Molinia Meadows Research Articles

State of the Population of Gladiolus imbricatus L. in a Molinia Meadow after Extensive Management and Abandonment

The abandonment of seminatural Molinia meadows observed in Central and Eastern Europe during the 20th century started the secondary succession and threatened the state and persistence of populations of numerous meadow species. Considering this, the aims of the presented investigations were to study the abundance and selected traits of individuals of Gladiolus imbricatus L. in extensively used (EM) and unmanaged for at least 15 years (UM) Molinia meadows (Southern Poland, Central Europe). Altogether, 125 juvenile individuals, 21 vegetative individuals, and 119 generative individuals of Gladiolus imbricatus were investigated. The field studies showed positive correlation among the height of shoots and other traits of generative individuals in both study patches. Moreover, the greater abundance of population of Gladiolus imbricatus (especially the greater number of juveniles), as well as the greater dimensions of leaf blades, shoots, inflorescence, and number of capsules in the patch UM, indicates the appropriate state of the population. These data indicate a positive influence of abandonment and evolving secondary succession on the Gladiolus imbricatus population within the Molinia meadows.

Tájalakulási folyamatok és a növényzet változása a Gödi-lápréten

The natural values of the fens and moorgrass meadows at Göd became known in the 1980s. The area of almost 70 hectares, previously used for centuries as pasture and meadow, has been isolated by urbanisation and land use has changed over the last three decades, with the ploughing up and conversion into a golf course and the designation of part of the valuable fen and Molinia meadows as nature reserves. These protected areas are well studied from a botanical point of view, even on a national scale, and the trends in vegetation change incet he 1990s are therefore well understood. The aim of this article is to provide a historical overview of the landscape change in the fen and to explore the changes in flora and habitats. The research involved the analysis of historical maps and archival aerial photographs, the evaluation of flora lists from three botanical surveys carried out at 15-year intervals and a comparative analysis of habitat maps using GIS. The results show that the water regime of the studied wetlands is changing, the vegetation is degraded and becoming poorer in fen specialists, while at the same time the increase in habitat diversity has led to an enrichment of the fauna of the studied area.

A review of methodology for grassland restoration and management with practical examples

Currently, the majority of high nature value Slovenian grasslands have an unfavourable conservation status. Based on the available data from habitat type mappings, the surface of high nature value grasslands (6210(*) – semi-natural dry grasslands and scrubland facies on calcareous substrates, 6410 – Molinia meadows, and 6510 – lowland hay meadows) at Natura 2000 sites is decreasing. The existing agri-environment measures have been only partly effective in promoting grassland biodiversity. The main threats to biodiversity are driven by various anthropogenic activities, which result in a continuous change in landscape identity, habitat fragmentation, and ecosystem degradation. Therefore, biodiversity restoration became an urgent step in conservation of high nature value grasslands. Multiple pathways may lead to the ecological restoration of grasslands with an altered, uncharacteristic floristic composition, or grasslands with an unfavourable conservation status. In this paper, we present an overview of the methods used in the restoration of grasslands from different parts of Europe. In an adapted form, these methods could also be used for the restoration of Slovenian grasslands. Grasslands may be left to spontaneous succession, which is mainly suitable for small-scale areas, located in the proximity of grasslands with well-preserved biodiversity. However, to re-establish plant communities with specialist species, a more proactive approach is usually required, such as sowing of regional or commercial seed preservation mixtures, transfer of mature plant material, or topsoil transfer from donor sites with appropriate botanical composition. Grassland restoration methods should be carefully thought-out and carried out before the habitat or species is endangered. We conclude that optimally chosen post-restoration management may have an impact that is comparable or even greater than the impact of a suitable restoration method. Nevertheless, maintenance of well-preserved grasslands is still much more cost-effective than restoration of degraded grasslands.

