Hay transfer and sowing structuring species: Two complementary ecological engineering techniques to restore dry grassland communities

Exogenous disturbances change plant communities and sometimes the spontaneous vegetation that colonizes heavily disturbed areas remains very different even in the very long-term. To speed up a steppe plant succession, two experiments were conducted with or without the restoration of traditional sheep grazing: (1) hay transfer and (2) sowing of indigenous structuring species. Hay transfer significantly increases plant species richness and changes floristic composition reintroducing characteristic steppe species but fails to reintroduce perennials structuring the reference plant community. The second protocol enables to reintroduce these perennial species with the objective to improve changes in the plant community composition and structure.