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Hung Acad Sci
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Old-field restoration through nitrogen immobilization
Degraded old-fields are more and more common in Hungary, especially in the Kiskunsag region. The natural process of secondary succession is often too slow and can stall at an intermediate state dominated by weeds for a long time. Restoration methods can shift succession towards a state with higher natural value. Field experiment was carried out from 1998 to 2003 on three sites differing in elevation, moisture and productivity. Carbon source treatment was applied in order to lower soil nitrogen availability, thus providing competitive advantage for the species of the target open sandy grassland over the fast-growing nitrophilous weeds. The treatment significantly decreased the available nitrogen content of the soil through the immobilization of nitrate on all sites. Despite the results in the soil, vegetation changes were similar in the control and treated plots thus reflect the process of secondary succession. The vegetation’s response to the treatment could only be detected on the most productive site, where the potential vegetation would be a closed sandy steppe. However, specialist species typical for this community are missing from the surrounding landscape, thus propagule limitation will determine the succession until new restoration methods could be applied.
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