How is regeneration of plants after mowing affected by shoot size in two species-rich meadows with different water supply?

0348664 - BÚ 2011 RIV CZ eng J - Journal Article
Klimešová, Jitka - Janeček, Štěpán - Bartušková, Alena - Lanta, V. - Doležal, Jiří
How is regeneration of plants after mowing affected by shoot size in two species-rich meadows with different water supply?
Folia Geobotanica. Roč. 45, č. 3 (2010), s. 225-238. ISSN 1211-9520. E-ISSN 1874-9348
R&D Projects: GA ČR GA526/09/0963; GA ČR(CZ) GA526/06/0723
Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z60050516
Keywords : White Carpathians * coexistence * shoot biomass
Subject RIV: EF - Botanics
Impact factor: 1.229, year: 2010

Mowing a meadow is an example of an equalizing process that reduces differences among species by removing aboveground biomass approximately 5 cm above ground. This regular disturbance that affects all plants prevents competitive exclusion of small species and thus allows coexistence of numerous species differing in shoot size. In this paper we search for the mechanism behind this by comparing the shoot biomass of 41 common species in dry and wet species-rich meadows in mown and recently abandoned plots in June (before mowing) and in October. We asked the following questions: i) Do the plants differ in proportion of biomass lost by mowing? ii) Are the mown plants able to compensate for biomass lost by mowing? iii) Is the compensatory ability of mown plants related to their size? iv) Is the compensatory ability of plants related to severity of disturbance (removed biomass)? v) Does water availability in meadows affect these features?
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0006055