The Influence of Konik Horses Grazing and Meteorological Conditions on Wetland Communities

Extensive management is one of the methods used in the conservation of fen meadows. The aim of the study was to characterize grassland communities grazed by Konik horses in the Biebrza National Park and to assess the influence of short-term grazing on the sward. During a 3-year period, phytosociological studies, measurements of the sward cover and height, as well as an assessment of the botanical composition of meadows were conducted in places grazed and excluded from grazing. The grasslands were mowed once a year at the turn of July and August, with the exception of mid-forest meadows. The area studied was dominated by communities of the Molinion alliance. Horses kept at a very low stocking rate reduced the height and cover of the sward. In the short-term, weather conditions, especially the duration of floods, had an even greater impact on the species composition of communities than grazing. Therefore, in order to protect the Molinia meadows, apart from extensive mowing, it is necessary to maintain appropriate habitat conditions, especially in terms of controlling the moisture, and conduct its regular monitoring.

Declines in occurrence of plants characteristic for a nutrient-poor meadow habitat are partly explained by their responses to nutrient addition and competition.

Species losses and local extinctions are alarmingly common, frequently as a consequence of habitat destruction. Nevertheless, many intact habitats also face species losses, most likely due to environmental changes. However, the exact drivers, and why they affect some species more than others in apparently intact habitats, are still poorly understood. Addressing these questions requires data on changes in occurrence frequency of many species, and comparisons of the responses of those species to experimental manipulations of the environment. Here, we use historic (1911) and contemporary (2017) data on the presence–absence of 42 plant species in 14 seemingly intact Molinia meadows around Lower Lake Constance to quantify changes in occurrence frequency. Then, we performed a common‐garden experiment to test whether occurrence frequencies in 1911 and changes therein by 2017 could be explained by responses of the 42 species to nutrient addition and competition with the acquisitive generalist grass Poa pratensis. Within the 14 still intact Molinia meadows, 36 of the 42 species had declined since 1911. As expected, nutrient addition generally led to increased biomass production of the 42 target species, and competition with P. pratensis had a negative effect. The latter was stronger at high nutrient availability. The more frequent species were in 1911 and the more they declined in frequency between 1911 and 2017, the less above‐ground biomass they produced in our experiment. Competition with P. pratensis magnified this effect. Our work highlights that environmental change can contribute to local extinction of species in otherwise intact habitat remnants. Specifically, we showed that increased nutrient availability negatively affected formerly widespread Molinia‐meadow species in competition with P. pratensis. Our study thus identified a likely mechanism for the decline in occurrence frequency of species in the remaining Molinia meadows.

Niche differentiation, competition or habitat filtering? Mechanisms explaining co‐occurrence of plant species on wet meadows of high conservation value

AbstractQuestionsDue to the diverse abiotic conditions and the extensive, early‐autumn, manual mowing practiced once per few years, Molinia semi‐natural wet meadows are known for their high plant species diversity. However, recent socio‐economic transformations and land‐use changes (i.e. cessation of use) have been contributing to significant biodiversity loss in Molinia meadows. Thus, understanding the mechanisms of species co‐occurrence patterns operating on well‐developed Molinia meadows may be a precondition for the restoration or regeneration success of this type of vegetation. We aimed to identify community‐level co‐existence patterns of the whole set of plant species typical of Molinia meadows, and to assess the role of co‐occurring vegetation in shaping the performance of individual species.LocationNatura 2000 Special Area of Conservation “Łąki Dąbrowskie” (S Poland).MethodsUsing generalised multiple regression techniques on a set of vegetation traits and components of functional diversity, we assessed the role of different ecological mechanisms in shaping co‐occurrence patterns of the entire group of species typical of Molinia meadows, as well as individual species belonging to this group.ResultsWhen the entire group of Molinia meadow species was taken into account, niche differentiation emerged as the main mechanism influencing the co‐occurrence of plant species. When considering individual species, we revealed that their co‐existence patterns were mostly species‐specific, pointing out the predominant role of either niche differentiation, competition, habitat filtering, or a combination of these three drivers in shaping assembly processes.ConclusionsOur results showed that the variability of niches realised by target species typical of Molinia meadows was high. Therefore, conservation of well‐developed Molinia meadows should focus on both the community, and on a single species level, aiming to maintain a complex of specific microhabitat conditions. Considering small‐size patches of these meadows scattered in a transformed, agricultural landscape, conservation of individual target species should be of the highest priority.

