Dry heathland restoration in the Zlatnice Nature Reserve (Czech Republic): An assessment of the effectiveness of grazing and sod-cutting
Keywords:
Calluna vulgaris, heather, moss, open landscape, sheep grazing, woody encroachmentAbstract
The vegetation of low-altitude dry heathlands in Central Europe (Euphorbio cyparissiae-Callunion vulgaris) has declined because the abandonment of traditional management has resulted in gradual overgrowth by woody species and because nutrient inputs have changed. Low-intensity grazing and sod-cutting, which are traditionally recommended to regenerate heather (Calluna vulgaris) vegetation from the seed bank, were introduced to restore stands of heather that had disappeared. The study was conducted in the Zlatnice Nature Reserve, located in the northwestern part of Prague (Czech Republic). A system of 1 m² permanent plots was used to collect the data. Both grazing and sod-cutting were effective for the restoration of the Calluna vulgaris vegetation. During the two years after the introduction of grazing, the greatest increase in the heather cover occurred in the grazed areas. The heather cover in the areas managed by sod-cutting started to increase significantly in the third year following the removal of sods and reached values comparable with the grazed areas. Regular grazing hindered the increase in the cover of herbs; the increase in the herb cover was higher after single sodcutting. Sod-cutting facilitated the expansion of mosses. The experiment suggests that non-intensive sheep and goat grazing is most likely the most appropriate tool to restore dry heathland on shallow poor soils when more than 20 years have elapsed since the disappearance of the heathland. The use of sod-cutting itself is more demanding and brings a higher risk of overgrowth by unwanted herbs and woody species, resulting in repeated degradation of the Calluna vulgaris vegetation.Downloads
References
Antrop, M. 2005: Why landscapes of the past are important for the future. Landscape and Urban Planning 70(1): 21–34.
Ascoli, D. & Bovio, G. 2010: Tree encroachment dynamics in heathlands of North-west Italy: the fire regime hypothesis. iForest 3: 137–143.
Ascoli, D., Lonati, M., Marzano, R., Bovio, G., Cavallero, A. & Lombardi, G. 2013: Prescribed burning and browsing to control tree encroachment in southern European heathlands. Forest Ecology and Management 289: 69–77.
Böhnert, W. & Hempel, W. 1987. Nutzungs- und Pflegehinweise fuer die geschützte Vegetation des Graslandes und der Zwergstrauchheiden Sachsens. Naturschutzarbeit in Sachsen 29: 3–14.
Bokdam, J. & Gleichman, J. M. 2000: Effects of grazing by free ranging cattle on vegetation dynamics in a continental north west European heathland. Journal of Applied Ecology 37: 415–431.
Borghesio, L. 2009: Effects of fire on the vegetation of a lowland heathland in North-western Italy. Plant Ecology 201: 723–731.
Bossuyt, B. & Hermy, M. 2003: The potential of soil seedbanks in the ecological restoration of grassland and heathland communities. Belgian Journal of Botany 136: 23–34.
Britton, A. J., Marrs, R. H., Carey, P. D. & Pakeman, R. J. 2000: comparison of techniques to increase Calluna vulgaris cover on heathland invaded by grasses in Breckland, south east England. Biological Conservation 95: 227–232.
Bruggink, M. 1993: Seed bank, germination, and establishment of ericaceous and gramineous species in heathlands. In Aerts, R. & Heil, G. W (eds.): Heathlands. Patterns and Processes in a Changing Environment. Springer Netherlands, pp. 153–180.
Bullock, J. M. & Pakeman, R. J. 1997: Grazing of lowland heath in England: management methods and their effects on healthland vegetation. Biological Conservation 79: 1–13.
Chantal, M., Kuuluvainen, T., Lindberg, H. & Vanha-Majamaa, I. 2005: Early regeneration of Populus tremula from seed after forest restoration with fire. Scandinavian Journal of Forest Research 20: 33–42.
