Hungarian Grey cattle grazing outperforms mowing during wet meadow restoration following plantation forest clear-cut

Abstract

Land-use change and ecological invasion are two main drivers of biodiversity loss, and the restoration of semi-natural wet grasslands is needed to tackle invasive species and re-establish grassland biodiversity on former forest plantations. This study tested the effectiveness of two widely used management techniques (grazing by traditional Hungarian Grey cattle and mowing once a year in August) as a restoration method of wet meadows in a former forest plantation invaded by goldenrod species in Central Hungary. We compared the vegetation composition of grazed, mowed, and reference areas with semi-natural wet meadow vegetation based on plant biomass, species richness and cover of species groups of species origin, life span, growth form, and social behaviour types of Borhidi determining the grazing value and the nature conservation value of the grasslands. We found that grazing by Hungarian Grey cattle resulted in a vegetation that was more similar to the reference wet meadows than mowing once a year in late summer. Grazing was superior to mowing in terms of goldenrod control, total species richness and cover, as well as the abundance of natives, perennials, herbs, and legumes. However, in the grazed area, we detected more disturbance-tolerant and annual species than in the mowed area. Despite the improved vegetation condition in the grazed area, we identified substantial disparities between the grazed and reference areas after three years of grazing. Based on our results, we advise using continuous extensive grazing to restore and maintain semi-natural wet meadows.