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Aims: The restoration of unused urban‐industrial areas has great conservation potential as it can sometimes create a win‐win situation in terms of nature conservation and economic benefits. Financial data of restoration projects are rarely published. To close this gap, we report the cost–benefit analysis of different landscaping methods used in the greening of the outskirts of a factory industrial area. Location: The study area is located in a factory area in Nyíregyháza, Nyírség, Hungary. Methods: In this study, we compare the costs of the implementation and maintenance of three different types of grasslands (intensively and extensively managed park lawns and semi‐natural grassland, called eco area) and the ecological benefits in terms of vegetation and potential for pollinators. Results: The implementation and maintenance costs of the extensively managed park lawn were more than ten‐fold higher than that of the eco area, despite the higher price of native plant material. The construction of the extensive park lawn is the cheapest, but the eco area pays off in ca. 1.5 years compared to it, taking into account the lower maintenance costs. Seven years after implementation, the eco area is the most species‐rich, hosting the highest number of natural constituent species, but with similar vegetation cover as in the intensively managed park lawn without costly maintenance. The cover and species richness of legumes and forbs are also higher in the eco area, ensuring a food source for pollinators. Conclusions: Our results support that introducing species‐rich and diverse grasslands with native, habitat specialist species as an alternative to traditional landscaping in urban‐industrial areas can be economically and ecologically rewarding. The higher costs of planning, plant material, and implementation pay off in a short time due to low maintenance costs and can lead to a win‐win situation for nature as well as for the local economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: There is increasing recognition that plant–soil feedbacks drive species co‐existence; therefore the below‐ground compartment should be better considered in ecological restoration. Addition of carbon is a restoration measure that relies on indirect plant–soil relationships by immobilizing soil nitrogen in microbial biomass to manipulate competitive hierarchies between plant species. The aim of the present work was to evaluate the impact of six years of carbon amendment in old‐field restoration in the long term, 20 years after the first application. Location: Old‐fields and reference sand steppe on dry calcareous sandy soil in Fülöpháza, Kiskun LTER site (46°53′ N, 19°24′ E), Hungary, Pannonian biogeographic region, Europe. Methods: We applied carbon amendment in the form of sucrose and sawdust on three abandoned agricultural fields between 1998 and 2003. Vegetation was surveyed in 1998–2006 and re‐sampled in 2008, 2010 and 2018 on permanent 2 m × 2 m coenological relevés for carbon‐amended, control and reference plots (n = 144). We used principal response curves (PRC) to describe vegetation development trajectories and linear mixed‐effects models to test changes in cover of vascular plants and cryptogams, nitrogen requirement groups and restoration species groups with time and treatment. Results: Carbon amendment resulted in lower soil nitrogen availability, and lower cover of vascular plants and cryptogams compared to control, but these differences became visible only four to five years after the first application and disappeared three years after the cessation of treatment. Minor treatment effects on the cover of oligotrophic, mesotrophic and target species were found. Conclusions: Carbon amendment did not speed up the recovery of sand grasslands; however, the reduction of cover (vegetation and cryptogam) can be a window of opportunity for other species to colonize that can be used as a complement to other treatments. Long‐term monitoring is especially important in evaluating restoration interventions that focus on indirect above‐ground–below‐ground linkages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Questions: Woody encroachment affects many open habitats from semi‐deserts to wetlands and grasslands. We aimed to study the effect of native woody encroachment on grassland plant biodiversity in loess steppe fragments by analysing the vegetation composition of grasslands subjected to increasing levels of encroachment. We studied both ancient and restored grasslands with the following research hypotheses: (a) increasing woody encroachment decreases total diversity and the species richness of dry‐grassland species; and (b) the effect of woody cover on grassland biodiversity differs between ancient and restored grasslands. Location: South‐Eastern part of Transdanubia, Hungary, Central Europe. Methods: Altogether 63 loess grassland fragments were selected for the study. The percentage cover of trees, shrubs and herbaceous vegetation were recorded in 400‐m2‐sized plots (n = 110). The effects of woody encroachment and grassland age on diversity, total species richness of the herb layer, and richness of dry‐grassland