Preliminary results of ex situ restoration of open sandy grassland community based on seed-mix sowing
Abstract
In the Botanical Garden of Szent István University (Gödöllő, Hungary) protected sandy grassland community has been established in 2009 and 2010 for exhibition and education purposes. Within the frame of this work and after a site preparation an open sandy grassland association was created as an attempt in 2009 by seed-mix sowing in a selected 15 years old-field area of the Garden covering more than 500 m2. In summer 2009 the seeds of 7 species charasteristic to sandy grasslands were collected in the Kiskunság out of the planned 10 taxa due to the drought. The seed-mix was sown in September 2009 and the success of seed germination and survival were monitorized in the whole selected area of the Botanical Garden in 2010 by grid method. The seeds of the 2 dominant species were sown almost evenly, while the seeds of other taxa were dispersed directly on the sand mound or its southern slope, which was created in the centre of the area. Five species successfully germinated and survived out of the 7. Beside this, more than 6000 Festuca vaginata and 1000 Koeleria cristata bunches were counted in the plot in autumn 2010. In conclusion, seed dispersal was a successful method and could be an effective technique to establish or reconstruct open sandy grasslands, even at much larger spatial scales. Our results can be used in the nature conservation, especially in grasslands characterized by similar structure and species pool.
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