when hydroseeding is applied.

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Less is more! Rapid increase in plant species richness after reduced mowing of urban grasslands

10.1101/805325 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Melissa Sehrt ◽

Oliver Bossdorf ◽

Martin Freitag ◽

Anna Bucharova

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

Species Composition ◽

Plant Species ◽

Plant Species Richness ◽

Less Is More ◽

Urban Lawns ◽

Intensively Managed ◽

Management Changes ◽

Meadow Species ◽

Number Of Plant Species

AbstractUrban lawns provide space for recreation in cities, and they are an important part of urban green infrastructures. However, most lawns are intensively managed. As only few plant species can survive the frequent mowing, urban lawns typically harbor only a limited number of plant species. To improve the biodiversity of urban lawns, it is often suggested to reduce the mowing frequency. Here, we studied the plant diversity of urban grasslands that have recently undergone management changes from mowing every few weeks to mowing only once or twice per season and compared them to intensively managed lawns. Within six years after the management changes, the grasslands with reduced mowing frequency indeed hosted 30% more plant species than intensively managed lawns, and they were more heterogeneous both within and between grasslands. Additionally, the species composition of less frequently mown grasslands shifted from common mowing-tolerant lawn species to typical meadow species. Our study thus shows that the reduction of mowing is a simple and effective tool for increasing the biodiversity in urban grasslands.

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Leaf litter effect on plant species composition of deciduous forest treefall pits

Canadian Journal of Forest Research ◽

10.1139/x88-080 ◽

1988 ◽

Vol 18 (5) ◽

pp. 553-559 ◽

Cited By ~ 64

Author(s):

Susan W. Beatty ◽

Owen D. V. Sholes

Keyword(s):

New York ◽

Species Richness ◽

Species Composition ◽

Leaf Litter ◽

Plant Species ◽

Deciduous Forest ◽

Plant Species Richness ◽

Forest Community ◽

Litter Accumulation ◽

Litter Removal

In deciduous forests of central New York, treefall pits have rich soil, but low plant species richness. To test whether leaf litter limited species distributions, we removed litter in 10 randomly chosen pits in 1983 and compared them with controls over 3 years. Wire cages prevented litter accumulation in experimental plots. By year 1 (1984) litterless pits were significantly warmer and less moist than controls. From years 1 to 3 the average Coefficient of Community (CC) index between experimental mounds and pits increased 10-fold. No changes occurred in controls. Species composition of experimental pits became different from the controls. Species richness increased in litterless pits, with no change in other plots. Experimental and control mounds were similar in species composition all years, indicating no effect of the cage. Species responses to litter removal included: (i) enhanced germination, (ii) establishment, and (or) (iii) no change. All herbs showing increased germination or establishment were species previously restricted to mounds. The species that did not change were those already inhabiting pits. No species declined after litter removal. Litter removal in pits allowed several species to expand their distributions from mounds into litterless pits, without affecting existing pit species. The spatial heterogeneity accentuated by leaf litter accumulation does not facilitate coexistence of species in the forest community, but only limits species population sizes and spatial distributions.

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Specific remnants of old iron-ore extraction sites as islands of plant species richness

Open Life Sciences ◽

10.1515/biol-2015-0023 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Monika Podgórska

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

Plant Species ◽

Iron Ore ◽

Plant Cover ◽

Floristic Composition ◽

Plant Species Richness ◽

Positive Influence ◽

Forest Communities ◽

Native Flora ◽

The Impact

AbstractIn the Old-Polish Industrial Region (Southern Poland, Central Europe), specific remnants of former iron-ore extraction occur. These interesting post-mining habitats influence the plant cover which emerges on them. In this paper, I analyzed the impact of the former iron-ore mining on the increase of plant species richness in forest communities. I analyzed the floristic composition of 100 phytosociological relevés (plots) made in the mining areas, their surroundings and 100 associated soil samples. I found that within the island communities developing in the former mining fields, there was a considerable increase in the number of species of native flora (in comparison with communities of nontransformed areas). This increase in species richness is caused chiefly by the increased proportion of species characteristic of the syntaxa from the Querco-Fagetea class – species exclusively attached to the mesophilous forest communities developing in gob piles whose limits are marked by the material extracted and scattered around in ancient times. My research suggested that in this case, mining activity exerted a positive influence on the biodiversity in forested areas, improving the quality of soils and creating mesophilous forest communities growing on remnants of former iron-ore extraction, which are specific islands among acidophilous forest communities growing in the non-transformed areas.

