Frequent mowing is better than grazing for the conservation value of lowland tussock grasssland at Pontville,Tasmania

Abstract The effects of an unusual high frequency mowing regime, which involved the removal of slash, were compared to moderate grazing through the method of paired quadrats across a fenceline, which was orthogonal to a weak environmental gradient. The mown plots proved superior in their conservation characteristics to the moderately grazed plots. The mowing regime produced greater cover of rare or threatened species, greater native cover and lesser exotic grass cover. It thus presents an opportunity for maintaining or improving the condition of previously grazed remnants in reserves without resorting to the use of stock or fire for biomass reduction.     

Land use intensification in grasslands: higher trophic levels are more negatively affected than lower trophic levels

Increasing land use intensity and human influence are leading to a reduction in plant and animal species diversity. However, little is known about how these changes may affect higher trophic levels, apart from simply reducing species numbers. Here we investigated, over 3 years, the influence of different land practices on a tritrophic system in grassland habitats. The system consisted of the host plant Plantago lanceolata L. (Plantaginaceae), two monophagous weevils, Mecinus labilis Herbst and Mecinus pascuorum Gyllenhal (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), and their parasitoid Mesopolobus incultus Walker (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae). At over 70 sites across three geographic regions in Germany, we measured plant species diversity and vegetation structure, as well as abundance of P. lanceolata, the two weevils, and the parasitoid. Land use intensity (fertilization) and type (mowing vs. grazing) negatively affected not only plant species richness but also the occurrence of the two specialized herbivores and their parasitoid. In contrast, land use had a mostly positive effect on host plant size, vegetation structure, and parasitization rate. This study reveals that intensification of land use influences higher trophic organisms even without affecting the availability of the host plant. The observed relationships between land use, vegetation complexity, and the tritrophic system are not restricted locally; rather they are measureable along a broad range of environmental conditions and years throughout Germany. Our findings may have important implications for the conservation of insect species of nutrient‐poor grasslands.     

Trait‐based approach confirms the importance of propagule limitation and assembly rules in old‐field restoration

Community assembly theory is suggested as a guiding principle for ecological restoration to help understand the mechanisms that structure biological communities and identify where restoration interventions are needed. We studied three hypotheses related to propagule limitation, stress‐dominance, and limiting similarity concepts in community assembly in a restoration field experiment with a trait‐based null model approach. The experiment aimed to assist the recovery of sand grassland on former arable land in the Kiskunság, Pannonian biogeographic region, Europe. Treatments included initial seeding of five grassland species, carbon amendment, low‐intensity mowing, and combinations in 1 m by 1 m plots in three old fields from 2003 to 2008. The distribution of 10 individual plant traits was compared to the null model and the effect of time and treatments were tested with linear mixed effect models. Initial seeding had the most visible impact on species and trait composition confirming propagule limitation in grassland recovery. Reducing nutrient availability through carbon amendment strengthened trait convergence for length of flowering as expected based on the stress‐dominance hypothesis. Mowing changed trait divergence to convergence for plant height with a strengthening impact with time, supporting our hypothesis of increasing dominance of limiting similarity with time. Our results support the idea that community assembly is simultaneously influenced by propagule limitation and multiple trait‐based processes that act through different traits. The limited impact of manipulating environmental filtering and limiting similarity compared to seeding, however, supports the view that only targeting the dispersal and environmental filters in parallel would improve restoration outcome.     

刈割制度对呼伦贝尔草原群落特征及牧草质量的影响

为确定呼伦贝尔草原高效生产和可持续利用的最佳刈割制度,于2019—2021年在呼伦贝尔草原开展刈割时间(7月31日、8月10日、8月20日、8月30日、9月9日)、留茬高度(3、9、15 cm)及两者交互作用对草原群落特征、牧草产量和品质影响的研究。结果表明: 较晚时间刈割和低留茬刈割会降低翌年群落高度和盖度;低留茬刈割降低翌年地上部分生物量,但刈割时间对其影响不显著。禾草、莎草相对生物量随刈割时间的延迟表现出先增加后减少的趋势,杂类草则与之相反,而豆科植物无明显变化。低留茬刈割在当年能够获得高的干草产量,但翌年的干草产量显著下降;8月30日,留茬3 cm刈割时干草产量达到最高值(469 g·m^-2),高于最低值361.5%。牧草品质中粗蛋白含量在8月30日刈割时亦达到峰值,高于最低值约6.5%,且在高留茬刈割下含量更高;酸、中性洗涤纤维含量随刈割时间延迟逐渐升高,9月9日刈割高于7月31日8.0%、5.9%,并且随留茬高度增加而降低。呼伦贝尔草原刈割制度设置为留茬高度9 cm左右、8月20—30日刈割为最佳,但需更长期的刈割试验观测才能得到更可靠、更客观的结论。     

