Abstract
European farmland has been abandoned at an unprecedented rate over the last few decades, resulting in an increase of the area of fallows and a decrease in plant diversity in meadows. This work was aimed at determining whether differences in the persistence and plant diversity of the two ecosystem types, similar in plant biomass and geographical location, resulted in changes in soil physicochemical properties. Soil physicochemical properties and floristic composition were studied in six fallows at the initial stage of secondary succession and six fresh meadows with high plant diversity. Fallow soils had several-fold higher content of available phosphorus, potassium and nitrates. Meadow soils had a slightly higher C:N ratio and water-holding capacity (WHC), what suggest more humus in meadow soil. The main differences in soil properties between meadows and fallows were after-effects of agricultural management, most probably previous fertilization. The difference in the C:N ratio and WHC can be attributed to ecosystem ages. Abandoned farmlands had relatively good nutrient supply but low species diversity. Meadows, though depleted in available nutrients, showed high floristic richness. The legumes, which were more abundant in meadows, might have supplemented this ecosystem with the limiting N.
Highlights
Recent decades have witnessed large changes in land use in Europe
The difference in the C:N ratio and water-holding capacity (WHC) can be attributed to ecosystem ages
The fallows in this study are typical young fallows, most probably farm fields abandoned a few years ago. They are characterized by significant dominance of a few species, especially Elymus repens and less frequently Holcus mollis, Ranunculus repens or Armoracia rusticana and Poa trivialis (Supplementary Material 1)
Summary
Recent decades have witnessed large changes in land use in Europe. During the transformation from communism to capitalism in Central and Eastern Europe, agricultural production became less profitable and much farmland was left without management. In other European countries, farm fields are deserted due to natural constrains, soil erosion, socio-economic factors, demographic changes and institutional framework, as summarized by the FAO (Renwick et al 2013). The predicted and ongoing abandonment of farmland affects mainly areas less suitable for farming: mountain areas (Alps, Apennines, Pyrenees, Harz Mountains, Elbe Sandstone mountains, Ore Mountains, and to a lesser extent the Carpathians), more northern latitudes (Sweden, Finland) and some other areas such as the Massif Central in France, the Thuringian Forest in Germany, the German/Czech border, and northwestern Iberia (Keenleyside and Tucker 2010). European farmland has been abandoned at an unprecedented rate over the last few decades, resulting in an increase of the area of fallows and a decrease in plant diversity in meadows. This work was aimed at determining whether differences in the persistence and plant diversity of the two ecosystem types, similar in plant biomass and geographical location, resulted in changes in soil physicochemical properties
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