Stampfli Andreas

Regeneration and long-term dynamics in grassland of southern Switzerland

Project Number: 3100-055917
Project Type: Research_Project
Project Duration: 01/01/2000 - 12/31/2002
Funding Source: SNSF ,
Project Leader: PD Dr. Andreas Stampfli
Abteilung Agronomie
Hochschule für Agrar-, Forst- und Lebensmittelwissenschaften HAFL
Berner Fachhochschule
Länggasse 85
3052 Zollikofen
Phone: +41 (0) 31 910 21 98 ; +41 (0) 31 910 21 11
FAX: +41 (0) 31 910 22 99
e-Mail: andreas.stampfli(at)bfh.ch
http://www.shl.bfh.ch

related to this project.
for which the project has a relevance.

Disciplines:
ecology

Keywords:
vegetation dynamics
community invasibility
community vulnerability
monitoring
seed germination
seedling survival
climate variability
extreme event
drought
soil moisture
biodiversity

Abstract:
Throughout Europe chanes in land-use in the last century have affected the plant species composition and conservation value of upland meadows. This has led to an increased interest in processes and factors which allow many species, especially rarer ones, to generate and maintain species rich meadows. Our recent work has shown that the restoration of such meadows is constrained by limited seed disperal, but also by a lack of information on plant attributes and requirements for successful regeneration of plants. In this project we study spontaneous natural regeneration in meadows of high species richness in southern Switzerland. Moreover, we perform seed-addition experiments to investigate the possibility of re-establishment of meadow species in grasslands which have suffered a reductin in species richness. In two successive years 1000 seeds of each of 24 taxa, grasses and forbs originating from three different species pools, are sown in dry grasslands at each of three experimental sites. The fate of the individuals is permanently monitored over 24 months to determine survivorship and mortality rates of the sown species. Soil moisture and precipitation are measured over 4 years. We hope to fill gaps of basic information on regenerative plant attributes and to reduce the proportion of unexplained variation in long-term data series of community composition.

Leading questions:
What is the role of seed regeneration in meadows of high species richness?
How is seed regeneration affected by year-to-year climatic variation?
How quickly and how successfully do meadow species with different regenerative attributes become established in mown dry grassland?
Is establishment success dependent on the original community species pool?
Are germination and establishment rates dependent on site-specific factors such as species density, local rainfall patterns or seed predators?

URL: http://www.botany.unibe.ch/sgi/index.html


Last update: 12/3/01
Source of data: ProClim- Research InfoSystem (1993-2024)
Update the data of project: CH-55917

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