In Europe, the interest in introducing megaherbivores to achieve ambitious habitat restoration goals is increasing. In this study, we present the results of a one-year monitoring program in a rewilding project in Germany (Doeberitzer Heide), where European bison (Bison bonasus) and Przewalski´s horses (Equus ferus przewalskii) were introduced for ecological restoration purposes. Our objectives were to investigate diet and habitat preferences of Przewalski´s horses and European bison under free-choice conditions without fodder supplementation. In a random forest classification approach, we used multitemporal RapidEye time series imagery to map the diversity of available habitats within the study area. This spatially explicit habitat distribution from satellite imagery was combined with direct field observations of seasonal diet preferences of both species. In line with the availability of preferred forage plants, European bison and Przewalski´s horses both showed seasonal habitat preferences. Because of their different preferences for forage plants, they did not overlap in habitat use except for a short time in the colder season. European bison used open habitats and especially wet open habitats more than expected based on available habitats in the study area. Comparative foraging and feeding niches should be considered in the establishment of multispecies projects to maximize the outcome of restoration processes.

Sward degradation is a serious threat to the functioning of agricultural grassland and the provision of ecosystem services. Renovation measures are frequently applied to restore degraded swards. The success is highly variable, and substantial trade‐offs can be related to the process of renovation. This paper starts with a general classification of renovation measures and then investigates the processes that are directly related to renovation and lead to a change in botanical composition and affect soil functions and C and N fluxes. These processes are strongly interrelated and dependent on site, climate, and management condition as well as on the timescale. The more an existing and degraded sward is deliberately disturbed prior to a renovation measure, for example, by ploughing, the stronger will be the change in sward composition, and the stronger will be the potential yield and quality advantage. However, the risk of a release of soil organic C and N emissions to the environment will also increase. These emissions will usually decrease in time, but so will the positive effects on sward composition. This demonstrates that the renovation of swards is normally the second best solution and a proper and well‐adapted grassland utilization and management should be adopted to avoid degradation in the first place.

After 3 years of different crop rotations in an organic farming experiment on a sandy soil in northwest Germany, spring triticale was cultivated on all plots in the fourth year to investigate residual effects on yield, nitrogen (N) leaching and nutrient status in the soil. Previous crop rotations differed in the way N was supplied, either by farmyard manure (FYM, 100 and 200 kg N ha⁻¹ year⁻¹) or by arable legumes like grass-red clover and field beans, or as a control with no N. Other crops in the rotations were maize, winter triticale and spring barley. Additional plots had a 3-year grass-clover ley, that was ploughed-in for spring triticale in the fourth year. Yields of spring triticale were moderate and largest for ploughed-in grassland leys and grass-red clover and plots that had previously received farmyard manure. The former crop rotation, including grassland break-up, had a significant effect on most yield and environmental parameters like residual soil mineral nitrogen (SMN) and N leaching and on the level of available K in the soil. The single crop harvested in the year before spring triticale had a significant effect on yield parameters of spring triticale, less so on SMN and N leaching in the fourth year and no effect on available nutrients (P, K, Mg) and pH in the soil. We conclude that the effects of arable legumes were rather short lived while ploughing of 3-year grassland leys had a profound influence on mineralization processes and subsequently on yield and N losses.

There is indication in the literature that degradation of natural peatlands reduced spatial variability of soil chemical and biochemical properties. However, we lack empirical data on the impact of rewetting peatland on the spatial variability of these properties. We investigated the spatial variability of the soil properties of a peatland that has been used for extensive and intensive grazing from 1400 to 1970. The peatland has been rewetted since 1970, and we collected 50 soil samples from 50 grid cells of 0–10, and 10–20 cm soil depths in October 2001. We measured 33 important soil chemical and biochemical properties and evaluated the data with descriptive and geospatial statistical analyses. The concentrations of most plant available nutrients were low with high coefficients of variation (CV) that ranged from 15 to 117%, whereas the CV of most of the total and oxalate extracted elements was ≤15% CV. The degree of phosphorus (P) saturation (DPS) and P saturation ratio (PSR) were 11% and 0.05, which were low as compared to the threshold levels of 25% DPS and 0.11 PSR for mineral and wetland soils. The microbial biomass C and N ranged from 389 to 2,463 mg kg⁻¹ and 32 to 215 mg kg⁻¹ at the depth of 0–10 cm and from 343 to 1570 mg kg⁻¹ and 14 to 160 mg kg⁻¹ at the depth of 10–20 cm, respectively. Similarly, the dehydrogenase and β-glucosidase activities were lower by 76 and 61% at the soil depth of 10–20 cm compared to the upper 10 cm. The geospatial statistical analysis revealed that 87% of the soil chemical properties were spatially correlated and 85% of the spatial correlation was strong with <0.20 nugget to sill ratio at 5 to 12 m ranges. Similarly, 86 and 71% of the biochemical properties were strongly spatially correlated at the depth of 0–10, and 10–20 cm, respectively, with ≤0.16 nugget to sill ratio at the short ranges (4 to 6 m). The strong spatial correlation of most of the soil chemical and biochemical properties at short ranges indicate the high variability of the rewetted peatland.