Conservation of Sandy Calcareous Grassland: What Can Be Learned from the Land Use History?

Ödman, Anja Madelen; Olsson, Pål Axel

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0090998

Cited by 13 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…The decline and extinction of middle-spotted woodpecker (Dendrocoptes medius) and saproxylic beetles are examples of the consequences of converting cultural wooded grasslands to monocultures of coniferous trees [44,45]. A similar fate has been predicted for the last remaining patches (30-50 ha in total) of Kristianstad's xeric grasslands even if low intensity farming practices, such as grazing or long rotational cultivation, are maintained, because the degradation is too widespread in an already fragmented system [46]. The loss, alteration, and fragmentation of grasslands in Kristianstad, one of Sweden's most prized grassland areas, are consistent with other findings of grassland degradation in Southern Sweden.…”

Section: Reduced Functionality Of Semi-natural Grasslands As a Green mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The loss, alteration, and fragmentation of grasslands in Kristianstad, one of Sweden's most prized grassland areas, are consistent with other findings of grassland degradation in Southern Sweden. The long development history of intensive forestry and agriculture in southern Sweden has reduced the quantity and quality of several grassland types including lowland wet grasslands [47], cultural wooded grasslands [42,43,48,49], and dry xeric and calcareous grasslands [46]. However, this is not limited to Sweden with similar declines found for the alvar grasslands of Estonia: −72% from 1930 to 2008 [50,51].…”

Section: Reduced Functionality Of Semi-natural Grasslands As a Green mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Kristianstad Vattenrike Biosphere Reserve governance system has been deemed a social success story [88,89]. However, the conservation status of its priority semi-natural grassland ecosystems is still unfavorable [5,46]. Maintaining semi-natural grasslands as green infrastructure is more than just about land cover [5].…”

Section: The Need For Spatial Planningmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Defining Benchmarks for Restoration of Green Infrastructure: A Case Study Combining the Historical Range of Variability of Habitat and Species’ Requirements

Manton

Angelstam

2018

Sustainability

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Animal husbandry in Europe that sustained once wide-spread semi-natural grasslands has been replaced by maximum sustained yield agriculture and forestry. This transformation coincides with declining populations of species dependent on semi-natural grasslands. A key task is therefore to define benchmarks for landscape restoration in terms of well-planned functional habitat networks, i.e., green infrastructure. Using a representative example of the European landscape gradient between agricultural and forest landscapes in southern Sweden as a case study, we analyzed the historic range of variability of the total area, quality, and size of grassland patches, and compared this to the requirements of focal grassland species. Spatial data covering the past two centuries indicated a 75-80% loss of total grassland area. Three factors affected the functionality of grasslands as green infrastructure. First, during the period 1927-1976, the loss of all grassland areas with high nature values was 41-59%. Second, as a measure of alteration, the number of semi-natural grassland types declined from 5 to 1. Third, to address habitat fragmentation, an analysis of changes in grassland patch size showed that patches sufficiently large to support local populations of complete focal grasslands species assemblages declined by 89-100%. The cumulative effect of loss, alteration, and fragmentation over the past two centuries indicates that the functionality of semi-natural grasslands has declined by at least 98%. However, this estimate does not consider land use changes before 1800, reduced connectivity, and altered biotic and abiotic processes in both semi-natural grasslands and the surrounding matrix. We stress the need to define the historic range of variability as a benchmark in relation to species' requirements to maintain semi-natural grasslands as green infrastructure. Finally, integrated land management and governance that support multi-functionality of grasslands is needed.

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Section: Reduced Functionality Of Semi-natural Grasslands As a Green mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Reduced Functionality Of Semi-natural Grasslands As a Green mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Defining Benchmarks for Restoration of Green Infrastructure: A Case Study Combining the Historical Range of Variability of Habitat and Species’ Requirements

Manton

Angelstam

2018

Sustainability

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“…Saar et al. ; Ödman & Olsson ). These concerns have motivated numerous scientists to study the mechanisms and processes underlying compositional changes in SNDGs post‐abandonment (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Changes in dispersal and light capturing traits explain post‐abandonment community change in semi‐natural grasslands