Butterflies of fragmented wet grassland in Western European lowland forests: Effects of vegetation, connectivity and plot size

Habitat fragmentation, as a result of habitat loss and degradation, is widely considered to be a major threat to biodiversity. Our study focused on the distribution, diversity and abundance of butterflies on 22 isolated plots, mainly consisting of wet grassland. The plots were surrounded by deciduous mixed forests and located in an agglomeration area close to Lake Zurich, Switzerland. In addition to vegetation parameters, we assessed structural connectivity, adapted to least cost distances, using digital surface and terrain models. The resulting mixed-effects models revealed on plot level that (1) Molinia meadows had a significantly positive effect on rarefied Simpson butterfly diversity, (2) structural connectivity had a highly significant negative impact on rarefied Simpson butterfly diversity, whereas (3) plot size showed a significant positive impact, and (4) higher butterfly abundance was strongly related to blossom density. Across plot level, Molinia meadows had a higher rarefied butterfly species richness and rarefied Simpson butterfly diversity than any of the other habitat types evaluated. Among the endangered target species, the preferences of the Alcon Blue Phengaris alcon alcon were consistent with (1) to (3), while those of the Marsh Fritillary's E. aurinia aurinia were not. (2) is discussed with regards to the predominant influence of habitat type, vegetation and plot size, relativizing the effect of structural connectivity on butterfly communities in presumably resilient metapopulations. Ongoing targeted maintenance measures in the study area provide a promising basis for the sustainable conservation of local butterfly communities in isolated wet grassland plots.

Fen grassland vegetation under different land uses (Biebrza National Park, Poland)

The majority of European fen grasslands are seminatural and require appropriate management to maintain their high natural value. The research area was located in the middle basin of the Biebrza River Valley, where fen grasslands vegetation was i) grazed by Konik horses, ii) mowed once every 2–4 years, or iii) abandoned for 16 years. The question was as follows: How do different land use types affect the floristic composition and restoration of abandoned fen grasslands? In the examined sites we measured floristic composition and soil physicochemical parameters. The observed changes in the floristic composition resulting from the introduction of the new type of land use were significant and they occurred in a relatively short period of time. With the cessation of mowing for 16 years, the intermittently wet Molinia meadows were replaced by trees and shrubs of alder woodlands (Alnetea glutinosae class), and the plant species diversity significantly decreased. The mowing of the Molinion meadows once every 2–4 years proved to be sufficient to prevent the encroachment of trees, but it was not enough to stop the expansion of Molinia caerulea. In the site grazed with Konik horses for 13 years, the primary fen grassland vegetation (Scheuchzerio-Caricetea nigrae) was replaced by species of low, trampled swards and intermittently wet meadows (Molinio-Arrhenatheretea class). The soils under all of the sites differing in the land use type were classified as Eutric Rheic Hemic Histosols. They were typical peatland soils, slightly acidic to neutral. The results of the soil analyses indicate the high natural states of the studied areas and that their extensive use only slightly affected their physicochemical properties. Greater soil bulk density was noticed under the pasture than under the abandoned and mowed sites, but the extensive grazing of Konik horses caused only a slight increase in volumetric density to 0.19 g cm−3. Our results show that on both the mowed and the grazed sites, the content of soil organic matter and soil organic carbon was higher than that on the abandoned site. In the mowed part as well as in the grazed part, long-lasting monitoring of the effects of the management strategies used on vegetation and soil properties is still needed.

