Estimates of regeneration potential in the Pannonian sand region help prioritize ecological restoration interventions

Restoration prioritization helps determine optimal restoration interventions in national and regional spatial planning to create sustainable landscapes and maintain biodiversity. Here we investigate different forest-steppe vegetation types in the Pannonian sand region to provide restoration recommendations for conservation management, policy and research. We create spatial trajectories based on local, neighbouring and old-field regeneration capacity estimates of the Hungarian Habitat Mapping Database, compare the trajectories between different mesoregions and determine which environmental predictors possibly influence them at the mesoregion level using a random forest model. The trajectories indicate which types of passive or active restoration intervention are needed, including increasing connectivity, controlling invasive species, or introducing native species. Better restoration results can be achieve in the vicinity of larger (semi-)natural areas, but the specific site conditions must also be taken into account during prioritization. We also propose large-scale grassland restoration on abandoned agricultural fields instead of industrial forest plantations and afforestation with non-native species

clonal growth modes in plant communities along a stress gradient in the central apennines italy

A simplification from species to functional groups using the concept of clonality is particularly attractive for predictive modelling of vegetation processes and preparing guidelines for nature conservation. This important functional trait based on a modular structure including resource-acquiring units (ramets, feeding sites) and spacers, has been studied in three plant communities (xeric grassland, mesic grassland, and beech forest) under different levels of environmental stress (related to soil moisture and fertility) in the Montagna di Torricchio Nature Reserve near Camerino, Central Apennines, Italy. The study sought to reveal patterns of clonal growth modes (CGMs) in the three plant community types, and to test a series of hypotheses on the importance of selected CGMs along the stress gradient. Clonality was shown to have different importance in the grassland communities, due to differences in the importance of various CGMs (representing syndromes of clonal traits). Below-ground positioning of CGOs, shorter spacers, higher multiplication potential, permanent physical connection between ramets, large bud bank, and increased importance of bud protection were frequently found in water-stressed xeric grasslands, suggesting the adaptive value of these clonal traits. The major differences between grassland communities were due to the dominant CGMs: turf graminoids (with an effective way of protecting growth meristems in dense tussocks) dominated xeric grasslands, whereas rhizomatous graminoids (typical of competitive resource-rich habitats) dominated mesic grasslands. The beech forest had fewer clonal species (67%) and lower CGM diversity. Based on the assumption that different environments promote different selection pressures, the tests revealed the following results: (1) Plants with clonal organs below ground have significantly higher cover values in stressed habitats. (2) Species with short spacers are more frequent in less favourable environments, and their importance is almost ten times higher in the xeric grassland than in the forest (71% to 7.6%). (3) The number of species able to produce numerous ramets is highest in the most stressed habitat. (4) The number of species with a potential for longlasting connection between ramets increases towards stressed environments. In contrast to our expectations, the mesic grasslands (occupying the central position along the studied stress gradient) have the highest number of species with storage organs. (6) In stressed habitats, species with forms of bud protection were the most frequent

Felhagyott alföldi homoktalajok mikrobiális közösség összetételének, biomasszájának és aktivitásának vizsgálata. = Microbial community structure, biomass and activity in sandy soils of abandoned fields of the Great Plain

A korábban művelt, de felhagyott területek ökológiai helyreállítása gazdasági és ökológiai szempontból is kívánatos lenne. A homokpuszta gyepek restaurációjának módszereit a talajban zajló tápanyag-dinamikai és az azzal összefüggő mikrobiális tevékenységek szempontjából tanulmányoztuk. A kezelések célja a nitrogén immobilizációjának elősegítésén keresztül a másodlagos szukcesszió felgyorsítása volt. A szénforrás-kezelések hatására a talajok mikrobiális biomasszája megnőtt. A nitrogén hozzáférhetőségét a kezelések csökkentették, ezáltal a gyomnövények biomasszája is lecsökkent, de ez nem vezetett szükségszerűen a natív növényfajok abundanciájának növekedéséhez. A természetes növényzet előretörését csak azokon a területeken figyeltük meg, ahol jelentős mennyiségű propagulum-forrás volt a talajban. A kombinált kezelések (kaszálás, C-forrás-kezelés, felülvetés természetes növényzet magjaival) növelték a természetes gyepi növények abundanciáját, a felvehető N tartalom csökkenése mellett. A bolygatatlan gyepterület mikrobiális közösségének stabilitását a bolygatott területtel szemben alátámasztotta a K-stratégista baktériumok nagyobb abundanciája, és a közösség struktúrájának kisebb szezonális változása, vagyis a bolygatatlan élőhely talajmikrobiális közössége nagyobb rezilienciával rendelkezett, mint a bolygatott. Ezek az eredmények fontos előrelépést jelentenek a művelésből kivont területeken a természetes növénytársulásokhoz hasonló növényzet kialakításában. | Ecological restoration of abandoned fields is favoured both in economic and ecological point of view. The restoration methodology of native sand grassland plant communities was studied focusing on soil nutrient dynamics and related microbiological processes. The aim of C amendments and other treatments was to promote microbial N immobilisation and through this to accelerate secondary succession. Carbon treatments (sawdust and sucrose) resulted in a significant increase in microbial biomass C and biomass N by approximately 20 percent. N availability was reduced significantly by C amendments, and the weed biomass decreased as well, but the abundance of native species was not observed in most cases. Native vegetation advanced only at sites having in appropriate amount of propagules in soils. Sawdust used in high rate can be unfavourable in long term resulting net N mineralisation through the priming effect. Combined treatments (mowing, C addition, reseeding by native species) increased the abundance of natural elements, whereas the available nutrients decreased. The higher level of stability of the soil microbial community at natural grassland against the disturbed sites was supported by the larger abundance of K-strategist bacteria and also the smaller seasonal change, therefore the microbial community had greater resilience at undisturbed grassland site than that had at disturbed ones. These achievements are important in restoring of native plant communities at set-aside fields

Is Einkorn Wheat (Triticum monococcum L.) a Better Choice Than Winter Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)? Wheat Quality Estimation for Sustainable Agriculture Using Vision-Based Digital Image Analysis

Einkorn wheat (Triticum monococcum L. ssp. monococcum) plays an increasingly important role in agriculture, promoted by organic farming. Although the number of comparative studies about modern and ancient types of wheats is increasing, there are still some knowledge gaps about the nutritional and health benefit differences between ancient and modern bread wheats. The aim of the present study was to compare ancient, traditional and modern wheat cultivars—including a field study and a laboratory stress experiment using vision-based digital image analysis—and to assess the feasibility of imaging techniques. Our study shows that modern winter wheat had better yield and grain quality compared to einkorn wheats, but the latter were not far behind; thus the cultivation of various species could provide a diverse and sustainable agriculture which contributes to higher agrobiodiversity. The results also demonstrate that digital image analysis could be a viable alternate method for the real-time estimation of aboveground biomass and for predicting yield and grain quality parameters. Digital area outperformed other digital variables in biomass prediction in relation to drought stress, but height and Feret’s diameter better correlated with yield and grain quality parameters. Based on these results we suggest that the combination of various vision-based methods could improve the performance estimation of modern and ancient types of wheat in a non-destructive and real-time manner