Vegetation monitoring of extensively cultivated floodplain grasslands in the lower Havel valley, north-east Germany

摘要

This paper deals with the effect of extensive management on grassland vegetation in a riverine floodplain area that was predominantly managed intensively before 1990. The analysis is based on vegetation surveys of 61 permanent plots in the floodplainof the Lower Havel River (German Federal State of Brandenburg). We used cluster analysis, regression analysis, correspondence analysis and ANOVA for the statistical evaluation of the data. The vegetation releves were classified into 5 vegetation groups,which differed greatly in their site-specific characteristics. The average ecological Ellenberg values for nitrogen were negatively correlated to measured values of species diversity. After extensive grassland management extending over 20 years, the highest fodder values were mainly found in plant stands located on moderately moist to weakly wet sites. The historical land use before 1990 significantly affected the actual botanical diversity of the meadows. The findings underline the importance of unploughed and longstanding extensively managed permanent meadows as species pools for the promotion of biodiversity in grasslands that have, historically, been intensively managed.