Reversing expansion of Calamagrostis epigejos in Carpathian mountain grasslands by mowing and application of hemiparasitic Rhinanthus alectorolophus

IF 2 3区环境科学与生态学 Q3 ECOLOGY

Applied Vegetation Science Pub Date : 2024-05-16 DOI:10.1111/avsc.12782

Dobromil Galvánek, Eva Uhliarová, Karol Ujházy, Mariana Ujházyová, Monika Janišová, Jakub Těšitel

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Questions

The expansion of Calamagrostis epigejos poses a significant threat to the biodiversity of mountain grasslands. We asked whether grasslands dominated by C. epigejos can be restored through mowing and the application of hemiparasitic Rhinanthus alectorolophus.

Location

Carpathian Violion caninae alliance mountain grassland close to Vrchslatina, Veporské vrchy Mts, Slovakia.

Methods

We conducted a before–after control–impact experiment in a grassland entirely dominated by C. epigejos: six blocks, each with four treatment combinations: (i) mowing once in summer, (ii) mowing in summer and autumn, (iii) mowing in summer and seed sowing of R. alectorolophus, (iv) mowing in summer and autumn along with seed sowing of R. alectorolophus. We monitored the above-ground biomass of C. epigejos, R. alectorolophus, the combined above-ground biomass of other species, and the vegetation composition annually from 2014 to 2017. Linear mixed-effect models and redundancy analysis (RDA) were employed to analyze the effects of the treatments on C. epigejos and community parameters.

Results

Sowing established R. alectorolophus at the plots mown twice in the first year, but its density strongly declined in subsequent years. R. alectorolophus and mowing twice significantly reduced C. epigejos biomass and herb layer cover. They also increased community evenness and the ratio between other species and C. epigejos biomass with a more pronounced effect on the plots where R. alectorolophus was applied. Mowing twice led to increased species richness, evenness, the number of target grassland species and their proportion in the community. R. alectorolophus had an additional positive impact on community evenness and the proportion of target species. RDA identified R. alectorolophus as the main driver of the directional community change triggered by the experimental treatments.

Conclusion

Mowing twice per season proves to be an efficient restoration management strategy for mountain grasslands dominated by C. epigejos. Sowing R. alectorolophus, however, may be employed as an additional measure to accelerate the decline of C. epigejos at the outset of the restoration process and enhance community structure and composition.

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通过刈割和施用半寄生性的 Rhinanthus alectorolophus，扭转喀尔巴阡山草地上 Calamagrostis epigejos 的扩展趋势

问题菖蒲（Calamagrostis epigejos）的扩展对山区草地的生物多样性构成了严重威胁。我们的问题是，是否可以通过割草和施用半寄生的 Rhinanthus alectorolophus 来恢复以 C. epigejos 为主的草地。地点喀尔巴阡山Violion caninae联盟山地草原，靠近斯洛伐克Veporské vrchy山的Vrchslatina。方法我们在一片完全由 C. epigejos 占主导地位的草地上进行了前后对照-影响试验：六个区块，每个区块有四种处理组合：(i) 夏季割草一次；(ii) 夏季和秋季割草；(iii) 夏季割草并播撒 R. alectorolophus 种子；(iv) 夏季和秋季割草并播撒 R. alectorolophus 种子。从 2014 年到 2017 年，我们每年都会监测 C. epigejos、R. alectorolophus 的地上生物量、其他物种的综合地上生物量以及植被组成。采用线性混合效应模型和冗余分析（RDA）来分析处理对栉水母和群落参数的影响。结果在第一年刈割两次的地块上，播种确立了栉水母（R. alectorolophus），但其密度在随后几年大幅下降。R. alectorolophus 和两次刈割显著降低了 C. epigejos 的生物量和草层覆盖率。它们还增加了群落均匀度以及其他物种与 C. epigejos 生物量之间的比率，对施用 R. alectorolophus 的地块的影响更为明显。两次刈割可增加物种丰富度、均匀度、目标草地物种数量及其在群落中的比例。R. alectorolophus 对群落均匀度和目标物种比例有额外的积极影响。RDA 发现，R. alectorolophus 是实验处理引发群落定向变化的主要驱动力。结论实践证明，每季两次的刈割是一种有效的恢复管理策略，适用于以 C. epigejos 为主的山地草地。然而，在恢复过程的初期，播种 R. alectorolophus 可作为一项额外措施，以加速 C. epigejos 的减少，并改善群落结构和组成。

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来源期刊

Applied Vegetation Science 环境科学-林学

CiteScore

6.00

自引率

10.70%

发文量

审稿时长

3 months

期刊介绍： Applied Vegetation Science focuses on community-level topics relevant to human interaction with vegetation, including global change, nature conservation, nature management, restoration of plant communities and of natural habitats, and the planning of semi-natural and urban landscapes. Vegetation survey, modelling and remote-sensing applications are welcome. Papers on vegetation science which do not fit to this scope (do not have an applied aspect and are not vegetation survey) should be directed to our associate journal, the Journal of Vegetation Science. Both journals publish papers on the ecology of a single species only if it plays a key role in structuring plant communities.