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Frequency and cover coefficient of plant species on burnt and edge zone (17 plots) in one year after biomass bur- ning. Only species with frequency more than 60% are displayed.
Source publication
In some areas of Polish Carpathians high nature value grasslands are managed only because of agri-environmental subsidies or as an active preservation measures in protected areas. Due to the abandonment of livestock farming the problem is the dispose of collected biomass. In the Pieniny National Park in some cases the hay harvested and collected in...
Contexts in source publication
Context 1
... next year after burning a surface had emerged on which two zones could be distinguished: a central zone still partly covered with ash, on which only isolated plants appeared and attained small area cover, approximately 50%, and an edge zone, with complete vegetation cover (Table 1). The species appearing on the burnt surfaces were those occurring in the grassland surrounding these plots. ...Context 2
... species appearing on the burnt surfaces were those occurring in the grassland surrounding these plots. We can distinguish the species which only slightly penetrated the central zone, or not at all, and those which developed fairly rapidly in the central zone and attained relatively high area cover in comparison to edge zone (Table 1). Among such species taking advantage of the altered habitat conditions, plants of the Fabaceae family are dominant. ...Similar publications
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The main objective of the paper was to propose and evaluate the performance of a regional approach to estimate CN values and to test the impact of different initial abstraction ratios. The curve number ( CN ) was analyzed for five Slovak and five Polish catchments situated in the Carpathian Mountains. The L-moment based method of Hosking and Wallis...
Citations
... Another problem is management of the biomass. Due to the decline in low-intensity livestock farming, where hay from seminatural grasslands, having low nutritional value (Tallowin & Jeferson, 1999), could be used, some of the harvested biomass is either left in stacks or burned (Zarzycki, 2018). One possible solution to biomass management problems that may reduce labour intensity is mulching, which involves cutting grassland vegetation, breaking up the organic matter into small pieces, and leaving it in a thin layer on the mowed surface (Moog et al., 2002). ...
Traditional, extensive management systems in grasslands have played a fundamental role in the formation, maintenance and conservation of grassland of high natural value. Contemporary processes in the agricultural economy make this type of management unprofitable. Simplified management systems are implemented as part of agricultural and environmental programmes and in protected areas, but these can cause changes in botanical composition. An experiment was conducted for six years on grassland in the Carpathian Mountains to compare mulching and compost application with late cutting and biomass removal. In the conditions of mountain grassland of medium fertility, the level of biomass and the species composition of the vegetation were the same following mulching as in the case of cutting and biomass removal. Mulching was only found to affect the temperature of the topsoil. Compost application caused a significant increase in the amount of biomass. The species composition was the same as for the other management types, but there were changes in the proportions of individual species and functional groups. High grasses were dominant, while the proportion of legume plants was small. Moreover, the N:P ratio was lower following the use of compost, indicating a shift from P limitation to N limitation. Mulching can be used as a simplified means of management in the case of certain types of grassland communities, but its effects must be monitored. Compost application would necessitate modification of other elements of management, e.g. increased frequency of cutting.
... The productivity, species number and species composition were at an intermediate level between the treatments with complete fertilization (90 NPK) and with phosphorus alone (P). A greater abundance of species with higher nitrogen demands resulting from an increased share of legumes has also been observed in other grassland ecosystems (Temperton et al., 2007;Warren, 2000;Zarzycki, 2018). ...
The deposition of pollutants and agricultural fertilizers substantially increases nutrient supply to the environment. Nutrient addition may shift the nutrient limitation type of plants, e.g. from nitrogen (N)-limited to phosphorus (P)-limited. As the nutrient supply is expected to continue to grow, it is important to understand the patterns of nutrient limitation and their effects on species composition. The aim of this study was therefore to evaluate the long-term (39 years, 1968-2007) effects of varied fertilization schemes, i.e. N, P, PK, PK+90 kg ha−1 N, and PK+180 kg ha−1 N, on the species composition of a seminatural mountain grassland. In the first period of the experiment (13 years), NPK fertilization resulted in high yield and a considerably impoverished species composition, dominated by a single grass species (Holcus mollis). Plots fertilized with a single nutrient (N or P) developed a similar species composition to that of the control grassland (no fertilization) dominated by species typical of low-fertility habitats of the Nardo-Callunetea class. In the 1980s, the plots fertilized with NPK exhibited a considerable reduction in yield. Therefore, in the years 1993 and 1994 mowing was replaced by sheep grazing, and supplementary fertilization with micronutrients was applied. In 2007 the yield in the treatment fertilized with PK+180 kg ha−1 N was not restored, but the number of species increased. The species composition in the PK treatment became more similar to that of the plots treated with NPK. In contrast, changes in grasslands fertilized with single nutrients (N or P) were insignificant. To conclude, the factor that most strongly affected species composition was the increase in productivity caused by the addition of basic macronutrients. The addition of N or P alone does not significantly affect species composition if other elements limit the productivity of the grassland.
Prescribed burning (PB), the planned and controlled application of fire is a well-established tool for biodiversity conservation in a plethora of habitats globally. In European grasslands that are threatened hotspots of biodiversity, PB has the potential to address challenges related to several threats such as abandonment, climate change or invasive species. However, its potential is seldom realized both in experimental and real-world conditions. To increase the potential of PB in the management of European grasslands, we suggest adapting the fire regime concept in future studies and to determine optimal PB regimes based on experimental approaches, paleo-data and the disappearing traditional ecological knowledge. For the evidence-based evaluation of PB applicability, a decision support framework is suggested.
