Topsoil removal in degraded open sandy grasslands: can we restore threatened vegetation fast?

Klára Řehounková; Ivana Jongepierová; Lenka Šebelíková; Kamila Vítovcová; Karel Prach

doi:10.1111/rec.13188

journal article Sep 29, 2020

Topsoil removal in degraded open sandy grasslands: can we restore threatened vegetation fast?

Klára Řehounková

Ivana Jongepierová Lenka Šebelíková

Kamila Vítovcová

Karel Prach

Restoration Ecology Vol. 29 No. S1 · Wiley

View at Publisher Save 10.1111/rec.13188

Abstract

Natural open inland sandy grasslands are a highly threatened habitat in Europe. The originally nutrient‐poor habitats have been affected by increased aerial N‐deposition and the spread of competitively strong plants. We investigated the restoration of degraded psammophilous vegetation in the southeastern part of the Czech Republic, central Europe, where the competitively strong grass Calamagrostis epigejos had formed a compact cover over many hectares formerly dominated by valuable psammophilous grasslands. To expose nutrient‐poor sand, the upper nutrient‐rich layer was scraped off down to a depth of 10–30 cm. Vegetation was recorded by phytosociological relevés annually in a total of 15 permanent plots (5 × 5 m) established between 2012 and 2014 (five plots in each consecutive year). Reference sites with target psammophilous vegetation and degraded sites were also sampled. The target psammophilous species colonized the open sand areas immediately from the adjacent well‐preserved vegetation fragments. Out of 101 vascular plant species recorded in total in restored sites, 34 species were classified as target species, out of which 25 species were classified as threatened. After 6 years, the species richness and number of threatened species in the restored plots approached those of the reference sites. The results of multivariate analyses revealed that spontaneous development of restored plots run fast towards psammophilous vegetation. The optimal restoration strategy of eutrophicated open sandy grasslands should consist in creating a mosaic of topsoil removal patches followed by disturbance after some time and preservation of still existing fragments of target vegetation.

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Details

Published: Sep 29, 2020
Vol/Issue: 29(S1)
License: View

Authors

K

Klára Řehounková

Faculty of Science University of South Bohemia Branišovská 1760, 370 05 České Budějovice Czech Republic

I

Ivana Jongepierová

Nature Conservation Agency of the Czech Republic Kaplanova 1931/1, 148 00 Praha 11, Chodov Czech Republic

L

Lenka Šebelíková

Faculty of Science University of South Bohemia Branišovská 1760, 370 05 České Budějovice Czech Republic

K

Kamila Vítovcová

Faculty of Science University of South Bohemia Branišovská 1760, 370 05 České Budějovice Czech Republic

K

Karel Prach

Faculty of Science University of South Bohemia Branišovská 1760, 370 05 České Budějovice Czech Republic; Institute of Botany of the Czech Academy of Sciences Department of Plant Ecology Dukelská 135, 379 01 Třeboň Czech Republic

Funding

Grantova Agentura Ceske Republiky Award: 17‐09979S

Cite This Article

Klára Řehounková, Ivana Jongepierová, Lenka Šebelíková, et al. (2020). Topsoil removal in degraded open sandy grasslands: can we restore threatened vegetation fast?. Restoration Ecology, 29(S1). https://doi.org/10.1111/rec.13188

Topsoil removal in degraded open sandy grasslands: can we restore threatened vegetation fast?

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