These farms, mostly located in mountainous regions, often possess species-rich, extensively managed permanent meadows. This project will conduct a case study to investigate the effects of intensified land use resulting from production expansion and longer growing seasons on the plant population.

The following working hypotheses will be examined:

• Working hypothesis 1: Increasing the number of cuts in montane managed grassland from 2 to 3 and 4 has a significant impact on the composition and diversity of the grassland stand. Depending on the cutting frequency, the growth strategy of the plants changes, as described by Plant Functional Types

•  Working hypothesis 2: The quality and quantity of the plant population develop differently with manure fertilization compared to liquid manure fertilization. Consequently, the soil humus content, the nitrogen content in the soil, and the availability of phosphorus and potassium also change.

• Working hypothesis 3: With increased cutting frequency and different types of manure (solid/liquid), a shift in the vertical light profile and leaf area index occurs at different plant heights. This can describe the change in the growth form and position of the leaf mass of the forage plants.

Adaptation strategies of mountainous hay meadows to intensified management regime in organic farming

Over half of the agricultural area in Austria is grassland stands. About one fifth of the meadows and pastures are managed with the guidelines of organic farming. It is this farms which own very diverse and more extensively managed meadows. This project aims to detect the impact of more intense production caused by management practice and longer vegetation period on well-established grassland stands.

The following working hypothesis shall be answered:

• Hypothesis 1: Increasing cutting regime has a major impact on diversity and species assemblage in mountainous hay meadows. Growth form strategy of grassland plants changes in dependency of mowing level, described with Plant Functional Types
• Hypothesis 2: Development of both herbage quantity and quality differences within type of organic fertilizer. Therefore, total amount of nitrogen, organic substance, phosphorous and potassium varies.
• Hypothesis 3: There is a shift of light transmission and leaf area index on different growth heights dependent on treatment factors. With this, changes in growth habit and position of main leaf mass of herbage plants can be described.