芡实分区刈割试验对陈瑶湖后生浮游动物群落结构的影响

陈瑶湖流域是长江中下游重要的水禽省级自然保护区,近年来随着农业的发展,湖区存在芡实种植过密,汛期影响行洪的隐患,对湖区的水生态系统结构与功能的稳定性造成严重影响。为研究芡实分区刈割试验对陈瑶湖后生浮游动物群落结构的影响,于2019年8月期间对陈瑶湖后生浮游动物进行调查。共鉴定出后生浮游动物15科22属40种,其中轮虫12属26种,枝角类8属11种,桡足类2属3种,群落结构主要以轮虫为主,后生浮游动物种类分布时空上无显著差异(P>0.05)。共发现优势种8属10种,分别为萼花臂尾轮虫(Brachionus calyciflorus)、角突臂尾轮虫(Brachionus angularis)、剪形臂尾轮虫(Brachionus forficula)、螺形龟甲轮虫(Keratella cochlearis)、囊形单趾轮虫(Monostyla bulla)、蹄形腔轮虫(Lecane ungulata)、针簇多肢轮虫(Polyarthra trigla)、迈氏三肢轮虫(Filinia maior)、长额象鼻溞(Bosmina longirostris)和广布中剑水蚤(Mesocyclops...     

Ecological intensification to mitigate impacts of conventional intensive land use on pollinators and pollination

Worldwide, human appropriation of ecosystems is disrupting plant–pollinator communities and pollination function through habitat conversion and landscape homogenisation. Conversion to agriculture is destroying and degrading semi‐natural ecosystems while conventional land‐use intensification (e.g. industrial management of large‐scale monocultures with high chemical inputs) homogenises landscape structure and quality. Together, these anthropogenic processes reduce the connectivity of populations and erode floral and nesting resources to undermine pollinator abundance and diversity, and ultimately pollination services. Ecological intensification of agriculture represents a strategic alternative to ameliorate these drivers of pollinator decline while supporting sustainable food production, by promoting biodiversity beneficial to agricultural production through management practices such as intercropping, crop rotations, farm‐level diversification and reduced agrochemical use. We critically evaluate its potential to address and reverse the land use and management trends currently degrading pollinator communities and potentially causing widespread pollination deficits. We find that many of the practices that constitute ecological intensification can contribute to mitigating the drivers of pollinator decline. Our findings support ecological intensification as a solution to pollinator declines, and we discuss ways to promote it in agricultural policy and practice.     

Effects of Frequent Mowing on Survival and Persistence of Forbs Seeded into a Species-Poor Grassland

Many early attempts at tallgrass prairie reconstruction failed to achieve the high species diversity of remnant prairies, and instead consist primarily of C₄ grasses. We hypothesized that frequent mowing of established prairie grasses could create sufficient gaps in the aboveground and belowground environment to allow for the establishment of native forbs from seed. We studied forb seedling establishment in a 25‐year‐old prairie planting in northern Iowa that was dominated by native warm‐season grasses. In winter 1999, 23 species of native forbs were broadcast into the recently burned sod at a rate of 350 viable seeds/m². Treatment plots were mowed weekly for either one or two growing seasons, and control plots were unmowed. Mowed plots had greater light availability than controls, especially when warm‐season grasses began to flower. Overwinter seedling mortality was 3% in mowed treatments compared to 29% in the controls. Forbs in mowed plots had significantly greater root and shoot mass than those in control plots in the first and second growing seasons but were not significantly more abundant. By the fourth growing season, however, forbs were twice as abundant in the mowed treatments. No lasting negative impacts of frequent mowing on the grass population were observed. Mowing a second year influenced species composition but did not change total seedling establishment. Experimental evidence is consistent with the idea that mowing reduced competition for light from large established grasses, allowing forb seedlings the opportunity to reach sufficient size to establish, survive, and flower in the second and subsequent years.     

Seed Bank Effects on Recovery after Disturbance in Reconstructed Tallgrass Prairies

Litter‐removing disturbances such as fire in grasslands temporarily increase available resources for plants, opening a window of opportunity for new establishment as communities recover. At this time, new individuals or species could be added to the community as a result of germination from the local seed bank. In reconstructed grasslands this may be problematic, as the seed bank may contain a suite of undesired species reflective of prior and surrounding land uses. In two, 25‐year‐old, low‐diversity reconstructed grasslands, we tested the effect of local seed bank establishment following litter‐removing disturbance using seedling removal plots (1 m²) and plots where natural seedling establishment was allowed. Following disturbance, the vegetation was either left intact or hayed to enhance seedling establishment (a common practice following inter‐seeding efforts). Although the seed bank and seedling community were dominated by resident grasses (Andropogon gerardii and Poa pratensis), recruitment from the seed bank increased species richness and reduced evenness through the addition of forb species (including Cirsium arvense) in one of the study sites. Haying temporarily altered the abundances of the dominant grasses, but did not consistently affect seedling recruitment. Disturbances that facilitate seed bank recruitment may promote establishment of undesired species within reconstructed grassland communities, and we need to take steps to better manage the contributions into and recruitment from the seed bank to reconstruct sustainable grasslands.