Long-term changes in semi-arid vegetation from abandonment lands

Recent agricultural overproduction and price developments on the world market have resulted in the withdrawal of many arable fields from production in many industrialized countries. Since the dynamics of secondary succession are much faster than those of primary succession, it has enabled experimental testing of various theories on dispersal, colonization and establishment. Studying old field succession has both fundamental and applied value. The predictability of old field succession and of the effects of various management strategies still needs improvement. Recent works suggest that changes in species trait composition during succession can be better predicted than species composition itself. It has been suggested that changes in plant species diversity affect several ecosystem processes, such as primary productivity, nutrient retention, and vegetation dynamics. A positive impact of species diversity on plant productivity has been explained by the complementarity of resource use among plant species or their functional groups. It has been argued that an increase in plant diversity will increase the probability of including highly productive species into the plant community.