Dynamics of Semi-Natural Vegetation with a Focus on Molinion Meadows after 50 Years of Strict Protection

Abstract

Semi-natural ecosystems in Poland and all over Europe have become endangered due to succession. A more effective plan of protection of these ecosystems can only be developed when based on thorough knowledge of the habitat requirements, successional pathways and related threats. Studies conducted in a nature reserve were aimed at defining the most important changes observed in non-forest communities under uninterrupted secondary succession conditions since a reserve was erected. Several years of strict protection within the reserve resulted in the partial disappearance of non-forest habitats. Their area is now three times smaller than it was in the mid-20 th century. Meadows described in the 1960s have undergone different transformations. The meadows have been replaced with initial forest communities that belong to the dynamic circle of riparian, alder, and oak-hornbeam forests.