The goal of this study was to evaluate several sustainable turf maintenance techniques for their potential to increase beneficial insect populations, which could then provide ecosystem services including pest suppression and pollination. The three techniques in question were 1) raising mowing height in commercial and residential lawns, 2) establishing naturalized roughs on golf courses, and 3) creating pollinator refuges on golf courses through the program Operation Pollinator. We found that raising mowing heights did increase populations of some predators such as spiders and staphylinids, but did not increase predation, which was ubiquitously high because ant populations were unaffected by mowing height. In addition, we found that pests reared in high-mowed grass were less likely to survive and gained weight more slowly than when raised in low-mowed grass. On golf courses, we found that naturalized roughs and traditional roughs supported different populations of predators, but contrary to our original hypothesis, naturalized roughs had little impact on biological control on the rest of the golf course. Operation Pollinator was successful in supporting 49 species of pollinators, including rare and declining bumble bees, demonstrating that turf systems can provide valuable pollinator conservation services, especially in urban systems where pollinator habitats are already rare.

This thesis was focused on evaluate the effect of various permanent grassland exploitation on the biological characteristics and soil properties. Permanent grasslands are composite and varied community of legumes, grasses and many other forbs, which are an important component of agroecosystem. This thesis was carried out in 2013 on experimental grass field trial on Faculty of Agriculture, University of South Bohemia in the ČeskéBudějovice. The experimental variants was evaluated the effect of management by mowing, mulching, leaving fallow.Otherwise were also evaluated height stands,phenophases during harvesting, types of outgrowth, the amount of residual biomass and selected soil properties. The aim of the thesis was to evaluate the effect of different exploitation of grassland herbage on its characteristics and selected soil properties and design of appropriate methods of grassland management. Method of grassland management should be chosen with respect to the exploitationmethodsof permanent grassland. It is very important to take into account the altitude climatic and soil conditions and the type of vegetation.Finally, it must be taken of the used machinery. It was recommended evaluated grassland mowed 2 or 3 times a year along with fertilization by NPK as a suitable form of management.

The thesis is about the timing of phenophases of species. Research was carried out on two contrasted meadows (wet and dry). Meadows were situated in localities Ohraze-ní and Bílé Karpaty. The aim was obseved the timing of phenophases in mown and unmown parts of meadows. And how mowing affect growth of species during the season. The next aim was monitored grow shoot biomass before and after mowing.

I investigated percent coverage, plant height, species richness, and woody stem density in plant communities in ten study plots during spring and fall (2010-2012) within 3 different treatments (continual mowings, one fall mowing, and one fall mowing with native wildflower seeds) on highway 25 right-of-way in Oktibbeha and Winston counties, Mississippi. I recorded 277 plant species including native and non-native forbs, legumes, grasses, rushes/sedges, and woody plants. Non-native agronomic grasses exhibited greatest coverage greater than 90 percent occurring in all treatments. Percent coverage of plants less than 0.46m height category exceeded 100 while, greater than 0.46m plant height categories averaged 55 percent. Woody stem density ranged from 7,772 year 1 to 10,025 stems/hectare year 2. I detected no significant differences in plant height or woody stems among treatments. One mowing per year retained agronomic plant cover for erosion control and annual cost savings up to 75 percent for roadside maintenance.

No description available.