An expert system as an applied tool for the conservation of semi-natural grasslands on the Iberian Peninsula

Semi-natural grasslands have an important conservation value in Europe but have been in continuous decline since the early twentieth century. Valuable and well-preserved semi-natural grasslands must be identified in order to plan conservation and restoration strategies. The main aim of this paper is to develop an expert system based on diagnostic species for the identification and assessment of EU semi-natural grasslands using a dataset of 3238 vegetation plots from the Iberian Peninsula (Portugal and Spain, including the French Pyrenees). The dataset was obtained by stratified resampling of a larger dataset of 12,204 vegetation plots containing other related grasslands and herbaceous vegetation types. We applied a k-means classification on the resampled dataset and selected the diagnostic species for each group of EU semi-natural grasslands in order to develop an expert classification system with definitions based on their species composition and biogeographic distribution. The expert-based classification was applied to 14 vegetation subtypes belonging to semi-natural grasslands in the Habitats Directive, corresponding to semi-dry calcareous grasslands (Habitat 6210), Nardus grasslands (6230), hay meadows (6510, 6520) and Molinia meadows on peaty soils (6410). We provide a practical and easy tool for the identification, monitoring and assessment of EU semi-natural grasslands on the Iberian Peninsula.

The t-SNE Algorithm as a Tool to Improve the Quality of Reference Data Used in Accurate Mapping of Heterogeneous Non-Forest Vegetation

Supervised classification methods, used for many applications, including vegetation mapping require accurate “ground truth” to be effective. Nevertheless, it is common for the quality of this data to be poorly verified prior to it being used for the training and validation of classification models. The fact that noisy or erroneous parts of the reference dataset are not removed is usually explained by the relatively high resistance of some algorithms to errors. The objective of this study was to demonstrate the rationale for cleaning the reference dataset used for the classification of heterogeneous non-forest vegetation, and to present a workflow based on the t-distributed stochastic neighbor embedding (t-SNE) algorithm for the better integration of reference data with remote sensing data in order to improve outcomes. The proposed analysis is a new application of the t-SNE algorithm. The effectiveness of this workflow was tested by classifying three heterogeneous non-forest Natura 2000 habitats: Molinia meadows (Molinion caeruleae; code 6410), species-rich Nardus grassland (code 6230) and dry heaths (code 4030), employing two commonly used algorithms: random forest (RF) and AdaBoost (AB), which, according to the literature, differ in their resistance to errors in reference datasets. Polygons collected in the field (on-ground reference data) in 2016 and 2017, containing no intentional errors, were used as the on-ground reference dataset. The remote sensing data used in the classification were obtained in 2017 during the peak growing season by a HySpex sensor consisting of two imaging spectrometers covering spectral ranges of 0.4–0.9 μm (VNIR-1800) and 0.9–2.5 μm (SWIR-384). The on-ground reference dataset was gradually cleaned by verifying candidate polygons selected by visual interpretation of t-SNE plots. Around 40–50% of candidate polygons were ultimately found to contain errors. Altogether, 15% of reference polygons were removed. As a result, the quality of the final map, as assessed by the Kappa and F1 accuracy measures as well as by visual evaluation, was significantly improved. The global map accuracy increased by about 6% (in Kappa coefficient), relative to the baseline classification obtained using random removal of the same number of reference polygons.

The effect of harvest date and the chemical characteristics of biomass from Molinia meadows on methane yield

Molinia meadows are seminatural habitats of Natura 2000, and their continued existence is heavily dependent on human activities. The aim of the present study was to determine the effect of the harvest time of meadow biomass originating from Molinia meadows on the methane yield. After 35 days of conducting batch digestion tests, the average methane yield was found to be slightly different over the course of four biomass harvest dates: at the end of May, 221 ± 8 NL CH4 kg−1 VS; at the beginning of July, 211 ± 21 NL CH4 kg−1 VS; at the end of July, 200 ± 8 NL CH4 kg−1 VS and on September 1, 197 ± 2 NL CH4 kg−1 VS. During the initial stages of batch fermentation, a higher methane yield was obtained from the biomass harvested at the end of May. This biomass was characterised by higher contents of N, P and K, as well as a lower C:N ratio and reduced Ca and cellulose content. Relative to the content of elements and cellulose as well as the C:N ratio observed, significant correlations were found for methane yields from biomass obtained between the fourth and eighth days of batch digestion. It was determined that the average methane yield on a per hectare basis for the harvested biomass differed depending on the harvest date under investigation. The use of biomass from Molinia meadows for biogas production has the potential to become an important factor in the environmental protection of this type of habitat.

