Post-restoration grassland management overrides the effects of restoration methods in propagule-rich landscapes

Grassland restoration is gaining momentum worldwide to tackle the loss of biodiversity and associated ecosystem services. Restoration methods and their effects on ecological community reassembly have been extensively studied across various grassland types, while the importance of post-restoration management has so far received less attention. Grassland management is an important surrogate for natural disturbances, which most ancient grasslands have co-evolved with. Thus, without the reintroduction of management-related disturbance, restoration targets are unlikely to be achieved in restored grasslands. In this study, we aimed to explore how 20 years of management by mowing once a year or light cattle grazing, affects restoration success in Palearctic meadow-steppe grasslands restored by either sowing native grasses (‘sown sites’), applying Medicago sativa as a nurse plant (‘Medicago sites’), or allowing spontaneous succession (‘spontaneous sites’). We found that following mowing, sown s...