DOI: 10.5061/dryad.4r390
title: Data from: Suppressing competitive dominants and community restoration with native parasitic plants using the hemiparasitic Rhinanthus alectorolophus and the dominant grass Calamagrostis epigejos

description: 1. Dominance of native or alien competitive plants causes competitive
 exclusion of subordinate species and represents a major mechanism reducing
 biodiversity following land-use changes. The successful competitive
 strategies may however be interfered with by parasitic plants, which
 withdraw resources from other plants’ vasculature. Parasitism may strongly
 reduce the growth of the dominants, which may facilitate regeneration of
 other species and consequently trigger restoration of natural communities
 of high diversity. 2. Here, we aim to provide robust empirical evidence
 demonstrating this restoration potential of parasitic plants. We present a
 case study testing suppressive effects of hemiparasitic Rhinanthus
 alectorolophus on competitive grass Calamagrostis epigejos. In recent
 decades, C. epigejos has invaded many high-nature-value semi-natural
 grasslands of Central Europe, which is one of the prominent factors
 causing their biodiversity decline. 3. We conducted three manipulative
 field experiments testing the effect of sowing of R. alectorolophus in
 different vegetation types infested by C. epigejos. Rhinanthus sowing was
 compared to different mowing treatments recommended as the “best practice”
 management at respective sites. 4. Rhinanthus alectorolophus established
 itself in most C. epigejos-dominated plots where sown. Calamagrostis
 epigejos was virtually exterminated in two years in two of the experiments
 (dry meadow, industrial area). In the wet-meadow experiment, the
 suppressive effect was variable as a result of uneven establishment
 success of Rhinanthus. In this experiment increased mowing intensity had
 an additional suppressive effect on C. epigejos. Rhinanthus also increased
 regeneration potential of other species by a temporary reduction of
 vegetation density. Restoration of target vegetation composition was
 however dependent on community context. 5. Synthesis and application. We
 demonstrated that hemiparasitic Rhinanthus alectorolophus is an accessible
 and efficient tool for targeted biological control of C. epigejos, with a
 great potential to restore infested grassland vegetation. The strong
 effect of Rhinanthus is caused by interference with the underground
 storage and clonal growth strategy of C. epigejos, which are both traits
 that underlie its competitive ability. The potential of native parasitic
 plants should be considered in restoration management of sites infested by
 competitive dominants, either alien or native.07-Feb-2017
description: Vegetation composition
 and Calamagrostis epigejos biomass dataField-collected data of
 thee manipulatice experiments testing the effect of hemiparasitic
 Rhinanthus alectorolophus on competitive dominant grass Calamagrostis
 epigejos. Vegetation composition data are provided as cover-abundances.
 Biomass production of C. epigejos in g dry mass per square metre. Data of
 individual experiments are provided on separate sheets of the Excel
 workbook.Data_complete.xlsx