The management of the coastal grasslands of Estonia

The coastal grasslands of the west coast of Estonia and the island Hiiumaa were investigated in the years 2000-2002. The main goal of the work is to investigate the actual ecological conditions of coastal meadows, to provide detailed information on the biodiversity, productivity and the hay quality of coastal grasslands as well as to identify the problems with the exploitation of coastal grasslands. The properties of the investigated soils (Hyposalic Fluvisols), nutrient cycle in plant-soil system and the influence of grazing on the coastal biotope are discussed. In Hiiumaa the investigated farm has approximately 400 ha of coastal meadows and the area is grazed by horses and beef cattle (100 cattle units all together). It makes the grazing intensity very low: only I cattle unit per ha, but the grazing intensity is not equal in different areas. The productivity of grasslands varied remarkably in the investigated areas (94 to 421 g m(-2)): there was overgrazing in some areas and in other places the intensity was not enough to suppress the spreading of Phragmites australis.