Abstract
Most diversity restoration projects are not to improve diversity per se, but rather to enhance the presence and abundance of species that are characteristic of reference or target community. The use of Bromus inermis suppresses annual noxious grasses and increases the control of other-forb group these species are also noxious weeds; these may be substituted with another perennial species of the same functional group all through the whole experimental period, as it occurs with other perennial-forb Carduus tenuifolius. A field experiment was conducted on abandoned arable land with sown low and high diversity treatments and natural colonization following typical farming practice for the site. Experimental plots were installed on former agricultural land that had been cropped with (a rotation of) monocultures until the end of 1995. The experiment was organized according to a block design with five replicate blocks. An opposite trend was performed among the colonizer species, because the colonizer grasses were relegated by the high dominance of sown grasses. But at the same time, the sown grasses facilitated the dominance of other colonizer-forbs species; therefore its functional replacement in the community due to sown effect was again tested. However, in natural conditions the other-forbs group was the dominant group, without taking into account the stepping-stone treatment and there was also a functional change of dominance. Our study has demonstrated the restoration effectiveness of species richness at abandoned arable land and may be enhanced by sowing late successional species.
Highlights
Various empirical studies [1] [2] have shown that ecosystem function is mainly a consequence of the prevailing strategies of constituent species, in interaction with the abiotic environment
The use of Bromus inermis suppresses annual noxious grasses and increases the control of other-forb group these species are noxious weeds; these may be substituted with another perennial species of the same functional group all through the whole experimental period, as it occurs with other perennialforb Carduus tenuifolius
An opposite trend was performed among the colonizer species, because the colonizer grasses were relegated by the high dominance of sown grasses
Summary
Various empirical studies [1] [2] have shown that ecosystem function is mainly a consequence of the prevailing strategies of constituent species, in interaction with the abiotic environment. Even some of the experimental effects that are attributed to diversity are probably a consequence of the effect of abiotic conditions and species ecophysiology [2] [3]. The fact that species life histories are more important than diversity per se does not mean that diversity has no effect on ecosystem function. The most widely cited mechanisms for increased competitive exclusion at high productivities are based on the fact that higher productivities will reduce spatial heterogeneity in the relative supplies of different resources, reducing the number of species that are able to coexist. The most widely cited mechanisms for increased competitive exclusion at high productivities are based on the fact that higher productivities will reduce spatial heterogeneity in the relative supplies of different resources, reducing the number of species that are able to coexist. [7] introduced a model based on the assumption that the two essential resources are mineral nutrients and light
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