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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2013 Jan 3.
Published in final edited form as: Biogeosciences. 2010 Aug;7(8):2297–2309. doi: 10.5194/bg-7-2297-2010

Table 1.

General characterisation of the study sites.

Grassland type Meadows Pastures Abandoned
Altitude (m) 970 1850 1950 1870 2000 1970
Aspect E-SE SE S-SE S-SE S-SE
Inclination (°) 0 19 30 29 29 20
MAT (°C) 6.3 3 3 3 3 3
MAP (mm) 850 1097 1097 1097 1097 1097
Land management Organic
fertilisation
three cuts,
grazed in autum
Organic
fertilisation
one cut, grazed
in late summer
Grazed from
May to Mid-September
Grazed from
May to Mid-September
abandoned since 1983
fertilised 1989
abandoned since 1983
Soil typea Fluvisol Dystric cambisol Dystric cambisol Dystric cambisol Dystric cambisol Dystric cambisol
Vegetation type Pastinaco
Arrhenteretum
Trisetetum
flavescentis
Seslerio-Caricetum
Sempervirentis
Allchemillo
Poetum supinae
Vaccinio
Callunetum
Seslerio-Caricetum
with dwarf shrubs
Dominant species Dactylis glomerata
Poa pratensis
Ranunculus acris
Taraxacum officinale
Trifolium pratense
Trifolium repens
Trifolium repens
Alchemilla vulgaris
Anthoxanthum odoratum
Festuca rubra
Leontodon hispidus
Trifolium repens
Alchemilla vulgaris
Carex sempervirens
Leontodon hispidus
Lotus corniculatus
Plantago lanceolata
Plantago media
Ranunculus montanus
Sesleria albicans
Alchemilla vulgaris
Anthoxanthum odoratum
Carex sempervirens
Festuca rubra
Leontodon hispidus
Lotus corniculatus
Sesleria albicans
Trifolium repens
Alchemilla vulgaris
Avenella flexuosa
Homogyne alpina
Nardus stricta
Vaccinium vitis-idaea
Anthyllis vulneraria
Calluna vulgaris
Festuca rubra
Vaccinium myrtillus
Vaccinium vitis-idea
Study years 2002–2005 2002–2004 2002–2004 2006–2008 2002–2003 2003–2008
Above-ground biomass
(g/m2)*
2006–2008
spring 311–607 190–313 157–334 198–374 291–376 106–215
summer 449–549 244–440 122–180 129–231 310–390 392–402
autum 266–517 224–261 119–138 91–148 105–240 217–386
a

FAO classification; MA, mean annual (values from two nearby weather stations, representing the situation of the valley bottom and the high mountain sites, respectively); T , temperature; P, precipitation.

*

Ranges refer to the minimum and maximum values in the given observation period.