Habitat loss is one of the primary environmental causes of biodiversity decline across scales; locally to globally. Ecological restoration is acknowledged as an important tool to counteract this negative trend. The semi-natural calcareous sand dune meadows in south-western Norway are known for their high species diversity, much like similar habitats of high conservation value across Europe today. The recent cessation of grazing has caused a decline in several endangered species associated with these habitats due to the advancement of secondary succession. We conducted a long-term restoration experiment in semi-natural dune meadows over 16 years to examine if current trends in biodiversity loss could be reversed and at what time-scale restoration measures take effect. Three treatments were applied; mowing annually, mowing bi-annually, and a control (no mowing). In fields mown annually species richness increased significantly over time. However, the response was slow and significant effects were first seen after year 10. Fields mown bi-annually also showed a similar trend but the response was more variable. Several characteristic meadow species were favoured by annual mowing while they declined in the control fields. Principal component analysis (PCA) revealed a compositional shift, indicating the re-arrangement/-establishment of typical meadow vegetation in the mown sites, contrasting the further successional development in the control. Our results demonstrate the importance of long-term data in supporting good evidence-based management. Annual mowing is effectively restoring this unique habitat, but restoration efforts need to be sustained over many years to show positive effects.

中文翻译：

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重新引入割草可以抵消废弃草地的生物多样性丧失

栖息地丧失是生物多样性跨尺度下降的主要环境原因之一；本地到全球。生态恢复被认为是抵消这种负面趋势的重要工具。挪威西南部的半天然钙质沙丘草甸以其高度的物种多样性而闻名，就像当今欧洲具有高保护价值的类似栖息地一样。由于次生演替的推进，最近停止放牧导致与这些栖息地相关的几种濒危物种数量减少。我们在半天然沙丘草地上进行了 16 年多的长期恢复实验，以检验目前生物多样性丧失的趋势是否可以逆转，以及恢复措施在什么时间尺度上生效。进行了三种处理；每年割一次，每两年割一次，和控制（不割草）。在每年修剪的田地中，物种丰富度随着时间的推移显着增加。然而，反应缓慢，在第 10 年之后首次出现显着影响。每两年割一次的田地也显示出类似的趋势，但反应变化更大。几种典型的草甸物种受到年度割草的青睐，而在对照田中则有所下降。主成分分析 (PCA) 揭示了一种成分变化，表明在割草地点典型草甸植被的重新排列/建立，与对照中的进一步演替发展形成对比。我们的结果证明了长期数据在支持良好的循证管理方面的重要性。每年一次的割草有效地恢复了这个独特的栖息地，