THE EFFECT OF DIFFERENT MANAGEMENT PRACTICES ON A GRASSLAND COMMUNITY AND THE RESULTING FATE OF SEEDLINGS

SUMMARY The effects of the management practices of hay‐making from unmanured grassland in July, in September and in July + September, and of abandoning of formerly manured, hayed and grazed grassland were studied from 1973 onwards. The cover of dominant species strongly fluctuated with «abandoning» and with «July hay‐making» as compared to the other regimes. Cover of Holcus lanatus on the one hand and of Ranunculus repens, Agrostis stolonifera and Poa trivialis on the other fluctuated complementary. Seedlings emerged in spring with all management practices. Depending on the time of hay‐making in late summer and in autumn new seedlings emerged. Most seedlings emerged with «September hay‐making» and with «July + September hay‐making». Survival was generally related to the dates of emergence and hence to the structure of the vegetation. The trend reveals of relatively much dicots reaching the juvenile stage with «September hay‐making», whereas relatively much monocots reach this stage with «July hay‐making». Of species sown in November a few individuals reached the flowering stage with «September hay‐making» and with «July + September hay‐making» regimes.