The rearrangement of protected plant species in the Batyk fen meadow warns of drying out

Abstract

Previous drainage and current climate change are drying out native grasslands at wetland areas, with the result that sensitive wetland species are gradually disappearing. The success of conservation interventions to prevent this – which are designed to retain water –, will be measured by the ability of the managed meadow to retain its water-demanding species. The Batyk fen meadow is one of the most valuable wet grasslands along the valley of the river Zala. Water retention interventions were also needed and carried out here in the year of 2012. Our work assessed the success of the intervention in conserving the meadow's protected plant species. Between 2019 and 2021, we assessed the protected species of the site and compared them with the values of protected plant species previously reported from the site according to ecological indicator indicators (relative soil moisture and relative temperature) and Borhidi's Social Behaviour Types (SBT). We found that 40 protected plant species are currently present on the site, which is a high number compared to previous data, the number of protected species has increased in the fen meadow. However, this increase is partly due to the intensity of the survey focused on such species between 2019 and 2021, partly because the appearance of species that are indicative of drier habitats, whereas many of the valuable fen species were no longer present. Ecological indicator numbers show that the most moisture-demanding species have disappeared from the site, with a concomitant predominance of species with better competitive ability over specialists. This suggests that further water retention in the Batyk fen meadow is urgently needed to conserve water-demanding fen species on the long term.