Effect of microtopography on the early plant community dynamics following overseeding for the rehabilitation of a Mediterranean silvopastoral system

he sowing of selected seeds is often applied as post-fire rehabilitation practice in Mediterranean silvopastoral systems. Often, the topography of these silvopastoral systems is irregular, requiring low input and easy pasture rehabilitation practices, such as no tillage, low seed and fertilizer rates. In this paper, we studied the vegetation changes over four years, after a low-input overseeding (broadcasting) of non-native pasture species, within a post-fire rehabilitation program of a silvopastoral system in Sardinia (Italy). The main objective was to assess the relationship between topography, soil pH, and soil nitrogen content on the spatial and temporal dynamics of the grassland composition. The spatial patterns of the functional classes were only weakly influenced by nitrogen content, with a higher impact on introduced species in the first two years after overseeding, while the topographic variables had a desultory influence over the four years.