Water resources for outdoor areas, such as lawns and landscapes, continues to become limited in many urban areas, especially in times of acute drought stress. Lawn species selection and cultural practices, such as mowing height, can strongly influence overall seasonal water needs. While previous research has reported various lawn species water use rates and differences in the ability of some cultivars to maintain green coverage during acute drought stress, little is known regarding the irrigation requirements of cool-season lawn species when using a deficit irrigation strategy based on a green coverage target threshold (e.g. 60-80% green) approach. Two greenhouse studies were conducted to screen various candidate species and seed mixtures in a sandy media. The highest water use and worst appearance/green coverage was associated with an inexpensive commercial lawn mixture; and the lowest water use and best appearance was generally associated with improved Kentucky bluegrass (<i>Poa pratensis</i> L.: KBG) cultivars. Field studies were conducted to quantify the irrigation requirements of drought susceptible (DS) and improved, drought tolerant (DT) KBG and tall fescue [<i>Schedonorus arundinaceus</i> (Schreb.): TF] cultivars, blends and mixtures at two mowing heights (5.1 or 8.9 cm). Results from a 74-day field study using a deficit irrigation replacement approach with a 70% green coverage threshold (GCT₇₀) irrigation trigger, demonstrated water savings of approximately 73 to 78% when using a DT TF (60.3 mm) as compared to 100% evapotranspiration (ET­_o) replacement (223.4 mm) and a conventional lawn irrigation approach (268.5 mm), respectively. The time to reach the GCT₇₀ generally ranked: TF=TF:KBG mixture>KBG and ranged from 18.0 days for DS ‘Right’ KBG and 52.5 days for DT ‘RainDance’ TF. Among TF and KBG cultivars using the GCT­₇₀irrigation approach, DT TF required 35 to 68% less supplemental irrigation compared to DT and DS KBG cultivars (92.1 vs. 187.3 mm), respectively. Within KBG cultivars, the DT ‘Desert Moon’ required one-half the irrigation of DS Right (92.1 vs. 187.3 mm), while there were no differences among TF cultivars for irrigation needs. Mowing height did not affect KBG irrigation needs, but TF at 5.1 cm showed increased visual quality and green coverage, and significantly reduced irrigation requirements. Field research also compared species mixtures and blends using DS and DT KBG and TF to determine the amount of a DT species/cultivar that would enhance drought performance with ratios ranging from 25-100% DT as well as 90:10 TF:KBG mixtures. The quantity of a DT KBG in a blend, and DT TF in a TF:KBG mixture reduced irrigation needs, whereas the drought rating of the KBG cultivar in a TF:KBG mixture had no significant effect. In summary, these studies continue to demonstrate that significant supplemental lawn irrigation savings can be achieved by the selection of superior DT species and cultivars combined with a deficit irrigation replacement approach compared to other cool-season species and conventional irrigation practices.

No description available.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Uppsala : Sveriges lantbruksuniv., 2006. / Härtill 4 uppsatser.

