Site description:
The Danish site is situated at Mols Bjerge in Eastern Jutland (56^o23'N 10^o57'W). The site is at a south eastern facing slope 57 m a.s.l. and 3 km from the sea - a shallow, protected fjord. Precipitation at the site is 722 mm, annual temperature is 7.7 ^oC (30 yr. mean) (average January 1.7 ^oC, average July 17.5 ^oC).

Mols Bjerge is a glacial sandy moraine deposited during the late phase of the Würm glaciation. Consequently the soil is a sandy podzol being relatively nutrient poor.

The area has been used for extensive agriculture since the Bronze age and up until 1950. The site was grazed by sheep and cattle during 1972-1992. Since 1992 no management has been conducted at the site apart from occasional removing of single trees. Since 1982 the area has been assigned to a preservation plan, whereas the surrounding areas are cultivated leading to an increased nutrient deposition of c. 13 kg N/ha/yr (3 yr mean in wet deposition).

Due to the management history and the nutrient poor status the site has been dominated by heather, Calluna vulgaris, and grasses, Deschampsia flexuosa. Over the last 30 years Deschampsia flexuosa have gained increasing dominance, most likely as a consequence of the low level of management and the increasing atmospheric input of nutrients. The site was stroke by a heather beetle attack in the summer 1999 and especially 2000, which have removed the calluna plants from large parts of the area.

Claus Beier
RISØ National Laboratory
Plant Research Department
POB 49 DK- 4000 Roskilde
Tel. +45 4677 4161
Fax: +45 4677 4160
Email: claus.beier@risoe.dk