Plant species richness and composition in the arable land of Kosovo

This study investigates today’s plant species richness and composition in cultivated and recently abandoned\udarable land of Kosovo. Relationships between these aspects of vegetation and both environmental features\udand agricultural management measures are studied at the regional and plot scale. In 2006, 432 vegetation relevés\udwith a standard plot size of 25 m² were recorded in cultivated fields. In 2007, data collection focussed on 41 plots\udin arable fields that had been abandoned the year before. With respect to the environment, data analysis accounts\udfor topography, soil base-richness and moisture, and geographic location. As to the management, crops and weed\udcontrol are considered. A total number of 235 species was documented. In comparison to literature dating back to\udabout 1980, the regional weed flora considerably changed. At the plot scale, today’s weed flora of Kosovo is fairly\udspecies-poor and species composition is rather uniform between plots. According to General Regression Model\udanalyses, Indicator Species Analyses and Detrended Correspondence Analyses, species richness and composition\udmainly differ between crops and weed management, with highest mean species richness in recently abandoned and\udlowest in herbicide-treated maize fields