Seeds harvested during mowing from semi-natural grasslands as an ad hoc but effective solution for grassland restoration

PeerJ

article

Peliyagodage Chathura Dineth Perera¹  Zofia Nocoń²  Hassanali Mollashahi¹  Malwina Wierzbicka¹  Tomasz H. Szymura²  Magdalena Szymura¹ 

[1] Institute of Agroecology and Plant Production, Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences;Department of Ecology, Biogeochemistry and Environment Protection, University of Wrocław

关键词: Biodiversity;    Semi-natural meadows;    Grassland vegetation;    Seeds transfer;    Monocotyledonous;    Dicotyledonous;    Species richness;   

DOI  :  10.7717/peerj.13621

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Inra

【 摘 要 】

Species-rich grasslands formed by local ecotypes of native species provide numerous ecosystem services both in rural areas as well as urban grasslands. Nonetheless, their area is still too small, making grasslands one of the most frequently restored habitats. Successful restoration requires high-quality seed material, which is expensive and often not easy to acquire. In this study, we tested the potential of seeds accidentally collected during the mowing of a semi-natural grassland for grassland restoration. We tested seed purity, species composition, and germination capability in both laboratory and field conditions. Ninety percent of the collected material consisted of pure seeds of numerous species. Their germination capability was relatively low but still sufficient for successful grassland restoration under a typical seed density/mass per unit area seeding ratio. The germination capacity was the highest in the first two weeks after sowing and increased with overwintering seed storage. The results suggested that the seeds could be successfully used for species-rich grassland restoration. In terms of advantages, the seed mixture had a low cost and contained native species seeds representing local ecotypes. In terms of disadvantages, there was a relatively low amount of seed material and an inability to plan the time of seed harvesting. Thus, the use of the accidentally collected seeds can be considered an effective but rather ad hoc solution.

【 授权许可】

CC BY