Chauchard, S., Carcaillet, C. & Guibal, F. 2007: Patterns of land-use abandonment control tree-recruitment and forest dynamics in mediterranean mountains. Ecosystems 10: 936–948.
Chytrý, M. (ed.) 2007: Vegetace České republiky. 1. Travinná a keříčková vegetace [Vegetation of the Czech Republic. 1 Grassland and Heathland Vegetation]. Academia, Praha, 526 pp.
Davies, G. M., Smith, A. A., MacDonald, A. J., Bakker, J. D. & Legg, C. G. 2010: Fire intensity, fire severity and ecosystem response in heathlands, factors affecting the regeneration of Calluna vulgaris. Journal of Applied Ecology 47: 356–365.
De Graaf, M. C. C., Bobbink, R., Smits, N. A. C., Van Diggelen, R. & Roelofs, J. G. M. 2009: Biodiversity, vegetation gradients and key biochemical processes in the heathland landscape. Biological Conservation 142: 2191–2201.
Diaz, A., Green, I. & Tibbett, M. 2008: Re-creation of heathland on improved pasture using top soil removal and sulphur amendments: Edaphic drivers and impacts on ericoid mycorrhizas. Biological Conservation 141: 1628–1635.
Diemont, W. H. & Homan, H. L. 1989: Re-establishment of dominance by dwarf shrubs on grass heaths. Vegetatio 85: 13–19.
Diemont, W. H., Heijman, W. J. M., Siepel, H. & Webb, N. R. (eds.) 2013: Economy and ecology of heathlands. KNNV Publishing, Zeist, The Netherlands, 462 pp.
Dostálek, J. & Frantík, T. 2008: Dry grassland plant diversity conservation using low-intensity sheep and goat grazing management: case study in Prague (Czech Republic). Biodiversity and Conservation 17:1439–1454.
Dostálek, J. & Frantík, T. 2012: The Impact of Different Grazing Periods in Dry Grasslands on the Expansive Grass Arrhenatherum elatius L. and on Woody Species. Environmental Management 49: 855–861.
Fagúndez, J. 2013: Heathlands confronting global change: drivers of biodiversity loss from past to future scenarios. Annals of Botany 111: 151–172.
Gallet, S. & Roze, F. 2001. Conservation of heathland by sheep grazing in Brittany (France): importance of grazing period on dry and mesophilous heathlands. Ecological Engineering 17: 333–344.
Garbarino, M., Lingua, E., Subira, M. M. & Motta, R. 2011: The larch wood pasture: structure and dynamics of a cultural landscape. European Journal of Forest Research 130: 491–502.
Gimingham, C. H. 1960: Biological flora of the British Isles. Calluna Salisb. A monotypic genus. Calluna vulgaris (L.) Hull. Journal of Ecology 40: 455–483.
Gimingham, C. H. 1972: Ecology of heathlands. Chapman and Hall, London.
Gimingham, C. H. 1994: Lowland heaths of West Europe: Management for conservation. Phytocoenologia 24: 615–626.
Harris, M. P. K., Allen, K. A., McAllister, H. A., Eyre G., Le Duc, M. G., & Marrs, R. H. 2011: Factors affecting moorland plant communities and component species in relation to prescribed burning. Journal of Applied Ecology 48: 1411–1421.
Heil, G. W. & Diemont, W. H. 1983: Raised nutrient levels change heathland into grassland. Vegetatio 53: 113–120.
Hobbs, R. J. & Legg, C. J. 1983: Markov models and initial floristic composition in heathland vegetation dynamics. Vegetatio 56: 31–43.
Hodgson, J. 1979: Nomenclature and definitions in grazing studies. Grass and Forage Science 34: 1–18.
Hooftman, D. A. P. & Bullock, J. M. 2012: Mapping to inform conservation: A case study of changes in semi-natural habitats and their connectivity over 70 years. Biological Conservation 145: 30–38.
