In nature reserve Gulke Putten a management of mowing and hay removal on former agricultural fields with high soil phosphorus concentrations has resulted in a shift from grass-dominated to herb-rich vegetation. Species such as Cardamine pratensis, Leucanthemum vulgare, Centaurea jacea, Ranunculus acris and Trifolium pratense have replaced fast-growing productive grasses such as Holcus lanatus. We investigated whether vegetation composition affected the nutrient removal by mowing. We measured the biomass production and nutrient concentrations in herbs and grasses in plots differing in vegetation com-position. Plots with more herbs showed a lower biomass production and nitrogen and potassium removal by mowing. The removal of phosphorus was similar in grass-dominated and herb-rich plots because of the higher phosphorus concentration in the biomass of herbs. Hence the speed of phosphorus removal through mowing in former agricultural fields may remain similar when the vegetation composition shifts from grass-dominated to herb-rich. A higher share of Rhinantus angustifolius decreases the biomass production and consequently also the removal of phosphorus and nitrogen. Rhinantus seems to counteract nutrient removal, at least in our plots in the Gulke Putten
