Effect of plant community on recruitment of Pulsatilla pratensis in dry grassland

The most critical life phase of many plant species is seedlings recruitment. We investigated emergence and survival of seedlings of endangered Pulsatila pratensis subsp. bohemica on dry grassland close to Prague (Czech Republic). We asked: (1) How are the field emergence and survival of seedlings affected by different plant communities? (2) Is the in situ seeding of local seeds a perspective method for the reinforcement of the declining population? In May 2010, we selected plots with dominant Festuca pallens (Festuca treatment), Geranium sanguineum accompanied by Festuca rupicola (Geranium treatment), and plots without any vegetation (Control treatment) and sewed 1350 seeds of P. pratensis. In October 2010, field emergence was 1.7, 2.6, and 1.3% in Festuca, Geranium, and Control treatments. In March 2011, only 4 and 3 seedlings were recorded in Festuca and Control treatments and no seedlings survived in Geranium treatment. By the end of 2011, only one seedling was alive in Control treatment and this seedling survived till October 2012. We concluded that in situ seeding was not an effective method for reinforcement of P. pratensis populations because of very low emergence rate and following survival of seedlings