Tall forbs are plants that grow quite high, and thrive on nitrogen-rich soil. Around 730 plant species occur in the sampling points of the flora measurement grid, just under half of Dutch flora. In rural agricultural areas more common species grow, which do not require specific soil conditions to thrive, such as meadow buttercup, common velvet grass, and red clover. Another characteristic of tall forbs is that they displace less robust species. This study is based on 100 forbs species. Familiar plants in the list are creeping thistle, ground elder, bramble blackberry, common stinging nettle, and catch weed. In the sampling points of the flora measurement grid the change in coverage for a group of tall forbs and for a number of individual species was analysed. Between the period 2000-2003 and the period 2004-2007 coverage by tall forbs increased significantly. For all species in figure 1, too, the increase in coverage was significant. This increase in individual species refers to all landscape elements together.
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