Initiation and course of secondary succession on an abandoned field and meadow

The research is carried on three permanent plots (400 m2 each) established in the Experimental Garden of the Białowieża Geobotanical Station. Each plot is divided into 22 subplots of 10 m2 each (6.25 x 1.6 m). The subplots are separated and surrounded by isolation strips. On two plots, five of the 22 subplots are mowed and the biomass is removed after each annual vegetation survey. Two of the three plots are fenced in order to protect them from penetration by people and large and medium-sized herbivores. The third plot is a control, which is surveyed every second year since 1984. It is arranged in the same way, but is unfenced and mowed in its entirety every year. The observations are made once a year at the turn of June and July, and since 2000, due to the appearance of spring geophytes, additional observations are carried in April. The subject of floristic observation on each plot are: total species composition, community structure, and distribution of seedlings of herbaceous and woody species (with location on the plot plan within the first 15 years of observations). So far, the course of succession (46 years) indicates the recovery of the Tilio-Carpinetum oak-hornbeam forest.