Availability of food resources for pollinators in three types of lowland meadows

The availability of floral resources is considered a key factor for the maintenance and conservation of pollinators. We compared the forage floral diversity of three types of lowland meadows (Molinia meadows, tall herb fringe meadows, and hay meadows) located in south eastern Poland. The total number of plant species was 125, including 84 species (67.2%) classified as plants visited by insects. The richness and diversity of forage flora differed between the types of meadow. The Molinia meadows and hay meadows were preferred by pollinators. However, different taxonomic groups of pollinators can respond to the variability and availability of floral resources in a different way. Molinia meadows are of particular importance for the abundance of Bombus spp., solitary bees, and flies. The RDA ordination model demonstrated that the floral community composition, plant species abundance, plant species richness, and floral attributes (size, shape, phenology) were all important for the abundance of insect visitors in the mosaic of meadows. The cluster analysis showed that most plant species were visited by similar groups of insects; however, their proportion differed considerably. Our results present arguments for inclusion of semi-natural meadows into conservation plans and for efforts of protection of highly effective floral resources aimed at maintenance of pollinators.

Měkkýši Národní přírodní památky Hrabanovská černava (střední Čechy) [Molluscs of the Hrabanovská černava National Nature Monument (Central Bohemia)

The Hrabanovská černava National Nature Monument is one of the most valuable wetland areas in Central Bohemia. It comprises diverse wetland habitats such as small pools, littorals, fens with Carex vegetation, and Molinia meadows with willows located on calcareous (lacustrine chalk) sediments along with xerotherm lawns and Festuca meadows on the remnants of sand dunes. This study compares all unpublished malacological data with the first general research of this area and accesses a combined species list of malacofauna from all habitats. Recently, there are 40 species of molluscs recorded, including very abundant population of the fen snail Vertigo angustior and unique populations of two endangered freshwater molluscs Planorbis carinatus and Pisidium pseudosphaerium, both having very rare occurrence in the Czech Republic. The presence of sparsely occurred Vallonia enniensis, Vertigo antivertigo and Euconulus praticola is also remarkable. This paper confirms the special quality of the Hrabanovská černava National Nature Monument as precious refuge for wetland molluscs in the Czech Republic.

Conservation status and trends in the transformation of Molinia meadows in the Łąki w Komborni Natura 2000 site, SE Poland

The aim of this study was to provide a phytosociological and ecological characterization of meadow communities in the Łąki w Komborni Natura 2000 site (SE Poland), assess the trends in their transformation, and indicate the major threats impacting on their conservation. The study was conducted in 2015–2016. Three types of meadow communities were distinguished (alliances <em>Molinion</em>, <em>Arrhenatherion</em>, <em>Filipendulion</em>), due to the absence of the species characteristic for associations. The species richness noted per relevé differed significantly between the types of meadows (Kruskal–Wallis test: <em>H</em> = 21.65, <em>p</em> < 0.05). The highest floristic biodiversity (<em>H</em>' = 2.99) was noted for the meadow patches classified as in the <em>Molinion</em> alliance and the lowest (<em>H</em>' = 2.50) was found for the patches from the <em>Filipendulion</em> alliance. Mean values of the ecological indicators (F, R, N) differed between the meadow communities. The greatest disparity was noted for the mean values of the soil moisture indicator (from 6.42 to 7.45). Patches classified in the <em>Filipendulion</em> alliance were developed on the wettest soil substratum, whereas the patches classified in the <em>Arrhenatherion</em> alliance were predominant on a relatively dry substratum. The abandonment of traditional management practices (grazing, mowing) has contributed to transformation of the <em>Molinia</em> meadows, disappearance of characteristic species and succession of shrubs. The <em>Molinia</em> meadow habitat should be conserved by improvement of protection measures (appropriate mowing regime and removal of biomass) to conserve a high species richness and the rare and protected plant species.

