Effective management of rangelands requires the development of landscape-scale models for predicting spatial and temporal variability of forage. In the Magellanic tussock steppes, as in other cold-temperate regions, grazing capacity is dependent on the winter season. To develop a management tool for the region, we analysed links between winter forage availability, weather, stocking rate and vegetation structure. We studied four paddocks over five years with a range of stocking rates from 0 to 1.53 sheep.ha^–1. We sampled forb and non-tussock graminoid biomass, vegetation structure and faecal pellet abundance at the end of each summer. Daily temperature and rainfall data were also recorded. A regression model explained the amount of winter forage as a positive function of graminoid cover, spring minimum temperature, annual precipitation and a negative function of dwarf shrub canopy, bare soil and stocking rate (R² = 0.59). Interactions of structural variables with precipitation and stocking rate were detected, indicating strong fluctuations of forage availability in lawn communities dominated by short graminoids. The most probable causes of this response would be higher utilisation and lack of canopy structure. Our results illustrate how maps of vegetation structure, obtainable from satellite images, with weather and stocking rate data could be used for predicting optimal stocking rates in large, heterogeneous sheep paddocks.

Nomenclature: Correa (1969–1984); Moore (1983).

Abbreviation: EE = Ewe equivalent.

Boreal coniferous forests have been impacted by long distance airborne pollutant deposition for most of the 20th century. Changes in forest understorey vegetation attributable to N-deposition have been observed in southern Sweden, but not so far in southern Norway. We recorded the quantity of all species of vascular plants, bryophytes and lichens in 144 plots in a fertilization experiment in a 35-yr old Pinus sylvestris forest in Aust Agder County, southernNorway initiated 6 yr before our study. Each plot represented a combination of three levels of nitrogen, two levels of magnesium and two levels of phosphorus addition. Effects of fertilization on species quantity were tested by Kruskal-Wallis one-way analysis by ranks. For vascular plants, only small and hardly significant differences were found between treatments and control. Significant negative effects of N-fertilization were found on both mosses and lichens. To some extent, these effects could be attributed to direct effects of application of the fertilizer, but were more likely to be due to a negative feedback response to the faster growth of pine trees in fertilized stands, reducing throughfall precipitation and increasing litter fall. Significant differences between Mg- and P-fertilized sites and respective controls were found for too few species to be likely to represent an overall trend.

Nomenclature: Vascular plants: Lid & Lid (1994); Bryophytes: Frisvoll et al. (1995); Lichens: Krog et al. (1994), except that Cladonia chlorophaea agg. may include C. chlorophaea (Flörke ex Sommerf.) Spreng., C. merochlorophaea Asah., C. cryptochlorophaea Asah., C. grayi Merr. ex Sandst. & C. pyxidata (L.) Hoffm.

In this study the impact of land use changes on vegetation in the sub-alpine-alpine belt is analysed. The study sites (4.7 km²) are located in the Passeier Valley (South Tyrol, Italy), at an elevation of 1500–2300 m a.s.l. The whole study area was used for hay-making ca. 60 yr ago. Today, part of the meadows are more intensively used, while other parts have been converted to pasture or have been abandoned.

We analysed the reasons for these land use changes and the effects on vegetation with a Geographical Information System and geostatistical analysis. The result of these analyses are:

(1) Current land use is mainly controlled by the degree of accessibility for vehicles. Accessible areas are being used more and more intensively, while poorly accessible areas are being abandoned or used as pasture.

(2) Current vegetation is highly determined by current land use. Particular vegetation units can be assigned to each form of land use.

(3) Succession starts immediately after abandonment. Depending on altitude, succession proceeds at different speeds and with different numbers of stages. Hence the type of vegetation indicates the time passed since abandonment.

(4) Land use changes lead to characteristic changes in vegetation; they are considered to be the most important driving force for vegetation change.

(5) Measures of intensification and abandonment of extensively used areas both lead to a decrease in the number of species.

Nomenclature: Adler et al. (1994).

A local seed mixture from plants growing in a species-rich, traditionally managed hay meadow site at Varaldsøy, Hardanger, western Norway, where many endangered hay meadow species of the region are growing, was sown in a newly harrowed experimental field 1 km from the source meadow in order to increase the habitat area for the endangered species. Of 25 endangered species recorded in the source meadow, only one (Holcus lanatus) was present in the target meadow. After sowing, 16 of the endangered species in addition to Holcus lanatus were recorded in the new site. Six species were only present in sown plots and seven others were more frequent there, while three species might have arrived by chance or originated from the seed bank. Replacing the traditional management regime, including one late cut and grazing in spring and in autumn, with three cutting times and the creation of gaps in the sward, resulted in a higher number of endangered species in plots which were only cut, possibly because the grazing was too intensive in the small enclosures.

Nomenclature: Lid & Lid (1994).

