Endozoochorous dispersal, seedling emergence and fruiting success in disturbed and undisturbed successional stages of sheep-grazed inland sand ecosystems

Do plant-community-based grazing regimes lead to epizoochorous dispersal of high proportions of target species?

“…High amounts of seed input are required to keep the regenerative potential of semi-natural grasslands at a sufficiently high level, since post-dispersal processes such as seedling emergence and establishment are often limited, e.g. by seed availability (Zobel et al, 2000), granivory or seedling mortality (Eichberg et al, , 2007. In several dry grassland species, the population size was indeed regulated by seed limitation (Erikson, 1997(Erikson, , 1998.…”

Soil chemistry of local vegetation gradients in sandy calcareous grasslands

“…Corynephorus canescens is often a rapid colonizer of bare sand (Forey nides 1979). The fruiting stage, as well as the seedling establishment of C. canescens, has been shown to benefit from disturbance in experimental plots with calcareous, nutrient-poor sand (Eichberg et al 2007). Bare sand (with or without litter) is here interpreted as disturbance, which is influenced by the slope angle of the ground.…”

Large and least isolated fragments preserve habitat specialist spiders best in dry sandy grasslands in Hungary

“…Therefore, this grassland type 51 is the most threatened ecosystem in Central Europe (Eichberg et al 2007). Agricultural 52 intensification caused a decrease in biomass production and vegetation coverage, whereas 53 it increased the areas covered by bare sand.…”