Impact of plant invasion (Solidago gigantea L.) on soil mesofauna in a riparian wet meadows

Invasive plants are known to have significant impacts on habitat structure and abiotic properties of the soil, and can noticeably modify soil animal community composition, diversity and function. We studied the effects of environmental change induced by an intercontinental, exotic invasive plant, Solidago gigantea L., on the resident Collembola and Protura communities at the species level, abundance of the soil mesofaunal communities at a coarse taxonomic level (Collembola, Protura, Oribatida, Gamasida, Actinedida) and abundance of the major trophic guilds (detritivores and predators). This research was conducted in an extended complex of riparian Molinia meadows in the upper Vistula drainage basin, SE Poland. Soil properties and soil mesofaunal communities were compared between Molinia meadow patches in well-established S. gigantea-invaded sites (about 20 years old) and uninvaded patches of Molinia meadows. Our results showed significant invader effects on soil properties such as pH. Collembola communitiy composition, in contrast to Protura communities, were significantly different between invaded vs. uninvaded meadows. Soil mesofaunal communities as measured by abundance of the major taxa were not altered, and relative abundance of detritivores and predators remained the same. The study shows that observed changes in soil properties induced by invasive plants can have a moderate effect on soil mesofaunal diversity and structure, primarily with regard to Collembola community composition, and a weak effect on modifications of the trophic structure.

Mycorrhizal status of selected herbaceous plants in Molinia meadows of Folusz, near Szubin (Poland)

This preliminary study examined the arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) status of native plant species in the Molinia meadows of Folusz in the Kujawy region, Poland. Root samples from ten plant species characteristic of Molinia meadows ( Betonica officinalis , Dianthus superbus , Galium boreale , Inula salicina , Ostericum palustre , Sanguisorba officinalis , Selinum carvifolia , Serratula tinctoria , Silaum silaus , and Succisa pratensis ) were collected in August 2014. Root colonization by AM fungi was considered an indicator of symbiosis development. AM was found in all plant species examined. The frequency of mycorrhizal structures ranged between 68% and 99%. The intensity of mycorrhizal colonization in roots varied with the plant species, ranging between 3.9% ( O. palustre ) and 40.1% ( B. officinalis ). To our knowledge, this is the first study to examine the mycorrhizal status of three species: D. superbus , O. palustre , S. carvifolia . Because AM colonization depends on plant genotype and environmental factors, further studies should examine seasonal variability in plant root colonization and the compositions of AM fungal communities, which may serve as indicators of site conditions

Current state and changes in Molinion meadows from Kostrze environs in Kraków

The study was carried out in the Kostrze housing estate in Krakow. In the 2015 vegetation season, 35 releves were taken with the Braun-Blanquet method. The aim of the study was to compile the current characteristics of the vegetation in intermittently wet Molinia meadows and to identify changes that occurred within 25 years. The analysed meadow stands comprised 129 species of vascular plants. The releves showed the presence of 17-50 species (on average 36). The characteristic species exhibited high abundance and high degrees of constancy. In total, 16 characteristic species of the alliance Molinion were recorded. Molinia caerulea , Galium boreale , and Sanguisorba officinalis were the dominant species in a majority of the analysed stands. The average number of species occurring in the purple moor-grass meadows in Kostrze is currently higher than 25 years ago (an increase from 28 to 36). The list of characteristic species has not changed substantially (three new species were noted: Betonica officinalis , Carex tomentosa , and Ophioglossum vulgatum ), and the differences in the floristic composition are mainly related to sporadic species. Abandonment of land use triggered succession and a decline in the surface area of the analysed meadows. Therefore, species characteristic for other habitats, primarily tree and shrub seedlings as well as expansive grasses ( Calamagrostis epigejos , Phragmites australis ) have appeared in these meadow stands.

