The ecosystems of the floodplain are very valuable from a viewpoint of nature conservation. They were included in Protected Landscape Area Záhorie in 1989, and in 1993, 51 km2 of the floodplain area on the Slovak side of the river was designated as a Ramsar site. The floodplain grassland ecosystems in lowland river valleys are a result of extensive floods and sustainable human use. Species-rich floodplain meadows of the alliance Cnidion venosi Bal.-Tul. 1965 not only are the most distributed grasslands of the Morava River alluvium, but also are the biggest meadow complex in Central Europe with an area covering approximately 3,450 ha in Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Austria.

The Iron Curtain — the symbol of a Europe politically divided — sealed off the floodplain from 1951 to 1989. During that time, the whole floodplain area was under strong military protection and local farmers had only limited access to the meadows. Even then, several meadow areas in the floodplain were illegally ploughed.

The idea of restoring the floodplain’s species-rich meadows was introduced after political changes in 1989. However, restoration activities were limited by the fact that there was limited experience in such restoration. In 1994, DAPHNE began restoration activities in the Morava River floodplain and the process is still going on.

1994: Small-scale restoration experiments

Two methods of meadow restoration — planting seeds harvested from species-rich source plots and translocating turf from the same — were tested on permanent plots for 4 years. An analysis of the meadow’s soil seed bank showed promising results: that the re-establishment of the floodplain meadow community had a high probability of success, and that the supplemental actions of translocating turf was beneficial and would increase species diversity in the early stages of restoration.

These small-scale experiments were followed by extensive habitat mapping of the floodplain’s arable land, abandoned fields and degraded meadows. This data was used to elaborate the plan for future physical restoration.

Supported by a grant from Phare Programme and following the methodological framework described in the restoration plan, physical restoration began on 140 ha of arable land in these four phases:

Selection of source plots for seed collection from suitable ecological conditions in the floodplain.

Harvest of ripe seeds in two periods according to phenological phases of target species. The first focused on grass and sedge species and the second on herbs. The exact date is specified according to phenological monitoring of source meadows.

Processing of seed mixture – drying, cleaning and preparation for transport.

Seedbed preparation – ploughing and harrowing.

Distribution of collected seed mixture together with nurse crop on the surface and rolling (oat is used to established the vegetation cover quickly and to block invasion of weeds).

Creation of "islands of high diversity" by transfer of turf sections from good quality meadows. The turfs — 0.5 m wide, several metres long and 0.1 m thick — were ploughed from the species-rich meadows. Then the turfs were placed on small open trailers and were cut into small pieces, 10 by 10-cm. The chopped turfs were spread out over eight times the area of ground they had previously occupied and approximately one island was created per hectare.

The area is mowed and biomass is removed. In exceptional cases, for instance heavy weed invasion, it is necessary to re-seed some plots.

The involvement of local farmers has been a very important part of the restoration effort. Understanding that restoration could benefit both sides — nature conservationists and farmers as well — local farms prepared the seed mixture from species-rich meadows and executed the physical restoration itself.

Any large-scale restoration project is, by its very nature, an experiment. On the other hand, it is also a great experience and challenge.

We have learned a great deal through our extensive monitoring of the restored field — mainly, that the restoration process in small-scale experiments seems to advance at a slower rate than we would have predicted. The first season after restoration, the summer of 2000, was especially critical because it was extremely dry in central Europe and the grass cover in the fields was not as high as expected. The situation was better the next year, when more meadow species like Inula salicina, or Pseudolysimachion longifolium appeared and typical grasses Alopecurus pratensis and Poa pratensis started to dominate in most of the fields. However, some smaller patches within the fields have been infested by neophyte Aster novi-belgii agg. and will have to be mowed more frequently or re-seeded.

Inaddition to monitoring the progress of the restored vegetation, bird populations have been monitored as well. Since restoration, the number of observed bird species has slowly increased, but there are still very few nesting species. In 2001, only three species — Alauda arvensis, Phasianus colchicus, Motacilla flava — were observed. One of the reasons for this may be the frequent mowing (twice a year) conducted to control weeds — and activity which is very stressful to bird populations which nest on the ground.

Jan Seffer, Dobromil Galvanek, Viera Stanova (DAPHNE) & Eliska Darolova (Institute of Zoology of Slovak Academy of Sciences)

Seffer, J. & Stanová, V. (eds.) 1999, Morava River Floodplain Meadows – Importance, Restoration and Management. DAPHNE – Centre for Applied Ecology, Bratislava.