Patch dynamics in sand grasslands: connecting primary
and secondary succession
Sándor Bartha*, Zsolt Molnár and Gábor Fekete
Institute of Ecology and Botany, Hungarian Academy of Sciences
H-2163 Vácrátót, Hungary
*corresponding author: [email protected]
Short term (5–10–20 years) consequences of climate, and land use changes often
appear at fine spatial scales. To understand plant community dynamics at these finer
scales, patterns of sand vegetation were monitored at six localities representing
various habitat types in the Kiskunság. Repeated vegetation maps within 40 × 100 m
areas with a 5 × 5 m resolution were made between 1998 and 2007. Results from two
localities, depicting primary and secondary (oldfield) successional processes, are
presented here. Both stands were ca. 25 years old at the beginning of the study.
Vegetation patch types mapped were mainly dominance types defined after extensive
coenological surveys and on the basis of the age-states (life-stages) of dominant
grasses (Figure 1).
A high diversity of patches and considerable temporal change of vegetation
patchworks were revealed in both
dynamics (Figure 2).
It is typical in these habitats that early
successional patch types are still present
after 25 years of vegetation development.
Succession seems to be highly stochastic
at the site level (e.g. at the scale of
Figure 1. Vegetation patchwork near Fülöpabandoned fields). However, it can be
háza (25-year-old abandoned field)
understood easily and described clearly
at the patch scale by the transformations
between the small number of patch types (16 coenological states, Figure 3).
We found considerable overlap between primary and secondary succession. The
same patch types appear in both dynamics but with different probabilities and
through different local successional pathways. The main drivers of transformations
are the ageing and competitive dynamics of dominant grasses, the accumulation of
plant litter, the animal (and human) disturbances, and the recurring drought effects.
Transitional probabilities fluctuate over time, underlining the importance of longterm studies (Figure 4). The graphs describing the potential transformations between
vegetation patches can serve as a conceptual basis for planning conservation and
restoration managements in the future.
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a
b
Figure 2. Repeated mapping of vegetation patch dynamics near Fülöpháza. 40 × 100 m
areas mapped with 5 × 5 m resolution. a) primary succession, b) secondary succession.
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a
b
primary
a
secondary
b
Figure 3. Graphs of state-transformations representing vegetation patch dynamics between
1998 and 2007 near Fülöpháza. Only transitions with transitional probability > 0.1 are shown
(most frequent transitions are marked by blue colour). a) primary succession, b) secondary
succession.
Figure 4. Temporal variability of transitional probabilities. Three examples are shown.
F -> FS* (species poor Festuca patch -> Festuca-Stipa species rich patch), FS*-> S
(Festuca-Stipa species rich patch -> species poor Stipa patch), FS*-> Ann (Festuca-Stipa
species rich patch -> species poor patch characterized by cryptogams and annuals).
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References
Bartha, S. 2002. Coenostate-transformations in sand grasslands. In: Fekete, G. (ed.): 50 years of the
Institute of Ecology and Botany of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences 1952–2002. MTA ÖBKI, Vácrátót,
pp. 189–191. (in Hungarian)
Bartha, S., Campatella, G., Canullo, R., Bódis, J., Mucina, L. 2004. On the importance of fine-scale
spatial complexity in vegetation restoration. International Journal of Ecology and Environmental
Sciences 30: 101–116.
Bartha, S. 2007. Secondary succession of abandoned fields on sand soils. In Horváth, A., Szitár, K. (eds)
Monitoring in agricultural landscapes. MTA ÖBKI, Vácrátót, pp. 202–207. (in Hungarian)
Fekete, G. 1992. The holistic view of succession reconsidered. Coenoses 7(1): 21–29.
Kovács-Láng, E., Fekete, G., Molnár, Zs. 1998. Pattern, process, and scale: long-term ecological research
in the Kiskunság. In: Fekete, G. (ed.): Frontiers in community ecology. Scientia, Budapest, pp.
209–224. (in Hungarian)
The first stage of primary succession starting on the moving sand.
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