Interaction of Management and Spontaneous Succession Suppresses the Impact of Harmful Native Dominant Species in a 20-Year-Long Experiment
Our study focused on the compositional changes of Pannonian semi-natural dry grasslands. The preservation of these valuable habitats requires regular management. Our mowing experiment aimed to study the suppression of the native dominant <i>Calamagrostis epigejos</i> L. Roth in mid-succe...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-01-01
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| Series: | Land |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/12/1/149 |
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| author | Judit Házi Dragica Purger Károly Penksza Sándor Bartha |
| author_facet | Judit Házi Dragica Purger Károly Penksza Sándor Bartha |
| author_sort | Judit Házi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Our study focused on the compositional changes of Pannonian semi-natural dry grasslands. The preservation of these valuable habitats requires regular management. Our mowing experiment aimed to study the suppression of the native dominant <i>Calamagrostis epigejos</i> L. Roth in mid-successional grasslands. Mowing was applied twice a year in eight permanent plots. The vegetation was sampled annually from 2001 to 2021. The impacts of mowing were tested using repeated–measures analysis of variance (ANOVA). After 10 years, the cover of <i>C. epigejos</i> in the mown plots decreased significantly, from an initial average cover of 56.6 to 5.6%. In 20 years, it declined to 1.3%. Surprisingly, in the control plots, it decreased also from 63.7 to 6.9%. Species richness was affected by mowing: significant differences between mown and control plots were detected from the eighth year of our experiment. However, species richness steadily increased in both treatment types from 15 to 36 in the mown plots and 18 to 25 in the control plots, indicating a combined effect of vegetation succession and treatment. Our results suggest that long-term in situ experiments and comprehensive botanical studies are necessary to provide a basis for multi-objective management and reliable utilization of grasslands. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T12:00:02Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-dc9634197f0e491f950c9fb77d06ce90 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2073-445X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T12:00:02Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Land |
| spelling | doaj.art-dc9634197f0e491f950c9fb77d06ce902023-11-30T23:04:58ZengMDPI AGLand2073-445X2023-01-0112114910.3390/land12010149Interaction of Management and Spontaneous Succession Suppresses the Impact of Harmful Native Dominant Species in a 20-Year-Long ExperimentJudit Házi0Dragica Purger1Károly Penksza2Sándor Bartha3Department of Botany, University of Veterinary Medicine Budapest, Rottenbiller utca 50, H-1077 Budapest, HungaryDepartment of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Pécs, Rókus utca 2, H-7624 Pécs, HungaryDepartment of Botany, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, MKK, Páter Károly utca 1, H-2100 Gödöllő, HungaryCentre for Ecological Research, Institute of Ecology and Botany, Alkotmány út 2–4, H-2163 Vácrátót, HungaryOur study focused on the compositional changes of Pannonian semi-natural dry grasslands. The preservation of these valuable habitats requires regular management. Our mowing experiment aimed to study the suppression of the native dominant <i>Calamagrostis epigejos</i> L. Roth in mid-successional grasslands. Mowing was applied twice a year in eight permanent plots. The vegetation was sampled annually from 2001 to 2021. The impacts of mowing were tested using repeated–measures analysis of variance (ANOVA). After 10 years, the cover of <i>C. epigejos</i> in the mown plots decreased significantly, from an initial average cover of 56.6 to 5.6%. In 20 years, it declined to 1.3%. Surprisingly, in the control plots, it decreased also from 63.7 to 6.9%. Species richness was affected by mowing: significant differences between mown and control plots were detected from the eighth year of our experiment. However, species richness steadily increased in both treatment types from 15 to 36 in the mown plots and 18 to 25 in the control plots, indicating a combined effect of vegetation succession and treatment. Our results suggest that long-term in situ experiments and comprehensive botanical studies are necessary to provide a basis for multi-objective management and reliable utilization of grasslands.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/12/1/149<i>Calamagrostis epigejos</i> L. Rothconservation managementgrassland expansioninvasionland abandonmentlong-term data |
| spellingShingle | Judit Házi Dragica Purger Károly Penksza Sándor Bartha Interaction of Management and Spontaneous Succession Suppresses the Impact of Harmful Native Dominant Species in a 20-Year-Long Experiment Land <i>Calamagrostis epigejos</i> L. Roth conservation management grassland expansion invasion land abandonment long-term data |
| title | Interaction of Management and Spontaneous Succession Suppresses the Impact of Harmful Native Dominant Species in a 20-Year-Long Experiment |
| title_full | Interaction of Management and Spontaneous Succession Suppresses the Impact of Harmful Native Dominant Species in a 20-Year-Long Experiment |
| title_fullStr | Interaction of Management and Spontaneous Succession Suppresses the Impact of Harmful Native Dominant Species in a 20-Year-Long Experiment |
| title_full_unstemmed | Interaction of Management and Spontaneous Succession Suppresses the Impact of Harmful Native Dominant Species in a 20-Year-Long Experiment |
| title_short | Interaction of Management and Spontaneous Succession Suppresses the Impact of Harmful Native Dominant Species in a 20-Year-Long Experiment |
| title_sort | interaction of management and spontaneous succession suppresses the impact of harmful native dominant species in a 20 year long experiment |
| topic | <i>Calamagrostis epigejos</i> L. Roth conservation management grassland expansion invasion land abandonment long-term data |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/12/1/149 |
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