Ecological Evaluation of Grassland Vegetation in Hodrušská Hornatina Highland

In the submitted paper, we have analysed the results of a systematic survey of grassland communities, performed in Hodrušská hornatina highland, in Štiavnické vrchy mountains. The main aims of the research were: i) syntaxonomical classification of grassland vegetation; ii) analysis of the main ecological gradients in species composition; iii) evaluation of the influence of environmental factors on species composition of grasslands. The dataset included 153 phytosociological relevés recorded on grasslands. Grassland communities were classified within five associations: Holcetum lanati, Pastinaco sativae-Arrhenatheretum elatioris, Alchemillo-Arrhenatheretum elatioris, Anthoxantho odorati-Agrostietum tenuis, Onobrychido viciifoliae-Brometum erecti; and the successional and transitional stages belonging to alliances Arrhenatherion elatioris and Bromion erecti. The results of the Detrended Correspondence Analysis support our assumption that the main environmental gradient in species composition on grassland is related to moisture. The results of the Redundancy Analysis show that all used environmental variables explained 3.4% of the variability of the species data. The most important factors affecting the species composition were altitude, slope, distance from settlements, and management.