species were analysed. Results: We found that woody encroachment affected the total richness of the herb layer and the species richness of dry‐grassland species. For most of the listed variables, lowest values were found for the highest woody encroachment groups. Grassland age affected the species richness of the herb layer and that of dry‐grassland species; lower values were detected in restored grasslands. In restored grasslands, Shannon diversity and species evenness were lower, while Berger–Parker dominance was higher than in ancient grasslands. Species composition and richness displayed a relatively high resistance to moderate woody encroachment; the highest decrease in diversity was detected at a high level of woody encroachment (>52% of woody cover). Conclusions: We can conclude that low to moderate woody encroachment cannot be simplistically regarded as degradation. Results suggest that moderately encroached loess grasslands can be easily restored by the suppression of woody species, as their species pool still contains many dry‐grassland species targeted for restoration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Question Based on the spontaneous vegetation development of old-fields in the Nyírség and Kiskunság sand regions ( Hungary), we aimed to answer the following questions using the chronosequence method: (1) how do the proportions of different functional groups change during succession; (2) which target species establish successfully in the old-fields during the course of succession; and (3) how successful is spontaneous succession in the recovery of target grasslands? Location Two sand regions of the Great Hungarian Plain: (1) the Nyírség sand region ( East Hungary, acidic sand, moderately continental climate) and the Kiskunság ( Central Hungary, calcareous sand, continental climate). Methods Altogether 24 old-fields were classified into young (<10-yr-old), middle-aged (10-20-yr-old) and late-succession (20-40-yr-old) old-fields; four fields in each age category. For baseline vegetation reference, three open and three closed sand grassland stands in both regions were sampled in the vicinity of the old-fields. The percentage cover of vascular plants was recorded in five 2 × 2-m plots in each field, in early May and late June 2012. We used life forms, clonal spreading traits and Ellenberg indicator values for nutrients in the analysis. Species of Festuco- Brometea class were considered as target species. Results The cover of hemicryptophytes and geophytes increased, the cover of short-lived species decreased with time. Cover of species without clonal spreading ability decreased, while cover of species with clonal spreading ability increased with increasing field age. The cover of invasive species decreased with increasing field age. The majority of target species had established already in the young and middle-aged old-fields, although their cover was significantly higher in the two older age groups. Conclusion Spontaneous succession can be a vital option in recovery of sand grassland vegetation in Central Europe; the majority of the species pool of sandy grasslands can be recovered in the first 10-20 yrs. However, the success of grassland recovery can be strongly influenced by the surrounding species pool and can be slow if seed dispersal is limited. Spontaneous succession is most promising when the target species of grasslands immigrate at the very beginning of the succession, within the first few years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Secondary succession and seed bank formation was studied in a formerly grazed, abandoned, eastern Hungarian sandy steppe-meadow (Pulsatillo-Festucetum ).The vegetation was sampled at different elevations of a sand dune which became partly invaded by the tree Robinia pseudo-acacia ca. 10 yr ago. Pre-abandonment vegetation records were used as historic references. Though composition of the non-invaded grassland only changed moderately,dominance of tall grasses (Elymus hispidus, Poa angustifolia) increased significantly at the cost of annuals and low stature perennials. In the stand invaded by Robinia most grassland species were lost and replaced by nitrophytes. Vertical position influenced species abundance, but affected the composition only moderately. Fine-scale zonation of the vegetation also changed with time. Species richness of the above-ground vegetation and the seed density of soil samples at the lower elevation were slightly greater than at the higher sites. Seed banks of sensitive grassland specialists (e.g. Pulsatilla pratensis subsp.hungarica) disappeared during grass encroachment. Following extinction from above-ground vegetation, restoration must rely on dispersal from adjacent areas. In contrast, several annuals and perennials, which survived this degradation stage in the above-ground vegetation, possessed seed banks. Many of these species became extinct from the vegetation during the Robinia invasion but left viable persistent seeds. This fact is promising for restoration of the Potentillo-Festucetum sandy pasture. Competitive weedy species and sprouting Robinia can, however, limit seedling establishment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]