As part of the dissertation “Grassland restoration success – Comparison of initial and long-term evaluation” by Dr. Silke Schaumberger, new surveys were carried out 14 and 16 years later on the area, which was by then regularly used as summer pasture, and compared with the original results.

Question

We investigated the long-term persistence and yield capacity of different seed mixtures and the influence of additional liming during the establishment of a montane pasture under acidic site conditions during a forest-pasture separation process from 1998 to 2001 in Styria, Austria.

methodology

Two plots (one with and one without a single additional liming) were established, each with four seed variants (no seed, commercially available, site-adapted, and site-specific mixtures), and all plots were fertilized annually during the trial period from 1998 to 2002. Vegetation surveys and forage analyses to assess vegetation cover development, the persistence of the sown species, and quality and yield parameters were repeated in 2014 and 2016; soil samples were taken in 2015.

Results

After regular fertilization ceased in 2002, the analyzed soil parameters dropped to a level sufficient for grassland, but rather low. The pH value decreased again over time, but was still significantly higher on the limed areas (p = .0034). The single liming during the experimental setup also resulted in better long-term performance in almost all vegetation, quality, and yield parameters. The site-specific seed mixture performed best for most of the parameters examined, both with and without liming. Among the sown species, the site-typical species Agrostis capillaris, Festuca rubra agg., and Trifolium repens best with and without liming. All vegetation and yield parameters examined fell far short of their 2001 results and their potential.

Conclusions

The use of site-specific seed mixtures supports the establishment of productive grassland on particular sites. Long-term results also demonstrate that low-input management, such as liming at multi-year intervals, can significantly improve acidic site and growth conditions, thereby substantially increasing the sustainability of costly forest-pasture separations under similar conditions.

The results have been published (for a fee).

Schaumberger, S.; Krautzer, B.; Graiss, W. and Pötsch, EM (2020): Long-term sustainability of wood-pasture separation processes—A matter of seed mixtures and management. Grass and Forage Science 75 (3), 303-315.