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A field experiment to recreate species rich hay meadows using regional seed mixtures

Jongepierova, Ivana, Mitchley, Jonathan, Tzanopoulos, Joseph (2007) A field experiment to recreate species rich hay meadows using regional seed mixtures. Biological Conservation, 139 (3-4). pp. 297-305. ISSN 0006-3207. (doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2007.07.026) (The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided) (KAR id:30029)

The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided.
Official URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2007.07.026

Abstract

Species rich semi-natural grasslands are an important but threatened habitat throughout Europe and much of the former area has been lost since the 1950s. However, in some countries large areas have been preserved and the demand for meadow recreation by sowing seed mixtures is increasing. In the White Carpathians Protected Landscape Area (Czech Republic) the use of commercial seed mixtures is undesirable and the use of regional mixtures has been investigated. The costs for seeding large areas are high and lower cost techniques are needed. In 1999 a field experiment was set up to investigate the establishment of hay meadow vegetation comparing sowing a regional mixture all over a plot with sowing narrow 2.5 In strips of regional seed mixtures into a matrix of a commercial grass mixture or into natural regeneration. The results after five seasons showed good establishment of the sown species in the meadow treatment. Spread of sown species from the sown strips into the surrounding matrix occurred but the cover of species was lower in the commercial grass matrix compared with the natural regeneration matrix. Colonisation of some plots by unsown desirable grassland species from adjacent grassland habitats also occurred, but more species colonised the natural regeneration matrix than the commercial grasses or the sown meadow matrix itself. Overall, the results indicate that, in appropriate situations, sown strips can provide a lower cost but slower and longer-term alternative to field scale sowing of regional seed mixtures for recreation of hay meadow vegetation.

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.1016/j.biocon.2007.07.026
Uncontrolled keywords: biodiversity conservation, commercial seed mixtures, ecological restoration, natural regeneration
Subjects: G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GE Environmental Sciences
Q Science > QH Natural history > QH541 Ecology
Q Science > QK Botany
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Human and Social Sciences > School of Anthropology and Conservation > DICE (Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology)
Depositing User: Joseph Tzanopoulos
Date Deposited: 10 Oct 2012 22:09 UTC
Last Modified: 16 Nov 2021 10:08 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/30029 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

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