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Recovery of plant species composition and ecosystem function after cessation of grazing in a Mediterranean grassland

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Abstract

Short- and long-term changes in species composition, plant biomass production, and litter decomposition after cessation of grazing were examined in a Mediterranean grassland with high dominance of annual species and strong seasonality in biomass production. Short-term changes were assessed during three consecutive years in plots previously exposed to different grazing pressures and compared to plots in long-term (30–40 years) exclosures. Short-term cessation of grazing led in the short-term to an increase in relative biomass of annual crucifers and tall annual and perennial grasses, while biomass of annual legumes, annual thistles and short annual grasses decreased. Consequently, similarity increased between vegetation recently excluded from grazing and vegetation in long-term protected plots. Our research showed that in systems with high dominance of grasses and annual species, the rapid changes in plant species composition that occur after grazing cessation were associated with a fast recovery of the potential for biomass production to levels found in long-term protected plots, while litter decomposition rate did not change even after long-term cessation of grazing. Moreover, previous history of grazing did not affect plant litter decomposition, despite higher litter quality in grazed treatments. This study provides new insights about the processes involved in the diverse responses of ecosystem functions resulting from shifts in species composition associated with grazing cessation and land use change in Mediterranean grasslands.

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Acknowledgements

This research was carried out as part of the European Union funded project VISTA (Vulnerability of Ecosystem Services to Land Use Change in Traditional Agricultural Landscapes), EVK2-2002-00356. The study was part of the PhD thesis of C. G.. We thank Hillary Voet for statistical advice. We also thank Zalmen Henkin and the Karei Deshe staff, in particular Zadok Cohen and Yehuda Yehuda, for assistance in the set up and maintenance of the experiment and the many students who assisted in data collection and processing. The experiments in this study comply with the current laws of the State of Israel.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Plant Sciences and Genetics in Agriculture, Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, PO Box 12, 76100, Rehovot, Israel

    Carly Golodets & Jaime Kigel

  2. Department of Plant Sciences, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, 69978, Tel Aviv, Israel

    Marcelo Sternberg

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  1. Carly Golodets
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  2. Jaime Kigel
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Correspondence to Carly Golodets.

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Responsible Editor: Wim van der Putten.

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Golodets, C., Kigel, J. & Sternberg, M. Recovery of plant species composition and ecosystem function after cessation of grazing in a Mediterranean grassland. Plant Soil 329, 365–378 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-009-0164-1

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