Urban lawns, but also grasslands in the open countryside, are being negatively affected by climate change. This brings with it heat and drought, which not only causes grasslands to dry out, but also changes their composition and decreases their species diversity. As a result, grasslands are losing their ability to perform ecological functions such as storing carbon in the soil or cooling the environment. Scientists are therefore looking for ways to protect urban grasslands in particular from the effects of climate change. New grass mixtures containing species from the Pannonian region may be the answer.
The scientists working on the research are based on the use of Pannonian flora, which is well adapted to weather extremes – especially dry and hot summers. “Pannonia is the driest, hottest and most extreme region in terms of climate change in Central Europe. It is an area of Hungary, Serbia, Croatia and Lower Austria, extending into parts of southern Moravia. The main purpose is to collect and propagate species from flowery meadows that are typical for this area and are able to cope with climatic extremes,” described the aim of the PannFlora project Stanislav Hejduk from the Faculty of AgriSciences at Mendel University in Brno.
The Pannonian region has been exposed to drought and heat problems for a long time, which is why some species from this region are already tested and can be propagated and bred. “This is the case, for example, with the pink scorpion plant or the variegated chicory, but for many species the seed is not available. On the basis of botanical images from Masaryk University, we have selected about 80 species of plants that make sense to propagate and are important for lawns,” explained Hejduk. To this end, scientists will collect seeds from the selected species during this summer and test their suitability for propagation in field conditions.
According to Hejduk, it is not only climate change that damages lawns, but also improper care. “The problem arises when cities mow lawns on schedule regardless of the weather. For example, in 2018, which was one of the driest years in 20 years, cities often mowed lawns this way. Low-mowed lawns dried up because of this, and barley mice started to spread massively,” Hejduk explained the effects of poor lawn care in cities. A big problem, he said, is so-called mulching, where the lawn is mowed, the mowed material is crushed and put back into the mowed lawn. While this saves money on hauling the material away, if large amounts of biomass are left on the surface, the lawn degrades.
The native Pannonian grass species in the settlement green should not only cope with the hot and dry climate, but also have an aesthetic function. “In summer, when many common lawns wither, the new species should be colourful and attract insects. For example, there will be Pannonian nettle, meadow cornflower or meadow sage,” Hejduk mentioned species that should enrich urban lawns. In addition to obtaining seeds, the scientists want to focus on better education in urban lawn care. In fact, the standard way of care in the past is no longer sufficient and care needs to be thought of differently and in a broader context.
The PannFlora project, which is part of the Interreg Austria-Czech Republic 2021-2027 programme, is a collaboration between the Faculty of Agronomy at Mendel University in Brno, the Institute of Botany and Zoology at the Faculty of Science of Masaryk University, Agricultural Research Ltd. and Bioforschung Austria.