Restoration strategies for grasslands colonized by Asphodel-dominant communities
Giulio Tesei
Department of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy
Search for more papers by this authorParide D’Ottavio
Department of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy
Search for more papers by this authorMarco Toderi
Department of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy
Search for more papers by this authorCecilia Ottaviani
Department of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy
Search for more papers by this authorSimone Pesaresi
Department of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Matteo Francioni
Department of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy
Correspondence
Matteo Francioni, Department of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences, Università Politecnica delle Marche, via Brecce Bianche 10, 60131 Ancona, Italy.
Email: m.francioni@staff.univpm.it
Search for more papers by this authorLaura Trozzo
Department of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy
Search for more papers by this authorMarina Allegrezza
Department of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy
Search for more papers by this authorGiulio Tesei
Department of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy
Search for more papers by this authorParide D’Ottavio
Department of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy
Search for more papers by this authorMarco Toderi
Department of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy
Search for more papers by this authorCecilia Ottaviani
Department of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy
Search for more papers by this authorSimone Pesaresi
Department of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Matteo Francioni
Department of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy
Correspondence
Matteo Francioni, Department of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences, Università Politecnica delle Marche, via Brecce Bianche 10, 60131 Ancona, Italy.
Email: m.francioni@staff.univpm.it
Search for more papers by this authorLaura Trozzo
Department of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy
Search for more papers by this authorMarina Allegrezza
Department of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy
Search for more papers by this authorAbstract
Grassland habitats are particularly threatened in Europe, especially in marginal areas where funds and manpower for their conservative management are limited. Knowledge of the vegetation dynamics is crucial for the timeliness and economy of any conservation actions. However, there is a lack of studies on effective and rapid containment of tall rhizomatous geophytes, such as asphodel (Asphodelus macrocarpus Parl. subsp. macrocarpus), which are particularly active in the earliest stages of the natural vegetation succession. We present an interdisciplinary study carried out on an abandoned semi-natural grassland (European Union habitat code 6210*) colonized by Asphodel within a Natura 2000 site in the central Apennines (Italy). This experimental trial lasted 4 years (2012–2015) and applied three different treatments (mowing with removal of cut material, mowing without removal of cut material and chopping), compared to the control (abandonment). The results highlight that the disturbance produced by biomass removal has positive effects on biodiversity. In particular, mowing (both with or without removal of cut material) provided better results for restoration of the grassland biodiversity, even over the short term. Chopping is not a viable alternative to mowing, especially because of the risk of eutrophication over time, and the consequent settlement and increase in nitrophilous species.
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