How does continuity in grassland management after ploughing affect plant community patterns?

Ley cultivation by ploughing and fertilising constitute a severe impact on plant community patterns in semi-natural subalpine communities. Since the 1950ties, such cultivation have been an important part of the agroecosystem in subalpine areas in Norway, and regularly practised. Today, several former leys are left for grazing management. Plant species diversity and heterogeneity was studied in subalpine grasslands in Valdres, southern Norway (ca. 950 m a.s.l.) at different successional phases after ploughing. Fourteen sites (100 m2) varying from recently ploughed grasslands (3–5 years at phase 1) to unploughed sites were used to construct a temporal gradient by a space for time substitution. Small-scale species diversity (0.25m2) of vascular plants increased continuously with the time since last ploughing, while the variation in gamma-diversity was minor among late successional phases 3–5 (>23–28 years, 32–39 years and unploughed sites) after an evident increase from phase 1–3. The number of exclusive species peaked within unploughed sites (10), and included perennial herbs (Antennaria alpina, Hieracium auricula, Viola canina), spore-producing species (Botrychium lunaria, Selaginella selaginoides) and woody life-forms. Species diversity of cryptogams was low at both a small and large scale within successional phases 1 and 2 (<12 years). Small scale cryptogam diversity peaked at the unploughed sites, while gamma diversity peaked at phase 3 (23–28 years). This intermediate phase 3 also had the highest number of exclusive species (12) which exceeded unploughed sites (8). A coarse spatial structure of cryptogams at phase 3 was indicated by a low mean of species distribution. The soil of uncultivated grasslands (phase 5) was, at the end of the growing season (mid August), quite base-rich with a higher content for all measured nutrients as compared to intermediate phases of continuity (phase 3 and 4) The exception was nitrate which was not detectable from phase 3 to 5, and available phosphate which peaked at an intermediate phase of succession (phase 3 and 4). Heterogeneity of vascular plants reached a minimum value at the intermediate phase (3) while cryptogam heterogeneity peaked at this phase. Differences in heterogeneity cycles among these species groups implies that structuring processes act on different temporal scales for vascular plants as compered to cryptogams along the successional gradient in grasslands after ploughing. The importance of continuity in management for plant biodiversity in subalpine grasslands is finally discussed from a conservation point of view.