Alterations of Steppe‐Like Grasslands in Eastern Europe: a Threat to Regional Biodiversity Hotspots

Abstract

Recent changes in agriculture (intensification or abandonment) have resulted in a critical reduction of steppe-like grasslands in Eastern Europe. These grasslands harbor an extraordinarily high diversity of plants and invertebrates, including endemics, and are considered refugia for numerous threatened open-land species. We examined species richness, and abundance, proportion of open-land, endemic and threatened vascular plants, gastropods, and diurnal and nocturnal Lepidoptera in six different vegetation types all originating from steppe-like grasslands in Transylvania, Romania. Vegetation types included extensively grazed pastures (initial stage), three seral stages of succession (early stage of abandoned grassland, abandoned grassland with shrubs, and mature forest), and two human-made grassland alterations, namely abandoned vineyards and Pinus plantations. A total of 852 species (291 vascular plants, 24 gastropods, 129 diurnal and 408 nocturnal Lepidoptera) were found in the 22 study sites. The four taxonomic groups differed in their response to the abandonment of steppe-like grassland, except that species richness of plants and diurnal Lepidoptera were positively correlated. The complementarity of species composition increased with successional age in all taxonomic groups examined. The number of characteristic open-land species decreased with successional age in plants and gastropods. All investigated vegetation types harbored threatened (red-listed) species. Endemic species were found in all vegetation types except mature forests and Pinus plantations. All Transylvanian endemics and the majority of threatened species found were open-land species. Extensively cultivated vineyards, which have been abandoned for two to three decades, also maintained high plant and invertebrate diversities, comparable to those of the corresponding stages of grassland succession. In contrast, Pinus plantations (a recent grassland alteration) have changed habitat quality and will have a devastating effect on the unique, indigenous diversity of these steppe-like grasslands as soon as the canopy closes. To prevent losses of characteristic species, we suggest a rotational grassland management program that maintains different seral stages. Succession to mature forest and additional Pinus plantations should be prevented. Resumen: Cambios recientes en la agricultura (intensificación o abandono) han resultado en la reducción crítica de pastizales similares a estepas en Europa Oriental. Estos pastizales albergan una diversidad extraordinariamente alta de plantas y animales, incluyendo endémicos, y son considerados refugios para numerosas Cremene et al. Biodiversity in Eastern European Grasslands 1607 especies amenazadas. Examinamos la riqueza y abundancia de especies, la proporción de plantas vasculares, gasterópodos y Lepidoptera diurnos y nocturnos amenazados y endémicos en seis tipos de vegetación diferentes pero originados a partir de pastizales similares a estepas en Transilvania, Rumania. Los tipos de vegetación incluyeron pastizal...

Intensified grazing affects endemic plant and gastropod diversity in alpine grasslands of the Southern Carpathian mountains (Romania)

“…In steppe-like grasslands and their seral stages of succession in Transylvania, Romania, no correlation between plant and gastropod species richness was found (Cremene et al 2005). Similarly, the species richness of vascular plants was a poor indicator for species richness of gastropods in nutrient-poor, dry calcareous grasslands in Switzerland (Baur et al 1996;Niemelä & Baur 1998).…”

“…To increase grazing areas, semi-natural grasslands have been created in mountain areas below the tree line by forest logging (Ellenberg 1996;Coldea 2003). Although vascular plant species richness of various natural and seminatural grasslands in general increases under moderate grazing (Collins et al 1998;Sternberg et al 2000), effects of grazing on biodiversity vary considerably among ecosystems and among different taxa (Niemelä & Baur 1998;Balmer & Erhardt 2000;Cremene et al 2005;Baur et al 2006). Moreover, patterns of biodiversity and their driving processes obviously vary with spatial and temporal scale (Crawley & Harral 2001;Dullinger et al 2003).…”

Resource use in two contrasting habitat types raises different challenges for the conservation of the dryad butterfly Minois dryas

“…Thus, it may be good practice to apply rotational grazing or mowing (Dolek and Geyer 1997;WallisDeVries et al 2002;Cremene et al 2005), since patches under a diverse mowing regime are preferred by butterflies and other insects (Cizek et al 2012). A single fragment should be mown every 2-3 years.…”

An ex-ante impact assessment of the Common Agricultural Policy reform in the North-Western Romania

“…This means that the labour intensive farming is in general the most sensitive one to the policy agriculture changes. In Romania, such farms are the keepers of the traditional pastoral practices on the HNV grassland areas very rich in biodiversity (Cremene et al 2005). Thus, in the future CAP framework, a special attention should be devoted to them.…”

“…The farm data was obtained after a face-to-face survey conducted in a NUTS2 level Romanian region. The investigation was focused on the mixed farms specialised in sheep production since they are the main users of the HNV Romanian areas (Cremene et al 2005). The last part concludes with the most important findings and policy recommendations.…”