Variation in dry grassland communities along a heavy metals gradient

The aim of this study was to investigate the variation in plant communities growing on metal-enriched sites created by historical Zn–Pb mining. The study sites were 65 small heaps of waste rock covered by grassland vegetation and scattered mostly over agricultural land of southern Poland. The sites were described in terms of plant coverage, species richness and composition, and the composition of plant traits. They were classified using...