Abstract
Linear landscape elements, such as those colonized by roadside vegetation maintained by regular mowing, are recognized as key habitats for semi-natural grassland plant species. This study aimed to find out whether forest edge vegetation along roads mowed twice a year could be comparable to those of semi-natural grassland by focusing on compositions of grassland plant species classified by several plant traits like flowering season. A total of 37 typical grassland species were recorded and 27 species among them occurred in the forest edge vegetation along roads. The average grassland species richness and the abundance of early summer and summer flowering grassland species were significantly lower in the forest edge vegetation than semi-natural grassland. Nevertheless, the linear landscape element such as forest edge vegetation along roads might have functioned as habitats for many native grassland species under the condition of regular mowing for traffic safety reason. Grassland species diversity in forest edge vegetation may be enhanced by more suitable mowing regime, and contribute to conservation and restoration of semi-natural grassland communities especially in highly fragmented agricultural landscapes.
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