Land use legacies in post-agricultural forests in the Doupovske Mountains, Czech Republic

Questions: Do differences in previous land use cause long-lasting changes in soil chemistry? Is vegetation composition affected by the previous land use after 50 years of secondary succession? Is the effect of previous land use caused by preexisting differences in environmental conditions or mediated through changes in soil chemistry? How important is the effect of previous land use in relation to other factors? Location: Doupovske Mountains, Czech Republic. Methods: A stratified random sampling design was used to collect 91 vegetation releves with accompanying soil samples. The effects of previous land use (arable field, meadow, pasture) on soil pH, organic carbon ( C), total nitrogen (N), C: N ratio and available phosphorus were tested by an analysis of covariance. A canonical correspondence analysis and variation partitioning procedure were used to reveal relationships among previous land use, environmental factors and species composition. Results: Organic C, total N and C: N ratio were significantly influenced by previous land use, while available phosphorus and soil pH were not. Previous land use explained a significant part of the variation in species composition and its effects only partly overlapped with the effects of soil chemistry and terrain attributes. However, the species composition of post-agricultural forests was mostly determined by environmental factors not modified by previous land use. Conclusions: Forest communities that originate on abandoned agricultural land are primarily determined by natural environmental conditions. Nevertheless, the type of previous land use also modifies the species assemblages of these forests and needs to be considered as an important determinant of their composition.