Effetti a scala quinquennale dell’esclusione del pascolamento sull’habitat prioritario 6220*-“Percorsi substeppici di graminacee e piante annue dei Thero-Brachypodietea” in Sardegna

This study analyzes the consequences of grazing abandonment on a Mediterranean sheep pasture, over a 5-years period. Plant and soil physicochemical parameters were monitored within ten 10 x 10 m permanent plots and ten unfenced control plots, during three sampling times from 2000 (before the fencing) to 2005. Grazing abandonment altered the composition of plant communities, with an average dissimilarity of 96.7% over five years. Species of conservational interest tended to disappear with pasture abandonment and were substituted by more widespread species. Pasture abandonment caused also an increase of soil pH and a decrease in soil organic matter and nitrogen. Remarkably, the results from this study reveal that changes in pastureland communities can occur rapidly following abandonment