The effect of abandonment on vegetation composition and soil properties in Molinion meadows (SW Poland)

PloS One
Grzegorz SwachaLudwik Żołnierz

Abstract

Intermittently wet meadows of the Molinion alliance, as with many other grasslands of high-nature value, have become increasingly exposed to abandonment due to their low economic value. The potential consequences of land abandonment are the decrease in species diversity and environmental alterations. The issue of land-use induced changes in plant species composition and soil physico-chemical parameters have been rarely studied in species-rich intermittently wet grasslands. In this study we attempt to i) to identify determinants of plant species composition patterns and ii) to investigate the effect of cessation of mowing on vegetation composition and soil properties. The study was conducted in an area of 36 ha covered with Molinion meadows, comprising of mown sites and sites that were left unmown for 10 years. In total, 120 and 80 vegetation plots were sampled from mown and unmown sites, respectively. In these plots we measured plant community composition and soil physico-chemical parameters. The results have shown that the two groups of variables (soil properties and management) differ considerably in their ability to explain variation in plant species data. Soil variables explained four-fold more variation in plant species co...Continue Reading

Citations

Aug 3, 2021·Frontiers in Plant Science·Guoxu JiGuowen Cui

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Software Mentioned

Canoco
R

Related Concepts

Related Feeds

Biodiversity Data

Biodiversity refers to the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is typically a measure of variation at the genetic, species, and ecosystem level.Discover the latest research on biodiversity data here.