Buffer strips are refuges for a variety of plants providing
resources, such as pollen, nectar and seeds, for higher
trophic levels, including invertebrates, mammals and
birds. Margins can also harbour plant species that are
potentially injurious to the adjacent arable crop (undesirable
species). Sowing perennial species in non-cropped
buffer strips can reduce weed incidence, but limits the
abundance of annuals with the potential to support
wider biodiversity (desirable species). We investigated
the responses of unsown plant species present in buffer
strips established with three different seed mixes managed
annually with three contrasting management
regimes (cutting, sward scarification and selective graminicide).
Sward scarification had the strongest influence
on the unsown desirable (e.g. Sonchus spp.) and unsown
pernicious (e.g. Elytrigia repens) species, and was generally
associated with higher cover values of these
species. However, abundances of several desirable weed
species, in particular Poa annua, were not promoted by
scarification. The treatments of cutting and graminicide
tended to have negative impacts on the unsown species,
except for Cirsium vulgare, which increased with graminicide
application. Differences in unsown species cover
between seed mixes were minimal, although the grassonly
mix was more susceptible to establishment by
C. vulgare and Galium aparine than the two grass and
forb mixes. Annual scarification can enable desirable
annuals and sown perennials to co-exist, however, this
practice can also promote pernicious species, and so is
unlikely to be widely adopted as a management tool in
its current form
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