Vegetation changes in urban grasslands over 25 years in the city of Zurich, Switzerland

IF 1.1 4区 生物学 Q3 PLANT SCIENCES
Tuexenia Pub Date : 2021-10-31 DOI:10.21256/ZHAW-23429
Julia Kummli, S. Widmer, M. Wilhelm, Jürgen Dengler, R. Billeter
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引用次数: 2

Abstract

Many studies have demonstrated significant alterations in the species composition of grasslands in Central Europe over the past decades due to multiple drivers of anthropogenic environmental change. Most such studies deal with dry, acidic, wet or alpine grassland types, while little is known about changes in mesic grasslands, particularly in urban areas. To investigate the effects of anthropogenic environmental change on such grasslands, we resurveyed a selection of plots in the city of Zurich (Switzerland) approximately 25 years after their original recording. First, we checked whether 241 extensively used mesic grasslands (belonging to the Arrhenatheretalia elatioris) in the city were still grasslands, and whether their management had changed. Then we resurveyed a representative subset of 30 quasi-permanent plots of 50 m2. We tested whether biodiversity metrics, mean ecological indicator values, community weighted means (CWMs) of functional traits or the presence of individual vascular plant species had changed. We found that 15% of the original grasslands had been lost due to changes in land use during this period. Of the remaining grasslands, most of the former meadows were still mown, while many of the former pastures had been transformed into meadows. Measures of alpha diversity had not changed significantly for the 30 plots. However, species composition now indicated nutrient poorer, less base-rich and less ruderal site conditions, while CWMs of specific leaf area (SLA) had decreased and that of seed mass increased. In stands that were managed by mowing in both periods there was practically no change, while there was a pronounced change in those that had been transformed from grazing to mowing. In general, five species showed a significant increase and 16 species a significant decrease in frequency, with no obvious ecological difference between winners and losers. Alien species were rare in both periods and showed hardly any trend, except Veronica persica, which became rarer. In conclusion, more extensively used grasslands have survived to date than would be anticipated in such a rapidly growing city as Zurich. Their quality has hardly changed during the past Manuscript received 09 May 2021, accepted 07 August 2021 Published online 31 October 2021 Co-ordinating Editor: Valentin Klaus 424 quarter century, and if changes occurred, they are rather attributable to the intentional change of management from grazing to mowing. The relatively good ecological state of these urban grasslands might be due to a lower agricultural land use pressure than outside urban areas, as well as a constant management of many of these grasslands with a conservation focus. By maintaining these grasslands in their current state, they may have the potential to contribute to the conservation of biodiversity in urban areas.
瑞士苏黎世25年来城市草原的植被变化
许多研究表明,由于人为环境变化的多种驱动因素,中欧草原的物种组成在过去几十年中发生了重大变化。大多数此类研究涉及干旱、酸性、潮湿或高山草原类型,而对中生草原的变化知之甚少,尤其是在城市地区。为了调查人为环境变化对这些草原的影响,我们在苏黎世市(瑞士)的一些地块原始记录大约25年后重新进行了调查。首先,我们检查了该市241片广泛使用的梅斯草原(属于阿氏草原)是否仍然是草原,以及它们的管理是否发生了变化。然后,我们重新测量了30块50平方米的准永久地块的代表性子集。我们测试了生物多样性指标、平均生态指标值、功能性状的群落加权平均值(CWM)或单个维管植物物种的存在是否发生了变化。我们发现,由于这一时期土地利用的变化,15%的原始草原已经消失。在剩下的草原中,大部分以前的草地仍然被割草,而许多以前的牧场已经变成了草地。30个地块的阿尔法多样性指标没有显著变化。然而,物种组成现在表明营养较差,富碱较少,场地条件较差,而比叶面积(SLA)的CWM降低,种子质量的CWM增加。在这两个时期都通过割草管理的林分中,几乎没有变化,而那些从放牧转变为割草的林分则发生了明显变化。总体而言,5个物种的频率显著增加,16个物种的出现频率显著减少,赢家和输家之间没有明显的生态差异。外来物种在这两个时期都很罕见,几乎没有任何趋势,除了越来越罕见的波斯维罗妮卡。总之,迄今为止,在苏黎世这样一个快速发展的城市,使用范围更广的草原比预期的要大。在过去的手稿中,它们的质量几乎没有变化,2021年5月9日收到,2021年8月7日接受。2021年10月31日在线发布。协调编辑:Valentin Klaus 424四分之一世纪,如果发生了变化,则可归因于管理从放牧到割草的有意变化。这些城市草原相对良好的生态状态可能是由于农业用地压力低于城市以外地区,以及对许多草原的持续管理和保护。通过保持这些草原的现状,它们可能有潜力为保护城市地区的生物多样性做出贡献。
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来源期刊
Tuexenia
Tuexenia PLANT SCIENCES-
CiteScore
2.80
自引率
25.00%
发文量
0
期刊介绍: Tuexenia publiziert Original- und Übersichtsarbeiten sowie Berichte zu Themen der Geobotanik / Vegetationsökologie und zu Nachbarwissenschaften wie Populationsökologie, Biodiversitätsforschung, Biozönologie, Renaturierungsökologie und ihren Anwendungen, vor allem im Naturschutz. Der geografische Schwerpunkt liegt in Zentraleuropa und angrenzenden Regionen.Tuexenia erscheint jährlich in einem Band, der etwa zur Jahresmitte fertig gestellt wird. Autoren erhalten von jeder Arbeit eine PDF-Datei und gemeinsam 20 Sonderdrucke kostenlos. Die Qualität der wissenschaftlichen Manuskripte wird durch die Redaktion und einen Wissenschaftlichen Beirat (Peer Review) gesichert (s. auch die Manuskript-Richtlinien vor dieser Seite). Es werden keine Druckkosten erhoben. Tuexenia legt Wert auf allgemeine Online-Verfügbarkeit der Beiträge.
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