Abstract
Semi-natural grasslands are particularly important in mountainous areas of Romania, being the only source of forage for many farmers. The aim of this study was to investigate the changes in forage quantity and quality as a result of Urea Ammonium nitrate (UAN) liquid fertilization. The experiment was carried out in the eastern part of Apuseni Mountains, Romania on a Festuca rubra L.-Agrostis capillaris L. grassland located at 1240 m altitude. Studies were made over three years of experimental trial (2014–2016) and covered four experimental plots in three replicates, as follows: V1–control plot, unfertilized; V2–plot fertilized with 50 kg UAN ha−1 year−1; V3–plot fertilized with 75 kg UAN ha−1 year−1, and V4–plot fertilized with 100 kg UAN ha−1 year−1. The experimental plots were harvested once per year and the botanical composition, dry matter yield and forage quality were assessed. Our results showed important changes in forage quantity, quality and diversity as a result of UAN fertilization. Starting from the second experimental year the dominance/co-dominance ratio changed favoring the species from Poaceae family. Dry matter increased as a result of UAN fertilization but forage quality was negatively affected by the higher percentage of participation of species from other botanical families which have higher crude fiber content and lower crude protein. Based on our results we recommend moderate fertilization with UAN up to 50 kg UAN ha−1 year−1 for semi-natural grasslands located in soil-climatic conditions similar to those in our experiment.
Highlights
Grassland ecosystems cover from a third up to a half of the agricultural land in the countries in South-Eastern and Central Europe
We present the average monthly air temperature, the annual average temperature, and the long-time monthly average temperature (LTA; Table 1)
Comparing the average monthly air temperature for the 3-year experimental trial with the LTA (2004–2016), we observed that the monthly and annual average temperature recorded in the years 2014 and 2016 are much higher than the LTA, while the values recorded in the year 2015 are closer to the LTA
Summary
The pastoral area of Romania, covering of over 4.8 million ha, has been influenced, over the last decades, by natural and anthropogenic or human factors, which affect the normal functioning of the grassland ecosystem [8]. Among the most important natural factors affecting the primary productivity of grassland ecosystems the climatic (temperature and precipitation) and soil conditions play the most crucial roles. Despite the fact that across much of Europe, the semi-natural grasslands, during the last 50 years, have become increasingly rare, the low intensification levels and the small-scale agriculture (the low-intensity agricultural habitats are one of the most valuable biodiversity sources), have led to the preservation of certain important areas in Romania. The regularly grazed or cut vegetation may contain some of the highest plant densities in Europe, or even in the world and the highest importance should be given to adopting the proper management for these ecosystems [11,12]
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