Author(s)

M. H. Losvik

Abstract

Species-rich hay meadow sites in West Norway: conservation and management M. H. Losvik Botanical institute, University of Bergen, Norway Abstract Many farms of west Norway are abandoned, and on most of the managed farms only high-intensity farming is practised. On a few of the managed farms, however, ancient agricultural management, with sheep grazing in spring and in autumn, one late cut and no fertilising is still practised, and here long-term use has resulted in species-rich sites. These sites cover small areas on each of the actual farms, as most of the infields is heavily fertilised grasslands and poor in species. Earlier these fertilised parts of the infields were tilled fields for grain production where large amounts of winter manure were applied. The species rich parts of the infield are situated on steep slopes or on shallow soils. This combination of high-intensity and low-intensity farming is highly vulnerable as it is dependent on the farmers' interests and time resources. In this s

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