Factors affecting plant species richness of grasslands enclosed by forest in the Pesio Valley
2016
Orlandi, S | Probo, M | Lonati, M
European mountain regions have been dominated by semi-natural ecosystems, where natural and anthropogenic disturbance regimes have interacted for thousands of years. In the western Italian Alps, tradi- tional practices, such as silvo-cultural intervention and grazing regimes, have created a heterogeneous mosaic of open areas, as well as sparse and dense forests. Throughout the last decades, a trend of aban- donment of marginal areas has caused a natural reforestation of former grassland patches enclosed by for- est with a consequent loss of grassland plant diversity. The study was conducted to assess the effect of eco- logical, topographic, management, and landscape features on current patch species richness. All vascular plant species were recorded within each grassland patch of the Pesio Valley. Grassland species richness was calculated and used in GLMs as dependent variables. On the whole, the soil reaction and the soil nutrient content emerged to be the most important ecological factors affecting grassland species richness. The con- servation of suitable ecological factors is strictly related to mowing and grazing practices, thus management practices appear to be essential instruments to preserve plant diversity of grasslands enclosed by forest
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