Experimental trial Campus Strenzfeld, Bernburg/Germany

The receptor site Campus Strenzfeld (11° 42' 09'' E, 51° 49' 25'' N) is located c. 4 km north of the city of Bernburg at an altitude of 85 m. The climate is continental with only 469.2 mm average annual precipitation and a mean yearly temperature of 9.2°C. The substrate consists of loess above deep carbon-rich fluviatile sand; the soil is a Mollisol (Tschernosem). For many years, the area was used as arable land, mainly for winter grain cultivation. The study site has an extension of 0.27 ha.
To decrease the amount of nutrients, the site was cultivated two times (2007/2008, 2008/2009) with winter grain without fertilisation and with subsequent grubbing after harvesting to reduce weeds. In spring 2009, the plant available phosphor reached 4.1 mg per 100 g soil (0-20 cm depth).
The implementation of the trial was done in complete block design at the end of August 2009 with four variants (OST, GH, OST+S, GH+S). The material was applied by hand. Vegetation analyses will be carried out on permanent plots (4 m x 4 m).

OST

Ssowing of seed-rich material from on-site threshing, second cut, 16 g per m²; ratio donor : receptor site 2.4 : 1, harvesting 24th August 2009, application 25th August 2009.

GH

application of Green Hay, second cut, c. 650 g dry weight per m²; ratio donor : receptor site 2.4 : 1, harvesting and application 25th August 2009.

OST +S, GH +S

OST and GH variant with additional sowing of target species (low growing species, very early respectively late flowering species) with seeds from local origin (seed propagation or collection). In total, 37 species were sown with 1.5 g seeds per m² (= c. 1084 seeds per m²). The high amount of chosen target species was due to the fact that the landscape park had been mown by the municipality begin of May 2009. In the second growth, seed set of some target species was rather low. On the receptor site, the sown area covered 2166 m² (6 x 361 m²). The seeds were sown before application of OST and GH on 25th August 2009.

Location of receptor site (“Versuchsfläche”) on the Strenzfeld Campus of the Anhalt University of Applied Sciences

(data source background: aerophoto from area inventory 2005, Ministry for Agriculture and Environment Saxony-Anhalt)

Receptor site Campus Strenzfeld directly after implementation on 25 August 2009	Receptor site Campus Strenzfeld on 11 December 2009