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Effects of short-term grazing exclusion on vegetation and soil in early succession of a Subhumid Mediterranean reclaimed coal mine

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Abstract

Aims

To assess the short-term effect of herbivory exclusion on vegetation and soil and to relate differences in floristic composition to changes in soil properties in a reclaimed coal mine in northern Spain.

Methods

Two adjacent main plots of 50 × 50 m, one fenced to prevent ungulates grazing and the other not, were established in a north-facing slope to analyze differences in the soil and plant community in the short time.

Results

A clear influence of grazing exclusion on soil properties and plant community composition and structure was found but no influence on species diversity. However, only three soil parameters (organic matter, K, and Mg, with higher values in the ungrazed community) were related to the differences in floristic composition. Species responses to the soil gradient from ungrazed to grazed areas were also related to their particular life-history traits. No trend in the dispersal-mode replacement was found.

Conclussion

Herbivores could be a key factor preventing revegetation at early stages of succession in the study area, although they could play a key role as efficient seed dispersers, particularly of endozoochorous legume species, and controlling the expansion of dominant introduced species.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the mining company ‘UMINSA’ (Unión Minera del Norte, S.A.) for their collaboration in the field experiment implementation and Juan Manuel Diez Clivillé for English assistance. We also thank the responsible editor, Zucong Cai, and three anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments to improve the manuscript. This study was partially supported by the Project VA042A10-2 from ‘Junta de Castilla y León’ to C. Martínez-Ruiz.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Ciencias Agroforestales, E.T.S de Ingenierías Agrarias, Universidad de Valladolid, Avda. de Madrid 50, 34071, Palencia, Spain

    F. Sigcha, Y. Pallavicini & C. Martínez-Ruiz

  2. Departamento de Tecnología Minera, Topografía y de Estructuras. Escuela Superior y Técnica de Ingenieros de minas, Universidad de León, Campus de Vegazana s/n, 24071, León, Spain

    M. J. Camino

  3. Sustainable Forest Management Research Institute, E.T.S.II.AA, Universidad de Valladolid-INIA, Avda de Madrid 50, 34071, Palencia, Spain

    C. Martínez-Ruiz

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  1. F. Sigcha
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  2. Y. Pallavicini
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  4. C. Martínez-Ruiz
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Correspondence to C. Martínez-Ruiz.

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Responsible Editor: Zucong Cai.

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Sigcha, F., Pallavicini, Y., Camino, M.J. et al. Effects of short-term grazing exclusion on vegetation and soil in early succession of a Subhumid Mediterranean reclaimed coal mine. Plant Soil 426, 197–209 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-018-3629-2

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