Succession of floodplain grasslands following reduction in land use intensity: the importance of environmental conditions, management and dispersal

摘要

Classical ecological theory predicts a succession towards plant communities that are determined by environmental conditions. However, in ecological restoration, species composition often remains different from the predicted target community, compromising the success of restoration measures. We analysed the relative importance of environmental conditions, management and distance to source populations for floodplain grassland succession following re-conversion from intensive to traditional use. The study was established at 33 grassland sites in central German river valleys. Species composition, environmental variables, past and current management, and the distance to source populations of characteristic species of traditional management (indicator species) were recorded and compared using multivariate statistics. We further tested the speed of colonization by two indicator species, Silaum silaus and Serratula tinctoria, along transects from source populations into unoccupied fields. The species composition of the successional grassland was mainly determined by elevation, total soil nitrogen, distance to remnant species-rich grasslands and frequency of mowing or grazing. Elevation and distance were negatively, and frequency was positively related to the occurrence of late successional species. Colonization by indicator species was only dependent on the distance to source populations; other explanatory variables were not significant. Migration from adjacent source sites of S. silaus and S. tinctoria into re-converted grasslands was slow, reaching only 40 m and 15 m after 15 years. Synthesis and applications. The results demonstrated the limitations of the deterministic view on plant succession and the high relative importance of propagule availability in grassland restoration. Natural colonization will only be successful if source populations of the target species are adjacent to the restoration sites. Artificial introduction techniques are recommended to overcome dispersal barriers.