TRENDS IN SOIL CHEMISTRY AND FLORISTICS ASSOCIATED WITH THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A LOW-INPUT MEADOW SYSTEM ON AN ARABLE CLAY SOIL IN ESSEX, ENGLAND

Changes in soil chemistry and floristics associated with the establishment and early development of a low-input meadow system on land abandoned from intensive arable farming have been studied using a chronosequence model. The model was based on three adjacent fields in Essex with a calcareous gley soil, where the main trends in nutrient availability with vegetation development were an increase in the N supply from mineralization and a decrease in the extractable P fraction. Initial rates for these processes were calculated to be c. +0·77 and -0·27 mg/100g dry soil/year respectively. Associated with these changes in soil chemistry there was an increase in floristic diveristy, both in terms of species numbers and community heterogeneity. The results are discussed in relation to grassland creation projects on abandoned agricultural land under 'set aside' schemes where soil fertility is an important factor influencing community composition and structure. © 1990.