How mowing restores montane Mediterranean grasslands following cessation of traditional livestock grazing

Traditional land-use cessation allows the spread of invasive tall-grass species and thus leads to a reduction in grassland biodiversity. We hypothesized that long-term multi-year mowing of invaded grassland fosters the recovery of its taxonomic diversity and functional composition by reducing the dominance of the tall grass species Brachypodium rupestre, and that this change increases the pasture feed value. In 2010, we fenced part of a...