Extensive areas in the mountain grasslands of central Argentina are heavily invaded by alien species from Europe. A decrease in biodiversity and a loss of palatable species is also observed. The invasibility of the tall-grass mountain grassland community was investigated in an experiment of factorial design. Six alien species which are widely distributed in the region were sown in plots where soil disturbance, above-ground biomass removal by cutting and burning were used as treatments. Alien species did not establish in undisturbed plots. All three types of disturbances increased the number and cover of alien species; the effects of soil disturbance and biomass removal was cumulative. Cirsium vulgare and Oenothera erythrosepala were the most efficient alien colonizers. In conditions where disturbances did not continue the cover of aliens started to decrease in the second year, by the end of the third season, only a few adults were established. Consequently, disturbances are needed to maintain alien populations in tall-grass mountain grasslands. Burning also increased the species richness of native species. We conclude that an efficient way to control the distribution of alien species is to decrease grazing pressure while burning as a traditional management tool may be continued.

Nomenclature: Cantero & Bianco (1986).

Pteridium aquilinum (bracken) encroachment is an important factor in the loss of certain habitats in the United Kingdom. However, no information exists as to whether prevention of encroachment is a cost-effective strategy for Pteridium management. Conventional methods for the control of Pteridium (cutting, asulam application) were tested at one site (Levisham) to quantify their ability to prevent or delay encroachment and to affect the vigour of the Pteridium at the edge of the stand. The effects of encroachment and asulam application on the vegetation present were monitored at a second site (Ramsley), where techniques commonly used for moorland restoration were employed in combination with asulam application.

Cutting once per year or a single application of asulam delayed the advance of the Pteridium front. At Levisham, the untreated front advanced 2.7 m in 5 yr, while in the same period the cut front advanced 0.88 m and the sprayed front was 1.5 m behind its initial position. At Ramsley, the untreated front invaded 1.8 m in 5 yr, and the sprayed front was again 1.5 m behind its starting position. Both spraying and cutting reduced frond biomass, frond cover and rhizome biomass. Herbicide spraying prevented the loss of Calluna vulgaris, though the restoration treatments had little effect. The merits of a balanced targeting of control on encroaching fronts or Pteridium at the stand level are discussed for different situations.

Nomenclature: Stace (1991).

In this study we report the first application of Landsat TM imagery to Chaco vegetation studies at a regional scale in Argentina. We produced a map showing 13 clearly differentiated land-cover types, and described the composition and structure of the plant communities, in an area of almost 40 000 km2 in central Argentina. The land-cover map obtained shows that the Chaco vegetation in central Argentina is highly disturbed. In the lowland part of the area the dominant land-cover types are largely cultural landscapes and substitute shrublands, which have displaced the original Chaco forests, leaving only small isolated remnants generally confined to sites with some kind of constrain for agriculture. The use of TM images and the multivariate analysis of phytosociological data showed a qualified, high accuracy mapping capability for land-cover types in the Chaco region (ca. 85% overall accuracy). Our results highlight the utility of TM and field data in a subtropical to warm-temperate region, which is promising where other ancillary data are not available and a rapid acquisition of reliable vegetation data is required, so constituting a starting point for an imperative and more extensive classification and mapping of the endangered Chaco region.

Nomenclature: Zuloaga et al. (1994); Zuloaga & Morrone (1996, 1999).

Abbreviations: AVHRR = Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer; MSS = Multi Spectral Scanner; TM = Thematic Mapper.

We sampled vegetation and soils of, and classified mid-seral, even-aged, fire-origin, upland Picea mariana ecosystems in the Boreal White & Black Spruce and Sub-boreal Spruce zones of British Columbia, Canada. We applied multivariate and tabular methods to analyse and synthesize the data from 121 plots according to the methods of biogeoclimatic ecosystem classification. We delineated seven basic vegetation units and described their vegetation and environmental features. However, the delineated units could not be related to neither of the taxonomies proposed for the North American boreal forest communities. Although species-poor, the understorey vegetation in the sampled ecosystems provided for a sufficient floristic differentiation, which matched well the major edaphic differences between the units. The classification of mid-seral boreal ecosystems may be more useful that based on old-growth stands that are infrequent or lacking in the landscape due to wildfires.

Abbreviations: BC = British Columbia; NMDS = Non-metric multidimensional scaling; SMR = Soil moisture regime; SNR = Soil nutrient regime.

Nomenclature: Qian & Klinka (1998).

