Spatially-restricted plant material application creates colonization initials for flood-meadow restoration

Burmeier, Sandra; Eckstein, R. Lutz; Otte, Annette; Donath, Tobias W.

doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2010.08.018

Cited by 8 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…Waldén et al () recorded an increase in grassland specialists over time in sites which had been restored 6–23 years before their study but, importantly, they also noted that the presence of a local species pool in other seminatural grassland fragments was significant. Burmeier et al () found that target meadow species did colonize new areas successfully after several years following green hay transfer to strips of a restoration site, but this was recorded at a small scale within a meadow. Dispersal of seeds is affected by many factors including dispersal mechanisms, and, although seeds which are dispersed following ingestion or attachment to animals or machinery can travel many kilometers, those which are unassisted or even dispersed by wind may only be dispersed over short distances of several meters or less (Coulson et al ; Thomson et al ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Restoration of upland hay meadows over an 11‐year chronosequence: an evaluation of the success of green hay transfer

Sullivan

Hall

Ashton

2019

Restoration Ecology

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Grassland restoration has become a key tool in addressing the drastic losses of seminatural grassland since the mid-twentieth century. This study examined the restoration by green hay transfer of upland hay meadows, a particularly scarce and vulnerable habitat, over an 11-year chronosequence. The community composition of 18 restoration meadows was compared with that of donor reference sites in two study areas in the Pennine region of northern England. The study investigated: differences in community composition between donor and restoration meadows; transfer of upland hay meadow target species; and the effect of time and isolation from neighboring meadows on the community composition of the restoration meadows. Results showed that restoration meadows differed from donor meadows in that some target species were easily transferred whilst others were not found in the restoration meadows, or were at low levels of cover. Time had a significant effect on the community composition of the restoration meadows, but the similarity between restoration sites and donor sites did not increase with time, and the effect of isolation was not significant. The study showed that the green hay transfer method increases botanical diversity and is an important first step in meadow restoration. However, further restoration activity, such as seed addition, is likely to be required if restoration sites are to resemble closely the reference donor sites. Implications for Practice• Green hay transfer is a valuable technique for the first phase of the restoration of upland hay meadows where site conditions and management regimes are favorable. • A limited suite of target species can be successfully transferred using this method but, over time, the meadow community should be monitored to assess fluctuations in key species, and decisions should be taken on how and when to introduce missing target species, e.g. by further seed addition. • The isolation of the restoration site from other similar plant communities does not appear to be a barrier to initial establishment of target species following green hay transfer, although it should be considered in initial decision-making if long-term restoration is to rely on subsequent colonization from existing populations.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Restoration of upland hay meadows over an 11‐year chronosequence: an evaluation of the success of green hay transfer

Sullivan

Hall

Ashton

2019

Restoration Ecology

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“…Non‐trial seeds may originate directly from the surrounding standing vegetation or from the soil seed bank (Burmeier et al. ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The phenomenon has actually been exploited for restoration purposes by transferring hay in narrow strips so that target species disperse from the strips into the entire restoration site (Burmeier et al. ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nature will have its way: local vegetation trumps restoration treatments in semi‐natural grassland

Auestad

Austad

Rydgren

2015

Applied Vegetation Science

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Questions: How do various grassland restoration methods (hay transfer from local or distant donors, seed sowing or natural regeneration) perform in restoration of species-rich, semi-natural grasslands? Are any of the donors particularly well suited as reference vegetation? Do bare soil treatments give better results than treatments where the soil is covered? What are the probabilities of steering vegetation development towards donor vegetation under the various restoration treatments?Location: Sunnfjord open-air museum in rural, Western Norway.Methods: In a replicated field trial we tested four restoration methods: transferring fresh hay from a local or a distant donor (hay transfer), seeding with a regional species mix, and allowing natural regeneration. We evaluated outcomes by comparing species richness, transfer rates and vegetation dynamics in donor and trial vegetation over four successive years.Results: Our study revealed considerable changes in species composition under all restoration treatments, which decreased over time, indicating decelerating succession rates. Many non-trial grassland species became established, especially after seeding and natural regeneration (bare soil treatments). All trajectories became synchronized from the second year, and by trial end, the restoration treatments converged with respect to species richness and species composition.

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“…; Burmeier et al. ). Successful colonization via long‐distance dispersal by natural processes needs longer periods than a few years, where species can accumulate in the large‐scale, open areas (Ash et al.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sowing of low and high diversity seed mixtures in ecological restoration of surface mined‐land

Kirmer

Baasch

Tischew

2011

Applied Vegetation Science

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Questions: What are the differences in speed and pathway of vegetation development on nutrient-poor, unvegetated slopes sown with low-diversity seed mixtures of cultivars and high-diversity seed mixtures of regional species? And how is the susceptibility of the different sowing treatments to immigration events via seed rain? We compared differences in using a low-diversity seed mixture in comparison with a high-diversity seed mixture, both sown on nutrient-deficient raw soil. We assessed differences of speed and pathway of vegetation development of different variants as well as their susceptibility to immigration events via seed rain.Location: Central German Lignite Mining District. Methods:In December 2004, the trial was established in complete block design with four variants: sowing of a low-diversity seed mixture with three grass cultivars and sowing of a high-diversity seed mixture with 40 herbs and 11 grasses of local provenance, both with and without an additional mulch layer. Vegetation surveys were made between 2005 and 2010. Using generalized linear models (GLM), we tested for treatment effects on species diversity, above-ground biomass, total coverage of vegetation as well as number and coverage of target grassland species. In addition, we estimated Bray-Curtis distances between treatments using non-metric-multidimensional scaling.Results: Sowing of a high-diversity seed mixture clearly accelerated the vegetation development and led to a significantly higher biomass production in the 1st year. On both variants, the additional mulch layer facilitated the establishment of sown species and led to a higher coverage of the herb layer in the 1st year. After 6 yr, the influence of the mulch layer decreased for the benefit of the seed mixture. Despite species exchange between sites, sites sown with different seed mixtures were still dominated by different sets of species in the final year of our study. Whereas high-diversity mixtures sped up vegetation development in the direction of highly diverse semi-natural grasslands, low-diversity mixtures considerably delayed the successional progress. Conclusions:In grassland restoration in surface-mined land, high-diversity mixtures performed similar or even better than low-diversity mixtures of grass cultivars with respect to ecosystem services such as biomass production and ground cover (erosion control). An additional mulch layer considerably accelerated the vegetation development in the 1st years on both sowing variants. In contrast to sowing of low-diversity seed mixtures of grass cultivars, the use of high-diversity seed mixtures of local provenance contributes to the enhancement of local biodiversity. Although target grassland species were able to migrate into the low-diversity sites, this process is slow and only possible when appropriate seed sources are nearby.

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Spatially-restricted plant material application creates colonization initials for flood-meadow restoration

Cited by 8 publications

References 42 publications

Restoration of upland hay meadows over an 11‐year chronosequence: an evaluation of the success of green hay transfer

Restoration of upland hay meadows over an 11‐year chronosequence: an evaluation of the success of green hay transfer

Nature will have its way: local vegetation trumps restoration treatments in semi‐natural grassland

Sowing of low and high diversity seed mixtures in ecological restoration of surface mined‐land

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