Transfer of invertebrates with hay during restoration operations of extensively managed grasslands in Switzerland
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Transfer of invertebrates with hay during restoration operations of extensively managed grasslands in Switzerland Ariane Stöckli1 · Daniel Slodowicz1 · Raphaël Arlettaz1 · Jean‑Yves Humbert1 Received: 13 June 2020 / Accepted: 5 November 2020 © The Author(s) 2020
Abstract Introduction Hay transfer from a speciose donor meadow to a species-poor receiver grassland is an established method to restore species-rich grassland plant communities. However, it has rarely been investigated to which extent invertebrates can be transferred with hay during such operations, which was the aim of this study. Methods Sampling was conducted in eight sites of the Swiss lowlands with one donor meadow and two receiver sites each. On the receiver sites, three to four white bed sheets of one square meter each were deployed on the ground to receive a standard quantity of fresh hay just transferred from the donor meadow. All living invertebrates were collected from these sheets with an aspirator and subsequently identified to order level. Results On average (± SD), 9.2 ± 11.3 living invertebrates per square meter were transferred with the hay. Beetles were the most abundant species group, representing 46.9% of all transferred invertebrates, followed by true bugs (8.9%) and spiders (7.0%). More individuals were transferred when the donor meadow was mown with a hand motor bar mower than with a rotary disc mower. Similarly, more invertebrates were transferred when the hay was transported loosely with a forage wagon than compacted as bales. Discussion While this study demonstrates that living invertebrates can be transferred with the hay, their subsequent survival and establishment remains to be explored. Implications for insect conservation We recommend using a hand motor bar mower and a forage wagon for increasing the survival probability of invertebrates in hay transfer.
Introduction Several methods exist to actively restore or re-create grasslands. One commonly used method is the transfer of green, i.e. freshly mown hay from a species-rich donor grassland to a former arable land or species-poor receiver grassland, which was harrowed or ploughed beforehand (see Kiehl et al. 2010 for detailed description of the hay transfer method). The efficiency of the hay transfer method to increase plant Daniel Slodowicz sharing co-first authorship. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s10841-020-00282-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Daniel Slodowicz [email protected] 1
Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Bern, Division of Conservation Biology, Baltzerstrasse 6, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
or invertebrate diversity has been demonstrated in several studies (reviewed in Török et al. 2011 for plants, see Woodcock et al. 2010 for invertebrates). For example, Kiehl and Wagner (2006) found that 69–89% of the plant species from the donor grassland are transferred this way with the hay, with ca 66% being
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