Impact on the Abandonment of Semi-Natural Grasslands from Apuseni Mountains

Abstract

According to The European Communion in Europe there are large areas of abandoned grasslands (Osterburg and colab., 2010). The abandonment of grasslands entails substantial changes to the vegetation cover. Usually, after a period of time, semi-natural grasslands start to develop forestlike features. In Romania despite the existence of a subsidiary system large areas with semi-natural grasslands are abandoned. The objective of this paper was to analyze the effect of abandonment on the structure of vegetation cover. The experiment consists in 3 experimental variants (1 mowed annually, 1 abandoned for 5 years and 1 abandoned for 15 years) and is located in the village of Ghețari, from Gârda de Sus commune at an altitude of 1130 m. Vegetation was studied using the Braun-Blanquet method, modified by Păcurar and Rotar in 2014. The scientific results were processed with the numerical analysis application (Cluster Analyses) belonging to PC-ORD program. Results showed that the grassland abandoned for 5 years did not show any statistical difference compared to the grassland mowed annually. The grassland abandoned for 15 years showed modification in the structure of vegetation cover translated by the disappearance of numerous species.Our reccomandation is that semi-natural grasslands, which have numerous economical disadvantages because of their location, should be mowed at least every five years.