Abstract
Abandoned semi-natural limestone grasslands are often overgrown by shrubs and trees. Little is know if and to what extant xerothermic limestone grasslands can be restored by tree cutting. This was tested in a 12-year experiment after the clearing of a 35-year-old secondary pine wood developed on unmanaged grassland in the close proximity of not overgrown old grassland. After 12 years, there were no significant differences in the number of field layer species on the plots in the old and restored grasslands. But over this period the number of meadow species increased in all sites, while the number of xerothermic calcareous species increased significantly only in the old grassland plots. The developing shrub layer negatively influenced the number of nitrophilous and ruderal species in grasslands restored in the former close and open woods, and the number of all species, including the number of non-tufted perennials and perennials with vegetative spread, in the former open wood. The number of meadow species increased in years with higher precipitation in late spring and early summer. The obtained results suggest that in overgrowing grasslands shrubs and trees should be cut every few years, before their covers increase to about 30%. However, this treatment alone will not stop the changes to communities with dominance of tall and vegetatively spreading grasses and forbs. Cutting trees and shrubs in sites where most grassland species have already vanished, without additional managements supporting their dispersal, seedling recruitment and development, is not sufficient to restore limestone grasslands rich in xerothermic species.
Highlights
The remnants of semi-natural limestone grasslands are characteristic elements of the agricultural landscape in the hilly regions of southern Poland
In this study we present results of a twelve year-long restoration experiment
The comparison of gradient lengths along the first Detrended Canonical Correspondence Analysis (DCCA) axes shows that the greatest changes in species cover occurred in the site of the former closed wood, lesser changes in the former open wood, and the least in the old grassland
Summary
The remnants of semi-natural limestone grasslands are characteristic elements of the agricultural landscape in the hilly regions of southern Poland. These are composed of species-rich and geographically differentiated communities. During the two decades after World War II, the traditional methods of management had been discontinued and most of the limestone grasslands abandoned. Today, remnants of these grasslands, ranging from several dozen square metres to several hectares, are isolated by fields and meadows. Some of abandoned limestone grasslands have been set aside as nature reserves
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