Hulme, P. D., Merrell, B. G., Torvell, L., Fisher, J. M., Small, J. L. & Pakeman, R. J. 2002: Rehabilitation of degraded Calluna vulgaris (L.) Hull-dominated wet heath by controlled sheep grazing. Biological Conservation 107: 351–363.
Jacquemyn, H., Van Mechelen, C., Brys, R. & Honnay, O. 2011: Management effects on the vegetation and soil seed bank of calcareous grasslands: An 11-year experiment. Biological Conservation 144: 416–422.
Klein, S., Jäger, U. G. & Tischew, S. 2009: Anwendung von Feuer zur Pflege und Erhaltung von Heidekraut-Trockenrasen-Komplexen in der Porphyrkuppenlandschaft des unteren Saaletals. Hercynia N.F. 42: 217–238.
Krahulec, F., Skálová, H., Herben, T., Hadincová, V., Wildová, R. & Pecháčková, S. 2001: Vegetation changes following sheep grazing in abandoned mountain meadows. Applied Vegetation Science 4: 97–102.
Kubát, K., Hrouda, L., Chrtek, J. jun., Kaplan, Z., Kirschner, J. & Štěpánek, J. (eds.), 2002: Klíč ke květeně České republiky [Key to the Flora of the Czech Republic]. Academia, Praha.
Kubíková, J. 1982: Chráněná území Šáreckého údolí a jejich současná vegetace [Nature reserves of Šárecké valley and their actual vegetation]. Natura Pragensis 1: 5–70.
Kubíková, J., Ložek, V., Špryňar, P. et al. 2005: Chráněná území ČR, XII. Praha. [Protected areas of Czech Republic, XII. Prague]. Agentura ochrany přírody a krajiny ČR, Praha, 304 pp.
Legg, C. J., Maltby, E. & Proctor, M. C. F. 1992: The ecology of severe moorland fire on the North York Moors: seed distribution and seedling establishment of Calluna vulgaris. Journal of Ecology 80: 737–752.
Mallik, A. U., Hobbs, R. J. & Legg, C. J. 1984: Seed dynamics in Calluna-Arctostaphylos heath in north-eastern Scotland. Journal of Ecology 72: 855–871.
Manning, P., Putwain, P. D. & Webb N. R. 2004: Identifying and modeling the determinants of woody plant invasion of lowland heath. Journal of Ecology 92: 868–881.
Måren, I. E. & Vandvik, V. 2009: Fire and regeneration: the role of seed banks in the dynamics of northern heathlands. Journal of Vegetation Science 20: 871–888.
Måren, I. E., Janovský Z., Spindelböck, J. P., Daws, M. I., Kaland, P. E. & Vandvik, V. 2010: Prescribed burning of northern heathlands, Calluna vulgaris germination cues and seedbank dynamics. Plant Ecology 207: 245–256.
Mitchell, R. J., Rose, R. J. & Palmer, S. C. 2008: Restoration of Calluna vulgaris on grass-dominated moorlands: The importance of disturbance, grazing and seeding. Biological Conservation 141: 2100–2111.
Mohamed, A., Härdtle, W., Jirjahn, B., Niemeyer, T. & Oheimb, G. 2006: Effects of prescribed burning on plant available nutrients in dry heathland ecosystems. Plant Ecology 189: 279–289.
Moravec, J. & Neuhäusl, R. (eds.) 1991: Přirozená vegetace území hlavního města Prahy a její rekonstrukční mapa [Natural vegetation of the territory of the capital city Prague and its reconstruction map]. Academia, Praha, 200 pp.
Mugion, L. G. 1996: Vegetation aspects of Calluna heathlands in the western Po plain (Turin, NW Piedmont, Italy). Alliona 34: 343–348.
Newton, A. C., Stewart, G. B., Myers, G., Diaz, A., Lake, S., Bullock, J. M. & Pullin, A. S. 2009: Impacts of grazing on lowland heathland in north-west Europe. Biological Conservation 142: 935–947.
