Establishing North American prairie vegetation in urban parks in northern England: Effect of management and soil type on long-term community development

The effect of management and soil type on the development of an experimental prairie plant community was investigated over a 4-year period. Soil type had a greater affect than management treatment, with poor persistence of the prairie community on topsoil plots largely irrespective of management. On sand mulched plots, prairie persistence was high. Burning was the most successful management technique for maintaining prairie plant cover and facilitating recruitment of prairie seedlings. The most successful treatment combinations were generally sand mulching plus spring burning. Sand mulching was successful because it minimised weed germination and competition in the first growing season hence allowing prairie species to dominate and compete effectively with invading weeds in subsequent years. Sand mulching also minimised slug grazing in spring, hence mortality of adult prairie plants was reduced and seedling recruitment facilitated. Although seedling recruitment occurred within the experiment, no seedlings of prairie plants were observed to establish outside the experiment. This, in combination with the observation that where not managed by spring burning, prairie communities declined or disappeared, strongly suggests that the species used in the study do not pose a naturalisation threat to native vegetation in northern England. The management techniques used in the study vary considerably in terms of efficacy and energy consumption and are discussed in relation to practice in public parks and other urban landscapes.