There are contrasting opinions on the use of prescribed burning management in European grasslands. On the one hand, prescribed burning can be effectively used for the management of open landscapes, controlling dominant species, reducing accumulated litter or decreasing wildfire risk. On the other hand burning can have a detrimental impact on grassland biodiversity by supporting competitor grasses and by threatening several rare and endangered species, especially arthropods. We studied the effects of prescribed burning in alkaline grasslands of high conservation interest. Our aim was to test whether dormant-season prescribed burning can be an alternative conservation measure in these grasslands. We selected six sites in East-Hungary: in three sites, a prescribed fire was applied in November 2011, while three sites remained unburnt. We studied the effects of burning on soil characteristics, plant biomass and on the composition of vegetation and arthropod assemblages (isopods, spiders, ground beetles and rove beetles). Soil pH, organic matter, potassium and phosphorous did not change, but soluble salt content increased significantly in the burnt sites. Prescribed burning had several positive effects from the nature conservation viewpoint. Shannon diversity and the number of flowering shoots were higher, and the cover of the dominant grass Festuca pseudovina was lower in the burnt sites. Graminoid biomass was lower, while total, green and forb biomass were higher in the burnt plots compared to the control. The key finding of our study was that prescribed burning did not decrease the abundance and diversity of arthropod taxa. Species-level analyses showed that out of the most abundant invertebrate species, 10 were not affected, 1 was negatively and 1 was positively affected by burning. Moreover, our results suggest that prescribed burning leaving unburnt patches can be a viable management tool in open landscapes, because it supports plant diversity and does not threaten arthropods.

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The effects of regular NPK fertilization on the amounts of winter wheat yield and the amounts and proportion of different N forms (NO 3 -N, NH 4 -N, N org , N total ) of a Luvic Phaeosem soil determined in 0.01 M CaCl 2 were studied in the B1740 variant of the National Long-Term Fertilization Experiment at Karcag. According to the yield data, N and P fertilization increased winter wheat yield significantly. When applying the 200 kg N·ha -1 dose, P fertilization resulted in a more than 2 t·ha -1 yield increase, as compared to the treatments without P fertilization. K fertilization had no effect on the yield, similarly to preceding years. These findings may be adapted to fields of the Middle-Tisza Region with similar conditions to the trial site. The N forms of the soil determined in CaCl 2 reflected fertilization well. All of the fractions, but especially NO 3 -N and N total , increased significantly in response to N fertilization. Close relationships (r = 0.87–0.88) were found among the NO 3 -N and N total fractions and the N balance, which means that the amounts of NO 3 -N and N total are suitable for assessing both the N deficit and the N surplus. The strength of the correlation between the NH 4 -N content and N balance was moderate (r = 0.65). The N org fraction increased significantly as a function of N and P fertilization. These results can be explained with the yield increase. A significant correlation (r = 0.55) was found between the N org fraction and yield amounts. It can be established that organic residuals remaining on the site resulted in a significant increase in the N org content of soils. The gained results confirm that the N org fraction is suitable for the characterization of the readily mobilizable N reserves previously ignored in fertilization practice. On the basis of the presented results the CaCl 2 method is recommended for the precise estimation of nutrient requirements.

Intensive mechanical soil cultivation and herbicide treatment was often the preferred technology in vineyards in the second half of the 20 th century. In the last decades we increasingly experienced the disadvantages of these suboptimal technologies: soil degradation, erosion and deflation damages. Alternative cultivation methods were sought for research and practice, especially in organic viticulture. The use of well-adapted cover-crop mixtures in the vine inter-rows poses a possible solution for weed control, soil conservation and biodiversity development. The technology has a special importance on steep slopes: it helps to prevent erosion damages and provides easier cultivation circumstances. In 2012 the Hungarian Research institute of Organic Agriculture in collaboration with other experts and growers began to study three different species-rich cover crop mixtures (Biocont-Ecovin, Legume mixture, Grass-herb mixture) in Hungarian vineyards. Each mixture was sown in three neighbouring inter-rows at each experimental site. After sowing (March 2012) we studied vegetation composition (June 2012, 2013 and 2014), pruning weight and diameter of the second bearing spur of the stocks, yield quality and quantity. Most of the sown species established successfully and in 2012 we found that Biocont-Ecovin and the mixture of legumes were the most effective in weed suppression. For 2013 we detected lower weed coverage in the inter-rows sown with the grass-herb and legume mixtures, while in control and Biocont-Ecovin inter-rows we detected increasing weed coverage. In the third year (2014) we found in every plot? that the grass-herb mixture-covered inter-rows were the least weedy. The most successful species in the inter-rows are: Coronilla varia, Lotus corniculatus, Medicago lupulina, Onobrychis viciifolia, Plantago lanceolata, Trifolium repens, Trifolium pratense. Viticultural measurements (2014) show a 10-13 % decrease of yield in case of covered inter-rows, and a 26 and 21 % reduction in pruning weight (Gróf Degenfeld and Tokaj-Hétszőlő), especially apparent in young plantations. For Hungarian conditions it is therefore recommended to implement this technology in every second inter-row where erosion control is not required.

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