Niemeyer, M., Niemeyer, T., Fottner, S., Härdtle, W. & Mohamed, A. 2007: Impact of sod-cutting and choppering on nutrient budgets of dry heathlands. Biological Conservation 134: 344–353.
Pakeman, R. J., Hulme, P. D., Torvell, L. & Fisher, J. M. 2003: Rehabilitation of degraded dry heather Calluna vulgaris (L.) Hull moorland by controlled sheep grazing. Biological Conservation 114: 389–400.
Plieninger, T., Höchtl, F. & Spek, T. 2006: Traditional land-use and nature conservation in European rural landscapes. Environmental Science & Policy 9: 317–321.
Pywell, R. F., Meek, W. R., Webb, N. R., Putwain, P. D. & Bullock, J. M. 2011: Long-term heathland restoration on former grassland: the results of a 17-year experiment. Biological Conservation 1445: 1602–1609.
Pywell, R. F., Pakeman, R. J., Allchin, E. A., Bourn, N. A. D., Warman, E. A. & Walker, K. J. 2002: The potential for lowland heath regeneration following plantation removal. Biological Conservation 108: 247–258.
Pywell, R. F., Webb, N. R. & Putwain, P. D. 1995: A comparison of techniques for restoring heathland on abandoned farmland. Journal of Applied Ecology 32: 400–411.
Rego, R. P., Rodríguez Guitián, M. A., López Castro, H., Ferreiro da Costa, J. & Muñoz Sobrino, C. 2013: Loss of European dry heaths in NW Spain: A case study. Diversity 5: 557–580.
Rosén, E. 1995: Periodic droughts and lon-term dynamics of alvar grassland vegetation on Öland, Sweden. Folia Geobotanica et Phytotaxonomica 30: 131–140.
Schubert, R. 1960: Die zwergstrauchreichen azidophilen Pflanzengesellschaften Mitteldeutschlands. Pflanzensoziologie 11: 1–235.
Sedláková, I. & Chytrý, M. 1999: Regeneration patterns in a Central European dry heathland: effects of burning, sod-cutting and cutting. Plant Ecology 143: 77–87.
ter Braak, C. J. F. & Šmilauer, P. 1998: CANOCO References Manual and Usery’s Guide to Canoco for Windows. Software for Canonical Community Ordination (Version 4). Wageningen: Centre of Biometry.
Valkó, O., Török, P., Deák, B. & Tóthmérész, B. 2014: Prospects and limitations of prescribed burning as a management tool in European grasslands. Basic and Applied Ecology 15: 26–33.
Vandvik, V., Heedgaard, E., Maren, I. E. & Aarestad, P. A. 2005: Managing heterogeneity, the importance of grazing and environmental variation on post-fire succession in heathlands. Journal of Applied Ecology 42: 139–149.
Van Rheenen, J. W., Werger, M. J. A., Bobbink, R., Daniels, F. J. A. & Mulders, W. H. M. 1995: Short-term accumulation of organic matter and nutrient contents in two dry sand ecosystems. Vegetatio 120: 161–171.
Walter, H. & Lieth, H. 1960–1967: Klimadiagram-Weltatlas. Jena.
Weijtmans, K., Jongejans, E. & van Ruijven, J. 2009: Sod cutting and soil biota effects on seedling performance. Acta Oecologica 35: 651–656.
Werger, M. J. A., Prentice, I. C. & Helsper, H. P. H. 1985: The effect of sod-cutting to different depths on Calluna heathland regeneration. Journal of Environmental Management 20: 181–188.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Authors guarantee that the work is their own original creation and does not infringe any statutory or common-law copyright or any proprietary right of any third party. In case of claims by third parties, authors commit their self to defend the interests of the publisher, and shall cover any potential costs.
More in: Submission chapter
