Three years of vegetation development worth 30 years of secondary succession in urban‐industrial grassland restoration

• Published in: Applied vegetation science 2019-01, Vol.22 (1), p.138-149
• Main Authors: Kövendi‐Jakó, Anna, Halassy, Melinda, Csecserits, Anikó, Hülber, Karl, Szitár, Katalin, Wrbka, Thomas, Török, Katalin, Jiménez‐Alfaro, Borja
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acidic soils; Biodiversity; Composition; Dominant species; dry grassland; Ecological succession; Environmental restoration; Grasslands; hay transfer; Herbivores; industrial area; Industrial areas; Industrial sites; multiple reference sites; Nature conservation; old fields; Plant introductions; Plants; Propagules; Restoration; Sandy soils; seed sowing; Seeding; sociability of species; Species composition; Species richness; urban‐industrial restoration; Vegetation; vegetation cover
• ISSN: 1402-2001; 1654-109X
• DOI: 10.1111/avsc.12410

Questions The restoration of unused urban‐industrial areas has largely been neglected despite their great potential for nature conservation purposes. We applied three plant introduction treatments at a highly degraded industrial area to test whether plant material introduced onto industrial areas initiates plant assemblages similar in composition to those of reference grasslands. We specifically asked (a) Does restoration differ between primary and secondary reference sites in terms of overall species richness and cover three years after the introduction of plant material? (b) What is the sociability of species of the vegetation resulting from different treatments? Location Restoration and reference grassland sites with acidic sandy soil in the temperate region of the EU, NE Hungary, Nyírség. Methods As restoration techniques, we (a) directly seeded a single dominant species, (b) applied a commercial seed mixture, and (c) transferred hay. We compared species composition, cover, species richness and sociability of species in restoration treatments to reference grasslands. Inventories of vascular plant species were made at five randomly placed 2 m × 2 m sampling units per plot. Results The species composition of seeded restoration plots (with a single dominant species and a commercial seed mixture) became similar to that of reference grasslands. Both types of seeding resulted in a similar cover, whereas seeding a commercial seed mixture and hay transfer resulted in a species richness similar to that of reference grasslands. The cover of the natural constituents (NC) of seeded plots also reached that of reference grasslands, while hay addition resulted in a lower cover and a higher number of NC than other methods. Conclusions The introduction of propagules in degraded industrial areas can provide communities similar, after three years, to those of secondary reference grasslands that are 30 years of age. We conclude that investing in the restoration of native grasslands at unused urban‐industrial sites can be a great opportunity to enhance biodiversity. We applied three plant introduction treatments to restore sandy grasslands at an industrial area. The restored grassland was compared to reference grasslands. The treatments resulted in communities that, after three years, were similar to those of secondary reference grasslands with an age of 30 years. The restoration of native grasslands at unused urban‐industrial sites can therefore be a great opportunity to