TAGUNGSBAND CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS - Offenlandinfo

Transplantation of a Molinietum
caeruleae meadow in Lower Saxony
(Germany) – a successful case study
Bettina Gehle, Henning Harder, Dietmar Zacharias
University of Applied Sciences Bremen, Faculty 5, ISTAB,
Bremen, Germany
The Molinietum caeruleae meadow recently is considered
as a rare and valuable habitat according to European Habitats
Directive. It contains a high number of endangered
species (e. g. Betonica officinalis, Galium boreale, Selinum
carvifolia, Serratula tinctoria) and is classified as a phytocoenosis
that is very likely to become extinct in Germany.
A Molinietum meadow of approx. 3 ha in the county of
Wolfenbüttel (Lower Saxony, Germany) was separated in
two parts by the construction of the highway A 39 in the
year of 2006. To protect the meadow a compensation measure
was created. About 1 ha of valuable grassland situated
directly within the planned highway lane was transplanted
(sods of approx. 1.5 m² together with 30 cm layer of the
underlying soil) to a nearby former farmland adjacent to
one of the meadow remnants next to the new roadway.
Additionally, on a second target area of former farmland
semi-natural grassland should be restored by transfering of
diaspore-containing hay from the Molinietum meadow.
A monitoring program (all vascular plant species, population
size of endangered species, vegetation of permanent
plots) has been carried out annually since 2005 in order to
document and evaluate the success and the effectiveness
of the compensation measure.
Recently, almost all species of the Red List being typical
for Molinietum meadows and being present in the year
of 2005 before the construction activity started were
found on all reference areas (meadow remnants and the
transplanted meadow). An increase of weed species and
changes in the species composition were observed at the
transplanted site, but the vegetation could be characterized
as the target habitat Molinietum meadow. The numbers of
all individuals of target species were similar to the numbers
counted in 2005. On the second target area with transferred
diaspore-containing hay some target species of Molinietum
could establish and showed increasing populations.
So far the compensation measure can be called a success.
28
Stellwand-Nr.
Poster Panel No.
9
Testing priority effects related to sowing
high and low diversity and time
of arrival of species on assembly and
productivity of grasslands on marginal
land: first experiments in field and
greenhouse
Philipp von Gillhausen 1 , Anita Kirmer 2 , Annett Baasch 2 ,
Vicky M. Temperton 1
1 Plant Plant Interactions and Biodiversity, Institute für Biogeosciences
(IBG-2): Plant Sciences, Jülich, Germany
2 Anhalt University of Applied Science, Department 1, Agriculture,
Ecotrophology and Landscaping, Bernburg, Germany
Main threats to grasslands come from both the intensification
of agriculture and increasing land abandonment.
Land abandonment is a common and increasing across
Europe, and yet, the type of land involved varies, including
both low-nutrient and high-nutrient soils and lowland or
montane sites. Often such land is degraded in some way
through over-grazing, excess nutrient addition, erosion. To
mitigate the loss of these biodiversity hotspots, successful
restoration of degraded marginal land needs to be linked
with sustainable use.
Grassland experiments on old fields and on degraded sites
with sowing of different starting diversities have shown
that initial diversity can significantly drive further assembly
as well as productivity of the community. In addition, there
is evidence from a microcosm experiment that the order
of arrival of different plant functional groups (i.e. legumes,
grasses or forbs) can significantly affect the productivity
and species composition of grasslands over time. We aim
to test whether such priority effects (order of arrival of
different functional groups as well as different sowing diversities)
can improve restoration success and productivity
in grasslands on marginal lands.
As part of a cooperation on Provision of ecosystem seRvices
from grasslands on margInal land across EurOpe: Roles of
plant communIty assembly and functional diversiTY for bioproduction
and restoration success (PRIORITY), we have set
up pilot experiments to test the effects of sowing interval
and seeding density within overall effects of early arrival of
different functional groups on productivity and diversity. In
a field experiment on the Bernburg campus, we are testing
the effect of sowing legumes 2, 4 or 6 weeks earlier than
the remaining forbs and grasses in both high (28 species)
and low (6 species) diversity mixes. In a complementary
experiment in Jülich in large microcosms outside, we are
testing the same species mixtures but also include testing
of sowing grasses and non-leguminous forbs first (as well
as legumes). Finally in a greenhouse experiment we are
testing the interaction effect of sowing at three different
density levels (1.5, 2.5 and 4 g m-2 ) as well as two sowing intervals
(2 and 4 weeks) on the overall priority effects of sowing
different functional groups earlier than others. Initial
results will be presented and implications for overall testing
of priority effects in grasslands across Europe discussed.
Stellwand-Nr.
Poster Panel No.
10