虽然对中西草原进行保护割草的重要性被普遍接受,它对散布在农田中的芬斯和芬斯草原的使用仍然存在争议。虽然芬斯可能会自然持续,持续的环境变化提高了生产力,加速了演替。可以通过适当设置的保护管理来减轻这些过程。然而,长期管理实验具有挑战性,只能提供当地有效的结果。这里,我们分析了在中欧穷人中进行的七个管理实验(跨越3-20年)的植被数据(苔藓植物和维管植物),中等富裕,和钙质春天的芬斯(捷克共和国,斯洛伐克)。其中两个实验检查了废弃芬斯的恢复效果,虽然有五个实验研究了管理下的割草制度的变化(停止,强化,推迟到秋天,和垃圾清除)。数据分别使用一维和多维方法进行分析,扩展,和整个时期。除最短(3年)的实验外,割草对物种组成有统计学上的显着影响。凋落物去除不能补偿割草。两次割草或延迟割草会显着影响钙质fens的物种组成。在所有情况下,停止割草大大减少了物种的丰富度,尤其是那些保护的重要性。相比之下,任何割草都会增加物种的丰富度。在最初的2-3年中,割草强化或停止对物种丰富度和恢复的钙质fen组成的影响很明显。其他影响最初较弱或不显著,但后来变得更强,如修剪延迟和修复去除凋落物,直到近20年后才变得重要。我们发现停止或恢复割草通常会引发植被的快速变化,然而,可能需要几十年的时间来检测修剪时间变化引起的反应。重要的是,割草可以稳定甚至恢复由于温带农业景观中的破碎而被削弱的fen生态系统的植被。
While the importance of conservation mowing for mesic grasslands is generally accepted, its use for fens and fen grasslands interspersed within agricultural land is still controversial. Although fens may persist naturally, ongoing environmental changes increase productivity and accelerate succession. These processes can be mitigated through conservation management with appropriate settings. However, long-term management experiments are challenging and provide only locally valid results. Here, we analysed vegetation data (bryophytes and vascular plants) from seven management experiments (spanning 3-20 years) conducted in Central European poor, moderately-rich, and calcareous spring fens (Czech Republic, Slovakia). Two of these experiments examined the effects of restoration of abandoned fens, while five experiments examined changes in mowing regimes in managed fens (cessation, intensification, delay to autumn, and litter removal). Data were analysed using unidimensional and multidimensional methods separately for the initial, extended, and entire period. Mowing had a statistically significant effect on species composition except for the shortest (3-year) experiment. Litter removal did not compensate for mowing. Mowing twice or delayed mowing significantly affected the species composition of calcareous fens. In all cases, cessation of mowing significantly reduced the richness of species, especially those of conservation importance. In contrast, any mowing of abandoned fens increased species richness. The effects of mowing intensification or cessation on species richness and composition of a restored calcareous fen were evident in the first 2-3 years. Other effects were initially weak or nonsignificant but later became stronger, such as mowing delay and restoration removal of litter, which became significant only after nearly 20 years. We found that cessation or restoration of mowing usually triggers a rapid vegetation change, whereas it can take decades to detect the response caused by changes in mowing timing. Importantly, mowing can stabilise or even restore vegetation of fen ecosystems that have been weakened by their fragmentation in the temperate agricultural landscapes.