Vegetationsförändringar på Kungsmarken efter återupptagen hävd - Inom tre storrutor med olika hävdhistoria som lämnats till fri succession och sedan restaurerats

Sammanfattning: Hay meadows are becoming scarce in the Swedish agricultural landscape and restoration efforts are crucial to not lose the rich biodiversity. I studied three closely situated areas, one formerly grazed and the other two mown for at least 800 years, which had been left for free succession for more than fifty years. The purpose of my study was to investigate the outcome two years after restoration started. The succession has stopped and turned into an expansive phase where more open-land species are immigrating. Forty percent of the species that were present 1952 have gone extinct, mostly non-competitive open grassland-species. The plant composition is however still a mix of forest species and meadow species, which also explains the increase in species by twentyfive percent compared to 1952. This will by time change so that the late succession and forest species will be out-competed by the species that can withstand repeated mowing. I also studied how the plant societies in the different areas have changed during the 55 years of surveys with the conclusion that without management they became more heterogeneous (R= 0.95, p= 0.014), due to abiotic factors.