Les mesures de végétalisation ou de restauration écologique nécessitent de comprendre les mécanismes qui sous-tendent les changements de composition et de structure de la végétation au cours de la succession écologique. Des perturbations, d’intensité et fréquence variables, naturelles ou causées par l’Homme, agissent souvent en interaction sur la dynamique temporelle de la végétation. Cependant, l’influence d’une perturbation récurrente combinée aux changements écologiques au cours de la succession est restée peu étudiée jusqu’à présent.Les communautés végétales de talus routiers représentent un modèle pertinent pour étudier cette problématique. L’historique d’aménagement et de gestion des talus est particulièrement bien renseigné ; on a donc une connaissance précise de l’âge des communautés et de leur régime de perturbation par la fauche. Les talus routiers fournissent ainsi un plan quasi-expérimental in situ permettant l’étude des processus qui affectent l’assemblage des communautés au cours de la succession sous l’influence d’une perturbation récurrente.L’objectif principal de cette étude est de caractériser la dynamique successionnelle initiée par la mise en place d’un talus routier en région méditerranéenne et de déterminer les processus écologiques et les facteurs environnementaux influençant cette dynamique. On s’intéresse en particulier à l’influence de la fauche récurrente sur cette dynamique.Pour cela, nous avons étudié la composition floristique et la diversité des traits fonctionnels (traits foliaires et de phénologie de floraison principalement) de la végétation de talus routiers de l’Hérault (France). Chaque talus inclut une partie fauchée et une partie non fauchée, l’ensemble formant une chronoséquence sur près de 70 ans.L’analyse des variations taxonomiques entre les communautés végétales de talus routiers montre un large remplacement des espèces au cours de la succession. Ce turnover floristique est associé à des changements fonctionnels au sein des communautés. Ces derniers sont structurés par des filtres environnementaux qui influent (1) sur la synchronie de floraison entre espèces au sein des communautés au cours du temps et (2) sur la diversité de combinaisons de traits fonctionnels entre communautés d’âge similaire. Ces changements de filtres environnementaux au cours du temps semblent liés à des changements pédologiques et à l’augmentation de l’hétérogénéité spatiale des conditions de lumière et de température (avec la fermeture progressive de canopée). La fauche altère les trajectoires floristiques et fonctionnelles, notamment en provoquant un ralentissement du changement de stratégie d’utilisation des ressources au cours de la succession par rapport à la trajectoire naturelle, sans fauche. De plus, cette perturbation récurrente induit une augmentation de la diversité taxonomique et fonctionnelle au sein des communautés alors qu’elle la réduit entre communautés d’âge similaire. Finalement, la fauche agit comme un filtre environnemental supplémentaire sur l’assemblage des communautés au cours de la succession et induit une homogénéisation de la végétation entre communautés d’âge similaire.Les conclusions de cette étude contribuent à la connaissance écologique fondamentale. En termes d’implications pour la gestion des communautés végétales de talus routiers, nos conclusions suggèrent, entre autres, que l’association de végétation fauchée et non fauchée au sein des mêmes sites pourrait servir d’habitat pour une plus grande diversité de faune associée. Cette association permettrait de plus d’avoir un rendu paysager agréable aux usagers de la route, tout en garantissant une bonne visibilité pour la sécurité routière. / The success of revegetation or ecological restauration highly depends on our knowledge of mechanisms underlying changes in composition and structure of the vegetation along the ecological succession. Natural or human-induced disturbances of varying intensity and frequency often occur simultaneously to influence vegetation temporal dynamics. However, the influence of a recurrent disturbance combined with ecological changes along plant succession remains poorly documented.Plant communities growing on road slopes are particularly appropriate to study this issue. Construction work and management history are well documented, so that the age of the vegetation and its disturbance regime by mowing can be precisely informed. Thus, road slopes plant communities represent an in situ quasi-experimental framework particularly adapted to study processes affecting community assembly along the ecological succession under the influence of a recurrent disturbance.The principal objective of this study is to characterise the successional dynamic initiated after road slope construction in the Mediterranean area, and to identify the ecological processes and environmental factors influencing this dynamic. We particularly focused on the influence of recurrent mowing on this dynamic.We studied the floristic composition and the diversity of functional traits (mainly leaf traits and flowering phenology traits) in a 70-year long chronosequence of French Mediterranean (Hérault, France) road slopes, each including both mown and unmown vegetation.The analysis of taxonomical variations between road slopes plant communities reveals a large species turnover along the ecological succession. This floristic turnover relates with functional changes within communities. These functional changes are structured by environmental filters influencing flowering synchrony within communities on one hand, and the diversity of a combination of functional traits between communities of similar age on the other hand. These environmental filters changing along the succession relate with changing soil parameters and increasing spatial heterogeneity of light and temperature conditions with canopy closure.Mowing alters floristic and functional trajectories along the succession, notably through the decrease of speed in resource-use strategy changes along the succession in mown communities compared to unmown communities. In addition, this recurrent disturbance increases taxonomic and functional diversity within communities, while it decreases taxonomic and functional turnover between communities of the same age. Finally, mowing acts as an additional environmental filter on community assembly along the succession and homogenises vegetation between communities of the same age.The conclusions of this study provide basic knowledge in ecology. It also has implications for the management of road slopes plant communities in the perspective of their revegetation after construction work. Our conclusions suggest, amongst others, that combining mown and unmown vegetation could provide habitats for a higher diversity of associated fauna. In addition, it would allow vegetation to be pleasant to road users, while still ensuring a good visibility for road safety.

At the time the Black and Red List of the Vascular Plants of the Krkonoše (Giant) Mountains was being compiled it was found that no information was available about the distribution of eyebright (Euphrasia) or other facts concerning this hemiparasite growing in the Krkonoše. The aim of this work was to fill the gap. This was to be done by creating a GIS layer with the current distribution of eyebright in the mountains, by analysing the soils taken in places of eyebright occurrence, in neighbouring places and those closely resembling them but without eyebright. The soils were taken each time from five places in the particular locality and were analysed as a mixed sample. In all, 107 mixed soil samples were taken, of which 53 in places where eyebright occurred and in 54 similar places where eyebright was absent. Eyebright grows in places with a higher pH and it performs better in lower available phosphorus concentration. Management test was used to test the earlier time of mowing meadows containing eyebright, when a larger number of flowering eyebright occurs among the plants in comparison with the number of flowering eyebright on surfaces mown at a later time.; Management testing was carried out from June to July 2011 in six localities, with five plots in each locality, in the Eastern and Western...