Evaluating alternative mowing regimes for conservation management of Central European mesic hay meadows: A field experiment

Conservation status of hay meadows highly depends on their management. The main goal of this study was to assess the efficiency of different mowing regimes in maintenance of plant species richness and diversity of mesic hay meadows. The field experiment was carried out on a species rich, mesic hay meadow in Western Hungary. We evaluated the effects of four alternative types of management on the plant community after 7 years of continuous treatment: (1) mowing twice a year, typical traditional management, (2) mowing once a year in May, most practised currently by local farmers, (3) mowing once a year in September, often proposed for conservation management and (4) abandonment of mowing. Traditional mowing resulted in significantly higher number and higher diversity of vascular plant species than other mowing regimes. Mowing twice a year was the only efficient way to control the spread of the invasive <i>Solidago gigantea,</i> and mowing in September was more successful in it than mowing in May. We conclude that the traditional mowing regime is the most suitable to maintain botanical diversity of mesic hay meadows; however, other regimes should also be considered if certain priority species are targeted by conservation.

干草甸的保育状况高度依赖其管理措施。本研究的核心目标为评估不同刈割制度（mowing regimes）对中生性干草甸（mesic hay meadows）植物物种丰富度与多样性维持的效果。本研究于匈牙利西部一处物种丰富的中生性干草甸开展野外试验，对经过7年连续处理后的植物群落，评估了4种备选管理方式的影响：（1）年刈割2次：典型的传统管理模式；（2）年刈割1次（5月进行）：当前当地农户最常用的管理方式；（3）年刈割1次（9月进行）：保育管理中常被推荐的方案；（4）停止刈割。研究结果显示，相较于其他刈割制度，传统刈割模式可显著提升维管植物（vascular plant species）的物种数量与多样性水平。年刈割2次是防控入侵植物加拿大一枝黄花（Solidago gigantea）扩散的唯一有效手段，且9月刈割的防控效果优于5月刈割。本研究结论表明，传统刈割制度是维持中生性干草甸植物多样性的最优方案；但若保育目标为特定优先保护物种，则需考虑其他管理模式。