Temporal Variations in the Production—Quality and Optimal Cutting Date of Hay Meadows in the Central Pyrenees (Spain)

Abstract

The production and forage quality of semi-natural hay meadows of Arrenatheretalia in the southern central Pyrenees were studied according to the time of mowing within the vegetative cycle, to determine its optimum moment. The results show important variations according to the meadows and the year. Higher productions (56% in kg DM ha−1, 42% in UFL ha−1) and lower qualities (−12% in CP, −11% in UFL kg DM−1, −7% in PDI and −17% in RFV) were obtained in the year in which temperatures and rainfalls were the highest. It is concluded that the timing (advance or delay) concerning the maximum value of production and the quality (two years) do not have a direct relationship with the variations of accumulated rainfalls and the growing degree days. The decreases in production (18% in kg DM ha−1 and 25% in UFL ha−1 until 24 June) and quality (26% in CP, 16% in UFL kg DM−1, 13% in PDI and 20% in RFV until 24 June) were also quantified from their maximum values within the traditional mowing period. The optimal time for mowing is between 20 May and 20 June, depending on the annual weather and the meadow characteristics.

The Effects of Different Management Methods on Restored Grasslands in Potential Temperate Forest Zones

“…Their setting back of competitor species helps propagules to spread, granting the continuity of ecosystem services [51,52,54], and meadows and wood pastures are, thus, among the most diverse habitats of Central Europe [58,92]. The ceasing of mowing or grazing can lead to increasing cover of shrub and afforestation [55,93,94]; thus, an evident solution can be the restoring of these methods [29,58].…”

“…In the past few decades, many surveys have proven the importance of natural disturbances in different forms of vegetation [24], as well as their presence in ecosystems [25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32].…”

“…The cessation of natural conservation management can lead to declining diversity, by means of increasing coverage of some species with a broad tolerance spectrum [33][34][35][36]. The opposite effect of mowing and pasturing has been proven by many surveys [29,[37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48]. This verifies the importance of small-scale disturbances in the composition of vegetation through positive effects on biodiversity [49,50]-they help to spread propagules, maintain ecosystem services, and suppress invasive species.…”