Classification of Molinia meadows in Poland using a hierarchical expert system

Classification of Molinia meadows in Poland using a hierarchical expert system

Changes in the plant cover of the dune hill in Folusz near Szubin (NW Poland) between 1959 and 2012: the problem of preservation of xerothermic grasslands in the agricultural landscape

The dune hill in Folusz is one of the most interesting sites with xerothermic vegetation in the Polish lowland. It is different from other sites by the fact that xerothermic vegetation covers a single dune located amidst large areas of Molinia meadows rather than slopes of river valleys. Vegetation occurring on the hill represents a cold Stipa steppe with rare species of floodplain meadows and has long aroused the interest of botanists. In the 19th century and in the early 20th century, observations in this area were carried out by German botanists (L. Kuhling, F. Spribille, H. Miller, W. Bock). In the 1930s, the investigation was continued by botanists from the University in Poznan. After World War II, it was one of the main research sites for botanists and ecologists from the University in Torun, and recently also from the universities in Bydgoszcz. Floristic lists were compiled by all the aforementioned researchers, which describe the state of flora in the subsequent periods, and when collated in tables, they help to determine the directions of changes occurring in the area over a hundred years. Not all the materials obtained in the past were published. A lot of interesting data were preserved in the Torun centre in the form of actual vegetation maps and releves. This paper presents the comparison of vegetation from 1959, plotted on the unpublished vegetation map by J. Wilkon-Michalska, with the vegetation in 2013. Changes in the land cover were also analysed through a series of aerial photographs from 1961, 1975, 1986 and 2005. The GIS and GPS technology was used in the spatial analysis. Furthermore, the analysis of flora changes was performed, including the comparison of data presented in ecological literature with unpublished data collected by J. Wilkon-Michalska in 1956-1964. In addition, numerical analysis of releves from both these periods and from 2012 was performed. The objective of all the analyses was to determine how the changes were affected by spontaneous development of oak trees on the dune and destructive human activity related to exploitation of the sand, afforestation of the dune with pine, birch and oak, and planting of common lilac. An effort was also made to assess the importance of including the Folusz dune hill within the Natura 2000 site − PLH040027 „Molinia meadows in Folusz” − for preventing further degradation of xerothermic vegetation.

Hydroperiod and Traditional Farming Practices Drive Plant Community Composition on Unregulated Atlantic Floodplain Meadows

The River Shannon, Ireland, among the last unregulated rivers in western Europe, has extensive floodplains and supports rare and endangered species and habitats, of ecological and cultural importance. Unregulated floodplains result in community composition responding directly to natural fluctuations in water level. This study assesses how hydrological factors and farming practices effect flood meadow plant communities. Three main plant communities were identified, forming an uninterrupted ecotone, along a gradient of dry to wet. Habitats of European conservation interest (Lowland Hay Meadows and Molinia Meadows) were well represented. Hydroperiod, calculated using microtopographical measurements, was the primary factor determining community composition and was negatively correlated with elevation and plant species richness. The botanical continuum comprised a range of insect-pollinated species, demonstrating the role of floodplains in providing pollinator services. Climate change projections indicate more prolonged winter flooding in the future, signifying potential range shifts for these plant species and communities; highlighting the need for appropriate conservation measures in the surrounding landscape. Low-intensity farming practices, with minimal fertiliser use and regular hay-mowing, played an essential, secondary role in maintaining plant species diversity. Retaining the floodplain topography, its associated hydrological regime and low-intensity farming practices, are necessary to maintain species diversity and ecosystem services.