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Short Communication: Plant species richness and diversity in Karangsambung-Karangbolong National Geopark, Indonesia

Biodiversitas Journal of Biological Diversity ◽

10.13057/biodiv/d210457 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 21 (4) ◽

Author(s):

Angga Yudaputra ◽

Puguh Rahardjo

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

Plant Species ◽

Short Communication ◽

Diversity Index ◽

Species Abundance ◽

Floristic Composition ◽

Plant Species Richness ◽

Ageratum Conyzoides ◽

Medicinal Uses ◽

Species Richness And Diversity

Abstract. Yudaputra A, Rahardjo P. 2020. Short Communication: Plant species richness and diversity in Karangsambung-Karangbolong National Geopark, Indonesia. Biodiversitas 21: 1735-1742. The information on plant species richness and diversity in Karangsambung-Karangbolong National Geopark, Central Java is very limited. This study aimed: (1) to investigate plant species richness and abundance as well as floristic composition in Karangsambung-Karangbolong National Geopark; (2) to reveal the potential uses of plant species recorded in the area. Square sampling plots were applied for nine sampling locations. Square plot of 10 x 10 m was applied to record tree, while nested plots of 5 x 5 m and 2 x 2 m were applied to record sapling and understorey plants including shrubs and herbs, respectively. The highest plant species richness was found in the location with higher elevation and mountainous topography. The species abundance reaches its maximum values at low to moderate elevation. Shannon Diversity Index (H) showed that tree and sapling have moderate diversity, whereas understorey plant has high diversity. Melastoma malabathricum, Clidemia hirta, Zingiber zerumbet, and Ageratum conyzoides are the most abundant plants in this Geopark. Most of plants recorded have potential benefit as medicinal uses.

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Diversity of the Western Carpathian flysch grasslands: Do extremely species-rich plant communities coincide with a high diversity of snails?

Biologia ◽

10.2478/s11756-013-0299-7 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 69 (2) ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Jana Dvořáková ◽

Kristina Merunková ◽

Zdenka Preislerová ◽

Michal Horsák ◽

Milan Chytrý

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

Species Composition ◽

Plant Species ◽

Plant Communities ◽

Abiotic Factors ◽

Local Environment ◽

Plant Species Richness ◽

Snail Species ◽

Local Species ◽

White Carpathians

AbstractUpland fringes of the White Carpathians (Czech Republic) are known to support grasslands with the world’s highest local plant species richness. We investigated whether this unusually high plant richness has a parallel in snail communities, whether patterns of species composition of snail and plant communities in grasslands co-vary and how they are affected by local environment and landscape history. We compared plant and snail communities of dry to mesic grasslands in three neigh bouring regions: (1) hilly lowland of the Central Moravian Carpathians, (2) upland fringes and (3) upland of the White Carpathians. Both snail and plant communities exhibited a strong gradient in species composition associated with altitude, annual temperature and precipitation, soil calcium and pH. However, there was no correlation between local species richness of plants and snails in individual plots. The upland fringes of the White Carpathians were richest in snail species, probably due to intermediate environmental conditions, supporting the occurrence of species with contrasting environmental requirements. The highest local numbers of plant species were also recorded there, although differences among regions were not significant. The regional species richness of plants was also highest in the upland fringes, whereas that of snails was highest in the hilly lowland. Similarities in the diversity patterns of plants and snails among regions suggest the importance of regional factors for local richness, although local abiotic factors, which are partly correlated with the three regions, also influence local species composition and richness.

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