Examination of Forest Steppe Species in the Case of Areas Where Traditional Cultivation Was Abandoned

Abstract

The thousands of kilometers of forest steppes in Eurasia belong to the most threatened ecosystems thanks to habitat loss. We have limited knowledge on the recolonization ability of forest steppe species to date, which is the reason we examined the textural and structural changes in these species during secondary succession in areas of different former land use. The species number, cover, and diversity of forest steppe species, especially those of the Festuco-Brometea group, became significant for all three types in the oldest fallows. The number and proportion of forest steppe species have been steadily increasing in abandoned vineyards and arable land, indicating that forest steppe species are able to rapidly recolonize. The increase in the number and cover of forest steppe species in abandoned grasslands reveals that the replacement of the species pool of these grasslands is not necessarily accompanied by degradation, but also by the appearance and spread of valuable natural species if the habitat is sufficiently patchy. The proportions of habitat categories level off in abandoned vineyards and arable land as abandonment progresses. The cover rates of disturbed habitats species were negligible for all three types for the third decade after abandonment, indicating a change in the quality of the species pool.