Regeneration of the rare meadow species Iris sibirica in a postcultural land

Abstract

ABSTRACT Investigations aimed at assessing agricultural activity in Molinia meadow and subsequent land abandonment on the species composition of plant cover, habitat characteristics, as well as regeneration of the Iris sibirica population were conducted in the year 2018 in the Gielniów Hummock (Southern Poland, Central Europe). The observations were carried out on two meadow complexes 1) subjected to disturbance by removal of plant cover, four-year cultivation of Zea mays L. (called postcultural meadow) and 2) unmanaged from at least 15 years (called abandoned meadow). In the abandoned meadow, advanced secondary succession was observed, while in the postcultural meadow the regeneration of meadow species inter alia Iris sibirica was noticed. The population of the aforementioned taxon presumably regenerated thanks to seedling recruitment and subsequent vegetative growth of juvenile individuals. The abundance of the population Iris sibirica was greater in the postcultural meadow. The number of leaf rosettes was greater in the abandoned meadow. The number of previous and current-year generative stems, as well as the number and dimensions of capsules, were similar in both study sites. The lower height of the leaves and generative stems of Iris sibirica in the postcultural meadow might be caused by the low height of plant cover and the lack of necessity of competition for light with neighbouring species. The obtained results lead to the promising conclusion that populations of endangered species Iris sibirica might regenerate in habitat of postcultural meadow, if not strongly destroyed (e.g. habitat of short-lived cultivation of annual species without pesticides).