3.3. Botanical composition
The results of the botanical composition of the investigated grassland
community are presented in Table 7. The percentage of empty space was
similar among all treatments and ranged from 4.3 to 8.9%. The botanical
composition was totally changed during the five years of the experiment.
Four grass species disappeared: perennial ryegrass, timothy, Westerwolds
ryegrass, and meadow fescue. These species were replaced by tall fescue.
This effect can be explained by the lower precipitation during the
summer periods of 2014 and 2015. Tall fescue is characterized by a thick
and dense root system, which makes this species more resistant to soil
water deficits. L. multiflorum Lam. showed the highest
participation (17%) in the sward on the MCTR plot and lower on the WS
and MS plots, at 9.1 and 8.4%, respectively. The application of biochar
reduced the prevalence of L. multiflorum Lam. to below 2%. The
soil amendments resulted in red clover percentage. The highest red
clover content was observed on the CTR (8.4%). Any amendments applied
resulted in definitely lower red clover participation and did not exceed
3.1%. Some new grass species appeared, i.e., Dactylis glomerataL. and Holcus lanatus L. D. glomerata L. was observed on
all treated plots except the CTR. However, H. lanatus L. was
noticed only on the CTR. The soil amendments resulted in forb content.
During the five-year period, some forb species appear in the
investigated grassland community, i.e., Capsella bursa-pastoris(L.) Medik., Geranium pusillum L., Melandrium pratenseRöhl., Ranunculus acris L., Rumex acetosa L.,Senecio vulgaris L. and Stellaria graminea L. Higher
percentages of these species groups were noticed with the WS and MS
treatment (Figure 5).