Organic fertilization on mountain grassland

摘要

Semi-natural grassland in the Central area of Apuseni Mountains, Romania is fertilized only with organic fertilizers. Manure from cows and horses is applied in quantities of 6 to lOMgha~(-1). There has been a recent tendency for intensification of grassland close to human settlements and a decline or even abandonment of that located further away. An experiment with four variants was established in order to follow the effect of enhanced inputs of manure on Festuca rubra L. grassland, in terms of productivity, quality and biodiversity, as well as to recommend the optimum quantity of fertilizer. Production increased with increasing amounts of manure, but the quality of fodder did not show the same trend. Hie cover of Centaureaphrygia C. A. Mey and Pimpinella major L. increased in the treatments with large amounts of manure and these species contributed to significant reductions in fodder quality.