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VEGETATIONAL SUCCESSION, MANAGEMENT AND HYDROLOGY IN A BROOKLAND (THE NETHERLANDS)
Author(s) -
Bakker J. P.,
Brouwer C.,
Van Den Hof L.,
Jansen A.
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
acta botanica neerlandica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.871
H-Index - 87
eISSN - 1438-8677
pISSN - 0044-5983
DOI - 10.1111/j.1438-8677.1987.tb01966.x
Subject(s) - ditch , groundwater , hydrology (agriculture) , ecological succession , environmental science , rainwater harvesting , aquifer , geology , ecology , geotechnical engineering , biology
SUMMARY The relation is discussed between management, hydrology and the resulting vegetational succession during the period between 1975 and 1980 in a characteristic lower course of a Drenthian brook. The hay‐making without fertilizer application could eventually lead to a gradient from Caricioncurto nigrae at the valley flank to Magnocaricion adjacent to the brook. These communities are related to mesotrophic mineral‐rich groundwater seeping from a deep aquifer, groundwater with a short residence time in the soil with rainwater characteristics, and an intermediate groundwater type. The actual vegetational succession reveals an increase of the nutrient‐rich communities of Glyceria maxima and Carex acuta/Carex aquatilis typicum and of the nutrient‐poor community of Carex nigra , whereas mesotrophic Magnocaricion communities decreased. This is probably caused by a deep land consolidation ditch adjacent to the nature reserve diverting the base flow. Mineral‐rich groundwater, therefore, is replaced by mineral‐poor rainwater on the one hand and by nutrient‐rich flood water on the other hand. Management practices inside a nature reserve can thus be seriously countered by qualitative hydrological changes outside a reserve even with slightly higher groundwater tables.