Neuenkamp

Lewis

Koorem

et al. 2016

J Vegetation Science

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Question Does the role of dispersal and light limitation for community assembly change in temperate semi‐natural dry grasslands (SNDGs) post‐abandonment? Location Temperate calcareous semi‐natural dry grasslands, western Estonia (58.642 N, 23.516 E). Methods We compared taxonomic and functional community structure of semi‐natural dry grasslands in Estonia at two time periods: first in 1975 when traditional grazing prevailed, and again in 2013 when management had ceased for at least 30 yr. In order to assess functional community structure, we used community‐weighted mean trait values and mean pair‐wise distance as metrics of functional diversity for traits related to plant dispersal and adaptations to reduced light availability. Successional shifts in functional community structure were examined using regression and multivariate analysis. Results Changes in community assembly of SNDGs post‐abandonment were largely driven by more closed vegetation structure and subsequently reduced light availability, as well as altered availability of dispersal vectors. Importance of long‐distance dispersal via grazing animals decreased while importance of bird dispersal increased under abandonment. At the same time, the importance of competition for light increased under abandonment. Results indicate that typical SNDG species are especially susceptible to abandonment because they are light‐demanding and depend on dispersal by wind or epizoochory (i.e. on the fur of animals), and their decline likely leads to reduced small‐scale species richness. Conclusions Vegetation changes in abandoned SNDGs show that regular management, by creating characteristic light and dispersal conditions, is highly important for maintaining both taxonomic and functional diversity. In particular, typical grassland species might be prone to local extinction as taller vegetation develops post‐abandonment. The importance of dispersal processes for community assembly observed in grazed SNDGs thus highlights that successful grassland conservation should include maintenance of dispersal conditions. Grassland conservation should aim to preserve the whole ecosystem and account for the multiple ecosystem processes (e.g. light availability, dispersal), which simultaneously structure plant community composition.

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“…The usefulness of land-use historical analyses has been proven in several environments, including various types of forests (e.g., Gusev 2014), woodlands and shrublands (e.g., Duguy andVallejo 2008), grasslands (e.g., Ödman andOlsson 2014), and highly modified artificial landscapes (e.g., Lunt and Spooner 2005). Land-use history has played an important role in shaping the present patterns of the forest-steppes, however, little is known about this topic (Bölöni et al 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vegetation history, recent dynamics and future prospects of a Hungarian sandy forest-steppe reserve: forest-grassland relations, tree species composition and size-class distribution

et al. 2015

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Pannonian forest-steppes host a high number of endemic species and contribute to landscape-scale heterogeneity. Alterations in the proportion of forests and grasslands due to changes in land-use practice and climatic parameters can have serious nature conservation consequences. Hypotheses about forest-steppe dynamics have rarely been verified by detailed analyses, especially for the sandy forest-steppes. We integrated historical analysis, aerial photo interpretation and field investigation to determine how vegetation of a sandy forest-steppe has changed, how current dynamical processes operate and how native and exotic tree species regenerate under present conditions. The vegetation of the study area before the onset of major anthropogenic environmental transformations in the Carpathian Basin may have been a mosaic of forested and unforested patches. However, there is strong evidence that after heavy deforestation, the region was almost completely treeless between the 15 th and the 19 th centuries. Forest cover was able to recover by the 1800s but the lack of forested areas in the region for centuries explains why forest patches are still poor in species. Grasslands, which existed continuously, are more diverse, supporting several rare and endemic species. From 1953 till 2013, 72.45% of the area proved to be stable, but 27.55% showed clear dynamical character, changing either from forest to grassland, or vice versa. Thus, cyclic dynamics can occur in sandy forest-steppes. We found that forest patches of different size, differently exposed edges and grasslands provide different habitats for the tree species. Exotic species were present in large numbers, probably due to the small size of the reserve and the lack of a buffer zone. Abbreviations: DBH-diameter at breast height, DCA-Detrended Correspondence Analysis.

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Conservation of Sandy Calcareous Grassland: What Can Be Learned from the Land Use History?

Cited by 13 publications

References 40 publications

Defining Benchmarks for Restoration of Green Infrastructure: A Case Study Combining the Historical Range of Variability of Habitat and Species’ Requirements

Defining Benchmarks for Restoration of Green Infrastructure: A Case Study Combining the Historical Range of Variability of Habitat and Species’ Requirements

Changes in dispersal and light capturing traits explain post‐abandonment community change in semi‐natural grasslands

Vegetation history, recent dynamics and future prospects of a Hungarian sandy forest-steppe reserve: forest-grassland relations, tree species composition and size-class distribution

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