Bodo Maria Möseler

Parallels of secondary grassland succession and soil regeneration in a chronosequence of central-Hungarian old fields

This study deals with spontaneous regeneration of fen and steppe meadows and corresponding soil properties on extensively managed ex-arable fields. Our first main aim was to analyse the nature of relations between various vegetation and soil parameters and time since abandonment and to determine the time needed for regeneration. Our second major goal was to determine the main environmental factors influencing regeneration success. Time since abandonment of the studied areas was determined with military maps, aerial photographs and the help of local rangers. Stands which were presumably not ploughed for over 150 years were taken as a reference. Vegetation surveys and soil sampling were carried out in 307 plots with different soil moisture conditions. The correlation with time was tested for relevant vegetation and soil parameters. The influence of different parameters on the species composition was tested with a generalized linear mixed model. We found that vegetation and soil parameters approach the level of long-term (permanent) grassland in a similar asymptotic curve. Numerous characteristic target vegetation species and legally protected species have colonized the old fields. The time frame needed for regeneration can be stated to be 20–40 years for the majority of sites, but the proportion of favourable species in the resulting grasslands is divergent. The most important finding among soil properties was a pronounced negative effect of plant available phosphorus on the species composition of regenerating grassland. We conclude that relying on spontaneous recolonization for grassland restoration in central Hungary is promising, particularly on sites which were not fertilized intensively with phosphorus prior to abandonment.

Kaltluftströme auf Basaltblockhalden und ihre Auswirkung auf Mikroklima und Vegetation: Cold airstreams on slopes of basaltic rocks and their influence on microclimate and vegetation

Abstract Measurements of the microclimate on slopes with extensive basaltic blocks reveal cold airstreams coming out of the ground. These airstreams caused by perennial underground ice influence the herbaceous, bryophytic and lichenophytic vegetation by locally inverting the temperature of the air close to the ground surface. In accordance to these ecological characteristics the Betulo-carpaticae-Sorbetum aucupariae appears and the woodless parts of the slope are characterized by not competitive lichens and bryophytes.

Carbon accrual rates, vegetation and nutrient dynamics in a regularly burned coppice woodland in Germany

Historically, large areas of forest in Europe were managed as coppice woodland to produce wood‐based fuel for the smelting industry. We hypothesized that this practice produced a legacy effect on current forest ecosystem properties. Specifically, we hypothesized that the historical form of coppicing may have produced a legacy of elevated stocks of soil organic carbon (SOC), nutrients and black carbon (BC) in soil as fire was routinely used in coppiced woodland to clear land. We further hypothesized that these changes in soil properties would result in increased biodiversity. To test these hypotheses, we sampled the surface soil (0–5, 5–10 and 10–20 cm) from a chronosequence of forest sites found in the Siegerland (Germany) that had been coppiced and burned 1, 2, 3.5, 6, 8, 11 and 17 years before present. Mature beech and spruce forests (i.e., >60 years) were also sampled as reference sites: to provide a hint of what might occur in the absence of human intervention. We measured stocks of SOC, BC, NO3‐N, P, K, Mg, as well as cation exchange and water‐holding capacity, and we mapped plant composition to calculate species richness and evenness. The results showed that coppicing in combination with burning soil and litter improved soil nutrient availability, enhanced biodiversity and increased SOC stocks. The SOC stocks and biodiversity were increased by a factor of three relative to those in the mature beech and spruce forests. This study shows that traditional coppicing practice may facilitate net C accrual rates of 20 t ha−1 yr−1 and maintain high biodiversity, indicating that aspects of traditional practice could be applied in current forest management to foster biodiversity and to mitigate climate change.

Tendency and distribution indices for ordinal variables applied to Ellenberg indicator values

El uso del valor promedio en el analisis de valores indicadores de Ellenberg en censos o comunidades vegetales ha sido criticado por varios autores. Por otro lado, se ha prestado poca atencion a los patrones de distribucion de las clases de frecuencia. En este trabajo se hace una revision sobre metricas disponibles para cuantificar tendencia y distribucion en escalas ordinales, como es el caso de los indicadores ecologicos de Ellenberg y discutir su relacion con las formas de los histogramas de frecuencia respectivos. Para ello se eligieron tres metricas de tendencia (valor promedio, mediana y moda) y dos metricas de distribucion (indice de posicion y dominancia relativa). Ademas se propone el indice de concentracion que es analogo al indice de contagio usado en ecologia de paisaje. En este trabajo se recomienda el uso de la mediana y el indice de concentracion para cuantificar respectivamente la tendencia y la distribucion en espectros de indicadores (histogramas de frecuencia) calculados en base a los valores de Ellenberg. Se requieren estudios adicionales para lograr una mejor interpretacion ecologica de los patrones de distribucion mencionados en este trabajo.

CL-Dataveg – a database of Chilean grassland vegetation

Grassland vegetation in temperate Chile is dominated by European plant species. Since those plant communities got established spontaneously, they offer us the possibility to study invasion (dispersal) dynamics at the synecological level. In this ongoing project we are collecting published releves of the temperate and Antarctic regions of Chile, storing them in a TURBOVEGdatabase (CL-Dataveg; GIVD ID SA-CL-001). Also releves from the Argentinean Patagonia are included. The main aims of this project are to develop a summarizing classification of the grassland vegetation in the geographical range mentioned above and to confirm its assignment into the class Molinio-Arrhenateretea (included until now in the the Agrostidion chilensis Oberdorfer alliance, 1960). Secondary aims are to describe the geographic patterns of distribution, to compare the South American plant communities with their European counterparts, and to identify missing surveys. The future inclusion of all available data of the vegetation in Chile into CL-Dataveg is also considered.