Livestock overgrazing and stream incision in the western USA often result in encroachment and dominance of Artemisia tridentata ssp. tridentata (Big sagebrush) in riparian areas that formerly supported meadows. To define the alternative states and thresholds for these ecosystems, we conducted a restoration experiment that included sites with high, intermediate or low water tables. We used a paired-plot approach in which one plot on each site was burned and seeded with native grasses and forbs typical of naturally occurring dry meadow and Artemisia/Leymus cinereus ecological types, while adjacent unburned plots served as controls. Sites with high and intermediate water tables had greater initial abundances of perennial grasses typical of dry meadows, such as Leymus triticoides and Poa secunda ssp. juncifolia, and these species increased after the burn. In contrast, sites with low water tables were dominated by annual forbs such as Chenopodium album and Descurainia pinnata after the burn. Biomass increased progressively from 1997 to 1999 on burned plots, while controls showed little change. Burning effects were microsite specific, with former Artemisia microsites exhibiting lower biomass than interspaces initially, but similar or higher biomass by the third year. Establishment of seeded species was low and species composition was determined largely by pre-burn vegetation. Artemisia dominated sites with high water tables appear to represent an alternative state of the dry meadow ecological type, while sites with low water table sites have crossed an abiotic threshold governed by water tables and represent a new ecological type. Burning is an effective tool for restoring relatively high water table sites, but low water table sites will require burning and seeding with species adapted to more xeric conditions.

Nomenclature: Hickman (1993); Cronquist et al. (1994).

The objective of this experiment was to study the impact of free-range pigs foraging on mountain pasture vegetation. Pigs (15 week-old, mean weight 50 kg, n = 25) were enclosed from June to mid-September in a 2-ha enclosure in the Jura Mountains (Switzerland) and fed with a mixture of lactoserum and cereals. The enclosure contained four different plant communities. Eutrophic pastures on deep soil were largely overturned, but recolonization was quick and vegetation dominated by the original species. Mesotrophic pastures were less damaged on stony soil but were completely destroyed on deep soil, recovery was slow and was characterized by a shift of plant species in a more eutrophic direction. Four years were not sufficient for complete recovery. Oligotrophic calcareous pastures on shallow stony soil were not damaged. The result of this study was that extensive breeding of pigs in mountain pastures are harmful to plant species in mesotrophic pastures, and should be restricted to less sensitive plant communities, with a rotation of two or three different sites.

Nomenclature: Lauber & Wagner (2000).

Piper aduncum is a neotropical invasive species which has spread throughout Papua New Guinea over the past three decades. It has become a most successful alien woody plant in New Guinea, occurring from sea level up to 2000 m a.s.l. The species prefers initial stages of forest succession and is particularly common in recently abandoned gardens representative of a system of swidden agriculture. It often attains high cover, suppresses other pioneer species and becomes the absolute dominant species in these habitats. The species is now also spreading into naturally disturbed habitats far from direct human influence, such as natural tree-fall gaps, landslides and frequently flooded stream banks. It has, however, never been found in a closed primary forest. The species germinates from faeces of mammal and bird species, and we conclude that dispersal through endozoochory contributes to this species’ extraordinary success in Papua New Guinea. A similar invasion behaviour has been documented over a large geographic area, from Malaysia to Fiji. Piper aduncum has attributes which are common amongst successful invasive species: (1) a large native geographic range; (2) aggressively colonizing disturbed habitats in its native area; (3) relatively small seeds; (4) a short juvenile period; (5) a large seed production every year.

Abbreviations: CCA = Canonical Correspondence Analysis; PG = Papua New Guinea; RDA = Redundancy Analysis.

Attempts to restore species-rich flood-plain meadows from abandoned arable fields in the valley of the river Meuse, NE France, were studied. The study area was sown with a commercial seed mixture, composed of Phleum pratense, Festuca pratensis, Lolium perenne and Trifolium repens. The above-ground vegetation in the study area 1, 2 and 3 yr after restoration was compared to (1) the vegetation present during the previous 5-yr fallow stage and (2) target flood-plain meadows. Before restoration, the above-ground fallow vegetation was dominated by ruderal and annual species, while only very few meadow species were present. Sowing led to tall, dense vegetation, mainly dominated by the sown species. Ruderal and annual species had decreased 3 yr after restoration, but target species were still poorly represented. Species richness was significantly lower in the sown site than in the semi-natural target meadows and the vegetation had a different composition. Analysis of the soil seed bank of the restored meadow showed that only a few meadow species were present and that it was dominated by a few ruderal species.

Three years after sowing, the vegetation of our experimental site is moving slowly towards the target communities but impoverished seed sources seem to limit the success of this restoration operation and will lead to under-saturated communities.

Nomenclature: Lambinon et al. (1992).

Abbreviation: CA = Correspondence Analysis.

In this paper, we present a short overview of neutral landscape models traditionally adopted in the landscape ecological literature to differentiate landscape patterns that are the result of simple random processes from patterns that are generated from more complex ecological processes. Then, we present another family of models based on Tüxen’s definition of potential natural vegetation that play an important role, especially in Europe, for landscape planning and management. While neutral landscape models by their very nature do not take into account vegetation dynamics, nor abiotic constraints to vegetation distribution, the concept of potential natural vegetation includes the effects of vegetation dynamics in a spatially explicit manner. Therefore, we believe that distribution maps of potential natural vegetation may represent an ecological meaningful alternative to neutral landscape models for evaluating the effects of landscape structure on ecological processes.

Abbreviations: NLM = Neutral landscape model; PNV = Potential natural vegetation; PSV = Potential site-adapted vegetation; RNV = Reconstructed natural vegetation.