Management effect on phytomass and litter in seminatural grasslands

Nowadays, not only in Italy but also in Central and Eastern Europe, the reduced level of pastoral activity is a remarkable problem in maintaining the landscape biodiversity. The abandonment of the pastures causes deep modifications in natural herbaceous vegetation and the consequent formation of vegetal association characterized by oligotrophic species. The result of the vegetal evolution of this association are uncertain. In this study we try to understand the dynamics of the vegetative evolution in five pastoral areas at different gradient of utilization, not only through phytosociological analysis, that is complex and requires specific knowledge, but also by studying a series of productive elements of the plant (photosynthesizing phytomass, standing dead vegetation and litter). The specific contributions of each single species and the calculation of pastoral value were considered along with the determination of the dry weight of these three productive components in order to understand how these parameters are related. Results are interesting and we believe that this new study approach is simple and easily applicable to describe vegetal communities and to predict changes in the botanical composition of natural pasture areas