A test of mowing and soil-removal restoration techniques in wet heaths of the High Ardenne, Belgium

Vegetation restoration was attempted in four plots of a degraded wet heath overgrown by Molinia caerulea in High Ardenne (Belgium). Two treatments, mowing for two years and removal of the top 3-28 cm of peat, were applied in spring 1989. The vegetation was recorded in 1989 and 1998 using the Braun-Blanquet method. After nine years, the mowing treatment had relatively little effect on vegetation composition. We observed a 0-25 % decrease of Molinia cover and an increase of some heath species like Calluna vulgaris (12-47 %) and Erica tetralix (0-12 %). However, top peat removal had a pronounced... Mehr ...