Université de Fribourg

Sawdust addition reduces the productivity of nitrogen-enriched mountain grasslands

Spiegelberger, Thomas ; Müller-Schärer, Heinz ; Matthies, Diethart ; Schaffner, Urs

In: Restoration Ecology, 2008///10.1111/j.1526-100X.2008.00424.x

Anthropogenic nutrient enrichment of mountain grasslands has boosted grasses and fast-growing unpalatable plants at the expense of slow-growing species, resulting in a significant loss in biodiversity. A potential tool to reduce nutrient availability and aboveground productivity without destroying the perennial vegetation is carbon (C) addition. However, little is known about its suitability...

Université de Fribourg

Habitat differentiation in the threatened aquatic plant genus Baldellia (L.) Parl. (Alismataceae): Implications for conservation

Kozlowski, Gregor ; Matthies, Diethart

In: Aquatic Botany, 2009, vol. 90, no. 2, p. 110-118

A comparative analysis of the habitats of Baldellia ranunculoides (subsp. ranunculoides and subsp. repens) and Baldellia alpestris (Alismataceae) was carried out across central and western Europe. Soil samples from 43 populations were analyzed and the composition of accompanying vegetation was analyzed by canonical correspondence and indicator species analysis....

Université de Fribourg

Scale-dependent effects of land use on plant species richness of mountain grassland in the European Alps

Spiegelberger, Thomas ; Matthies, Diethart ; Müller-Schärer, Heinz ; Schaffner, Urs

In: Ecography, 2006, vol. Volume 29, p. 541-548

Traditionally managed mountain grasslands in the Alps are species-rich ecosystems that developed during centuries of livestock grazing. However, changes in land use including fertilisation of well accessible pastures and gradual abandonment of remote sites are increasingly threatening this diversity. In five regions of the Swiss and French Alps we assessed the relationship between land use, soil...