Re-establishment of alvar plant species in abandoned arable fields on Öland

Abstract

In the past, arable fields were established locally on the alvar on Oland. Several persisted until the present time, but some of them were abandoned shorter or longer ago. We found a series of arable fields forming a chronosequence: still cultivated, ca. 20 years abandoned, ca. 50 years abandoned, and never cultivated. Species of man-influenced habitats gradually disappeared from the former arable fields, but a few persisted after 50 years. A group of alvar species had re-established after 20 years, but others did not re-establish even after 50 years of abandonment, although they are present in the local species pool. We found no evidence of dispersal as a constraint for re-establishment.