Ecological principles for the re-creation of species rich grasslands in agricultural landscapes

摘要

This paper describes case studies in the creation of species rich hay meadows on ex-arable land using the White Carpathians Protected Landscape Area (PLA) Czech Republic. Grassland recreation is necessary due to the extreme habitat losses over the past 50 years. Results of seed collection and propagation has been used to development of a regional seed mixture for the WCPLA. This work emphasises the value of brush harvester technology from the point of view of nature conservation to collect seed, especially on meadows situated close to a site that is to be re-created. More than 400 hectares of arable land in the White Carpathians have been re-created with regional seed mixtures. An analysis of successes and failures in establishment and persistence concludes that that the most successful species in sown grassland are perennial, competitive species with broad ecological amplitude, tall stature, extensive root system, and large seeds with a long viability and fast germination. Regarding spontaneous succession, between 2005 and 2006 the species composition of re-created sites and their surroundings was analysed in the Czech Republic, including the White Carpathian Mts. Regrassing method was the most important factor determining the species compositionof re-created grasslands on arable land. Sites regrassed with regional seed mixtures were significantly different from the natural regeneration sites and from the sites sown with a commercial species-poor seed mixture. Ruderal and grassland species werethe most successful in colonising regrassed areas. However, many grassland species do not easily disperse and colonise new sites making spontaneous succession less effective and the use of regional seed mixtures more valuable. Best practice in re-creation of species rich grasslands should consider the following: the use of regional seed mixtures, the use of agricultural or other subsidies to fund re-creation, the assessment of local conditions prior to applying the re-creation methods, the most cost-effective methods, the monitoring of re-created sites after sowing and in the longer term to assess the successful re-creation of species rich grassland as functioning ecosystems.