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Dry grassland plant diversity conservation using low-intensity sheep and goat grazing management: case study in Prague (Czech Republic)

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Abstract

After abandonment, dry grassland (Festuco-Brometea) areas decline due to gradual overgrowing by woody species and the expansion of perennial tall grass species. Dry grassland vegetation was formed by extensive livestock grazing, thus grazing is considered one of the most natural methods for managing this type of vegetation. Six years after introducing low-intensity sheep and goat grazing in seven nature reserves in Prague (Czech Republic), the following impact of this management on dry grassland vegetation was observed: The cover of expansive woody species, particularly Ligustrum vulgare, and to a smaller extent Cornus sanguinea and Prunus spinosa declined. In addition, a significant, long-term declining trend of the expansive species Arrhenatherum elatius was also observed. Also the cover of Pimpinella saxifraga and Allium senescens declined significantly with regard to statistical evaluation. On the contrary, the cover of Achillea millefolium, Centaurea stoebe, Securigera varia, Elytrigia repens, Erysimum crepidifolium, Falcaria vulgaris, Fallopia convolvulus and Verbascum lychnitis increased. The cover of species characteristic of dry grasslands (Festuco-Brometea) increased significantly. No changes were observed in the number and cover of the Red List species. In addition, the presence of nitrophilous and ruderal species increased. Species diversity also significantly increased. From our findings we can conclude that managing dry grasslands with low-intensity grazing can help to keep dry grassland vegetation in good condition and conserve its plant diversity.

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Acknowledgements

This study has been financially supported by the administration of the Prague City Council. Zuzana Münzbergová and Pavel Špryňar collected the data in nature reserves Homolka a Prokopské údolí during 2000–2004. Janice Forry kindly improved our English and anonymous referees contributed valuable suggestions to the manuscript. This study falls under research projects nos. MZP0002707301 and AVOZ60050516. Special thanks go to Petr Slavík, Prague City Council Administration for logistical support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Silva Tarouca Research Institute for Landscape and Ornamental Gardening, 252 43, Průhonice, Czech Republic

    Jiří Dostálek

  2. Institute of Botany, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, 252 43, Průhonice, Czech Republic

    Tomáš Frantík

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  1. Jiří Dostálek
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  2. Tomáš Frantík
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Correspondence to Jiří Dostálek.

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Nomenclature: Kubát et al. (2002) for taxa and Moravec et al. (1995) for syntaxa.

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Dostálek, J., Frantík, T. Dry grassland plant diversity conservation using low-intensity sheep and goat grazing management: case study in Prague (Czech Republic). Biodivers Conserv 17, 1439–1454 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-008-9352-1

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