Rapid functional but slow species diversity recovery of steppe vegetation on former arable fields in southern Ukraine

Dembicz, Iwona; Zachwatowicz, Maria; Moysiyenko, Ivan; Shapoval, Viktor; Smreczak, Bożena; Zagorodniuk, Natalia; Davydova, Anastasia; Vynokurov, Denys; Seiler, Hallie; Sudnik‐Wójcikowska, Barbara

doi:10.1111/avsc.12756

Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://doi.org/10.21256/zhaw-29495

Publication type:	Article in scientific journal
Type of review:	Peer review (publication)
Title:	Rapid functional but slow species diversity recovery of steppe vegetation on former arable fields in southern Ukraine
Authors:	Dembicz, Iwona Zachwatowicz, Maria Moysiyenko, Ivan Shapoval, Viktor Smreczak, Bożena Zagorodniuk, Natalia Davydova, Anastasia Vynokurov, Denys Seiler, Hallie Sudnik‐Wójcikowska, Barbara
et. al:	No
DOI:	10.1111/avsc.12756 10.21256/zhaw-29495
Published in:	Applied Vegetation Science
Volume(Issue):	26
Issue:	e12756
Issue Date:	16-Dec-2023
Publisher / Ed. Institution:	Wiley
ISSN:	1402-2001 1654-109X
Language:	English
Subjects:	Abandonment; Askania-Nova; Chronosequence; Functional trait; Passive restoration; Soil carbon; Species richness; Steppe; Temperate grassland; Vegetation recovery
Subject (DDC):	333.7: Land, natural recreational areas 580: Plants (Botany)
Abstract:	Questions: European steppes are among the most threatened ecosystems in the Palaearctic region, mainly because of conversion to arable land. Abandonment may allow for the passive recovery of steppes. We made use of an exceptional old-field succession chronosequence of nearly 100 years to answer the following questions: (a) Are the plant species composition, species richness and functional characteristics typical of virgin grass steppes able to self-restore during ca. 100 years after abandonment? (b) Do the rates of recovery of the above vegetation characteristics differ over the studied chronosequence? (c) Do topsoil carbon and nitrogen content change over the succession chronosequence, leading to concentrations similar to that of virgin steppes? Location: Southern Ukraine. Methods: We sampled vegetation and soil in a virgin grass steppe and in old fields abandoned for 6, 15, 31, 50 and ca. 97 years. We subjected the composition data to multivariate analysis. To test whether species richness, functional and soil characteristics of the old fields diverge from those of the virgin steppe, we used one-way analysis of variance with Tukey's honestly significant difference (HSD) statistic to create 90% confidence intervals. Results: The vegetation composition of the three most recently abandoned old fields differed significantly from that of the virgin steppe. The species richness of vascular plants was lower in old fields than in the virgin steppe. The share of steppe habitat specialists was similar to the virgin steppe only in the field abandoned for ca. 97 years. Functional characteristics were significantly different from the virgin steppe only in the most recently abandoned old field. Contents of Corg and Ntot in fields abandoned for ≤50 years were lower compared with the virgin steppe. Conclusions: The functional characteristics of steppe vegetation seem to recover much faster than its biodiversity. However, based on our results, 100 years can be enough time for the spontaneous re-establishment of typical steppe vegetation.
URI:	https://digitalcollection.zhaw.ch/handle/11475/29495
Fulltext version:	Published version
License (according to publishing contract):	CC BY 4.0: Attribution 4.0 International
Departement:	Life Sciences and Facility Management
Organisational Unit:	Institute of Natural Resource Sciences (IUNR)
Appears in collections:	Publikationen Life Sciences und Facility Management

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Dembicz, I., Zachwatowicz, M., Moysiyenko, I., Shapoval, V., Smreczak, B., Zagorodniuk, N., Davydova, A., Vynokurov, D., Seiler, H., & Sudnik‐Wójcikowska, B. (2023). Rapid functional but slow species diversity recovery of steppe vegetation on former arable fields in southern Ukraine. Applied Vegetation Science, 26(e12756). https://doi.org/10.1111/avsc.12756

Dembicz, I. et al. (2023) ‘Rapid functional but slow species diversity recovery of steppe vegetation on former arable fields in southern Ukraine’, Applied Vegetation Science, 26(e12756). Available at: https://doi.org/10.1111/avsc.12756.

I. Dembicz et al., “Rapid functional but slow species diversity recovery of steppe vegetation on former arable fields in southern Ukraine,” Applied Vegetation Science, vol. 26, no. e12756, Dec. 2023, doi: 10.1111/avsc.12756.

DEMBICZ, Iwona, Maria ZACHWATOWICZ, Ivan MOYSIYENKO, Viktor SHAPOVAL, Bożena SMRECZAK, Natalia ZAGORODNIUK, Anastasia DAVYDOVA, Denys VYNOKUROV, Hallie SEILER und Barbara SUDNIK‐WÓJCIKOWSKA, 2023. Rapid functional but slow species diversity recovery of steppe vegetation on former arable fields in southern Ukraine. Applied Vegetation Science. 16 Dezember 2023. Bd. 26, Nr. e12756. DOI 10.1111/avsc.12756

Dembicz, Iwona, Maria Zachwatowicz, Ivan Moysiyenko, Viktor Shapoval, Bożena Smreczak, Natalia Zagorodniuk, Anastasia Davydova, Denys Vynokurov, Hallie Seiler, and Barbara Sudnik‐Wójcikowska. 2023. “Rapid Functional but Slow Species Diversity Recovery of Steppe Vegetation on Former Arable Fields in Southern Ukraine.” Applied Vegetation Science 26 (e12756). https://doi.org/10.1111/avsc.12756.

Dembicz, Iwona, et al. “Rapid Functional but Slow Species Diversity Recovery of Steppe Vegetation on Former Arable Fields in Southern Ukraine.” Applied Vegetation Science, vol. 26, no. e12756, Dec. 2023, https://doi.org/10.1111/avsc.12756.