Wall Vegetation in Old Royal Mining Towns in Central Slovakia

Abstract

The vegetation of low-altitude dry heathlands in Central Europe (Euphorbio cyparissiae-Callunion vulgaris) has declined because the abandonment of traditional management has resulted in gradual overgrowth by woody species and because nutrient inputs have changed. Low-intensity grazing and sod-cutting, which are traditionally recommended to regenerate heather (Calluna vulgaris) vegetation from the seed bank, were introduced to restore stands of heather that had disappeared. The study was conducted in the Zlatnice Nature Reserve, located in the northwestern part of Prague (Czech Republic). A system of 1 m² permanent plots was used to collect the data. Both grazing and sod-cutting were effective for the restoration of the Calluna vulgaris vegetation. During the two years after the introduction of grazing, the greatest increase in the heather cover occurred in the grazed areas. The heather cover in the areas managed by sod-cutting started to increase significantly in the third year following the removal of sods and reached values comparable with the grazed areas. Regular grazing hindered the increase in the cover of herbs; the increase in the herb cover was higher after single sodcutting. Sod-cutting facilitated the expansion of mosses. The experiment suggests that non-intensive sheep and goat grazing is most likely the most appropriate tool to restore dry heathland on shallow poor soils when more than 20 years have elapsed since the disappearance of the heathland. The use of sod-cutting itself is more demanding and brings a higher risk of overgrowth by unwanted herbs and woody species, resulting in repeated degradation of the Calluna vulgaris vegetation. Keywords: Calluna vulgaris, heather, moss, open landscape, sheep grazing, woody encroachment. IzvlečekVegetacija nižinskih suhih vresav v srednji Evropi (Euphorbio cyparissiae-Callunion vulgaris) je v upadanju zaradi opuščanja tradicionalnega gospodarjenja in to se kaže v postopnem zaraščanju z lesnatimi rastlinami in spremenjenem vnosu hranil. Za obnovitev sestojev z vreso, ki so izginili, smo uporabili pašo z nizko intenzivnostjo in košnjo, ki sta tradicionalno priporočena načina za obnavljanje vegetacije z vreso (Calluna vulgaris) iz semenske banke. Raziskavo smo opravili v naravnem rezervatu Zlatnice, ki se nahaja v severozahodnem delu Prage (Češka republika). Vzpostavili smo sistem stalnih 1 m² ploskev. Za obnovitev vegetacije z vrsto Calluna vulgaris sta bila uspešna tako paša kot košnja. Pokrovnost vrese se je povečala dve leti po začetku poskusa s pašo, na površinah s košnjo pa se je značilno povečala tretje leto in vrednosti so bile primerljive s pašenimi površinami. Redna paša je ovirala povečanje pokrovnosti zelišč, medtem ko se je njihova pokrovnost povečala po posamezni košnji. Košnja je tudi vplivala na povečanje pokrovnosti mahov. Poizkus je pokazal, da je slabo intenzivna paša ovac in koz verjetno najbolj primeren način obnove suhih vresav na plitvih, s hranili revnih tleh, po več kot 20 let od uničenja vresave. Košnja je bolj zahtevna, poja...

Plant species occupy different habitats on the fortress walls in Elbasan, Albania

“…A number of studies have assessed the plant communities that grow on walls (e.g. Brullo & Guarino 1998, Swierkosz 2004, 2012, Kolbek 1997, Kolbek et al 2015, Jasprica et al 2020. Wall phytosociological relevés tend to be heterogeneous with a large number of species and high species overlap (Duchoslav 2002, Kolbek et al 2015.…”