Young and old steppe-like grasslands in the "Badra Lehde-Grosser Eller" Reserve (Kyffhauser Mountains, central Germany)

Young and old steppe-like grasslands in the "Badra Lehde-Grosser Eller" Reserve (Kyffhauser Mountains, central Germany) The steppe-like grasslands of the "Badra Lehde - Grosser Eller" Reserve are here for the first time analysed and described in detail. 156 original releves were classified using cluster analysis into seven associations and two communities without rank within the alliances Alysso-Sedion, Seslerio-Festucion pallentis, Festucion valesiacae, Xerobromion, and Cirsio-Brachypodion. Old aerial images show that the communities without rank represent young steppe-like grasslands growing on former arable land whereas the associations mainly represent old steppe-like grasslands. The first floristic gradient resulting from NMDS is most strongly explained by variables representing temperature and water availability of the soil. The second floristic gradient can be explained by former arable land use. Old steppe-like grasslands contain significant more endangered plant species than young grasslands on former arable land, but total species number does not differ between both grassland types. CSR strategy analysis indicates higher importance of C strategy in one community on former arable land but weak differences between the other syntaxa. Xerobromion communities are the most species rich and contain the highest number of endangered plant species. One of the communities without rank on former arable land is moderately species rich, while the other is the most species poor of all communities. Species richness of vascular plants is positively correlated with soil depth, cover of herb layer and the Ellenberg indicator value for soil reaction and negative with the indicator value for temperature. Our study shows that the "Badra Lehde-Grosser Eller" Reserve is important for dry grassland conservation due to the general plant species richness and high numbers of species and communities that are rare and endangered.