Isolation and patch size drive specialist plant species density within steppe islands: a case study of kurgans in southern Ukraine

Dembicz, Iwona; Moysiyenko, Ivan; Shaposhnikova, Anastasia; Vynokurov, Denys; Kozub, Łukasz; Sudnik‐Wójcikowska, Barbara

doi:10.1007/s10531-016-1077-y

Cited by 31 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…Their particular shape and steep slopes have often prevented ploughing; thus, grassland vegetation has been able to survive on burial mounds , Dembicz et al 2016. This is especially true for loess grasslands which are often restricted to burial mounds and road verges in many regions (Sudnik-Wójcikowska et al 2011.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cultural heritage and biodiversity conservation – plant introduction and practical restoration on ancient burial mounds

Valkó¹,

Tóth²,

Kelemen³

et al. 2018

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Linking the conservation of cultural heritage and natural values provides a unique opportunity for preserving traditional landscapes and receives an increased awareness from stakeholders and society. Ancient burial mounds are proper objects of such projects as they are iconic landscape elements of the Eurasian steppes and often act as refugia for grassland specialist species. The aim of this project was to reintroduce grassland plant species to burial mounds for representing them as cultural monuments with the associated biodiversity for the public. The effectiveness of seed sowing, transplanting greenhouse-grown plants and individuals from threatened populations on burial mounds in Hortobágy National Park, Hungary was tested. The following questions were answered: (1) which method is the most effective for species introduction? (2) which species can establish most successfully? (3) how does management affect the species establishment rates? It was found advisable to use a combination of seed sowing and transplanting greenhouse-grown plants. Sowing was found as a cost-effective method for introducing large-seeded species, whilst introduction of greenhouse-grown transplants warranted higher establishment rates for a larger set of species. Transplanting adult individuals was more reliable regardless of management regimes, however this method is labour-intensive and expensive. Intensive management, like mowing with heavy machinery and intensive grazing, should be avoided in the first few years after introduction. The authors CONSERVATION IN PRACTICE Launched to accelerate biodiversity conservation A peer-reviewed open-access journalOrsolya Valkó et al. / Nature Conservation 24: 65-80 (2018) 66 highlighted the fact that introducing characteristic grassland species on cultural monuments offers a great opportunity to link issues of landscape and biodiversity conservation. This project demonstrated that, by the revitalisation of cultural monuments, cultural ecosystem services can also be restored.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cultural heritage and biodiversity conservation – plant introduction and practical restoration on ancient burial mounds

Valkó¹,

Tóth²,

Kelemen³

et al. 2018

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“…Against all odds, small grassland patches located in cleared landscapes, such as midfield islands, channel dikes, and roadside verges often harbor a high biodiversity of grassland species (Fekete et al., ; Sudnik‐Wójcikowska et al., ). In the western part of the steppe biome (involving Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine, and the European parts of Russia), the several hundred thousand ancient burial mounds called “kurgans” also play a crucial role in preserving grassland vegetation, especially in intensively used agricultural landscapes (Deák, Tóthmérész et al., ; Dembicz et al., ; Tóth, Pethe, & Hatházi, ). Even though grasslands on kurgans can be considered stable habitats which are usually characterized by closed grass‐dominated vegetation, they are often exposed to several types of human and natural disturbances (Deák, Tóthmérész et al., ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecosystem engineering by foxes is mediated by the landscape context—A case study from steppic burial mounds

Godó

Tóthmérész²,

Valkó

et al. 2018

Ecology and Evolution

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In intensively used landscapes, remnant grassland fragments are often restricted to places unsuitable for agricultural cultivation. Such refuges are the ancient burial mounds called “kurgans,” which are typical landscape elements of the Eurasian steppe and forest steppe zone. Due to their hill‐like shape, loose soil structure and undisturbed status kurgans provide proper habitats for burrowing mammals. Accordingly, grassland vegetation on kurgans is often exposed to bioturbation, which can influence the habitat structure and plant species pool. In our study, we explored the effect of fox burrows and landscape context on the habitat properties and vegetation composition of small landscape elements, using kurgans as model habitats. We surveyed the vegetation of fox burrows and that of the surrounding grassland on five kurgans situated in cleared landscapes surrounded by arable lands and five kurgans in complex landscapes surrounded by grazed grasslands. We recorded the percentage cover of vascular plants, the amount of litter, and soil moisture content in twelve 0.5 m × 0.5 m plots per kurgan, in a total of 120 plots. We found that foxes considerably transformed habitat conditions and created microhabitats by changing the soil nutrient availability and reducing total vegetation cover and litter. Several grassland specialist species, mostly grasses (Agropyron cristatum, Elymus hispidus, and Stipa capillata) established in the newly created microhabitats, although the cover of noxious species was also considerable. We found that landscape context influenced the sort of species which could establish on kurgans by affecting the available species pool and soil moisture. Our results revealed that foxes act as ecosystem engineers on kurgans by transforming abiotic and biotic conditions by burrowing. Their engineering activity maintains disturbance‐dependent components of dry grasslands and increases local environmental heterogeneity.

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“…It was reported by several authors that large fluctuations in the species composition of secondary grasslands may occur, which can highly influence the present‐day species composition and diversity of a restored grassland, especially if the grasslands are younger than 20 years (Bartha et al, ; Ruprecht, ). (c) It was also suggested by Dembicz et al () that area extent may also affect the diversity of grasslands. Our findings suggest that these could be valuable future research directions.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 83%

High resistance of plant biodiversity to moderate native woody encroachment in loess steppe grassland fragments

Teleki

Sonkoly

Erdős

et al. 2020

Applied Vegetation Science

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Questions Woody encroachment affects many open habitats from semi‐deserts to wetlands and grasslands. We aimed to study the effect of native woody encroachment on grassland plant biodiversity in loess steppe fragments by analysing the vegetation composition of grasslands subjected to increasing levels of encroachment. We studied both ancient and restored grasslands with the following research hypotheses: (a) increasing woody encroachment decreases total diversity and the species richness of dry‐grassland species; and (b) the effect of woody cover on grassland biodiversity differs between ancient and restored grasslands. Location South‐Eastern part of Transdanubia, Hungary, Central Europe. Methods Altogether 63 loess grassland fragments were selected for the study. The percentage cover of trees, shrubs and herbaceous vegetation were recorded in 400‐m2‐sized plots (n = 110). The effects of woody encroachment and grassland age on diversity, total species richness of the herb layer, and richness of dry‐grassland species were analysed. Results We found that woody encroachment affected the total richness of the herb layer and the species richness of dry‐grassland species. For most of the listed variables, lowest values were found for the highest woody encroachment groups. Grassland age affected the species richness of the herb layer and that of dry‐grassland species; lower values were detected in restored grasslands. In restored grasslands, Shannon diversity and species evenness were lower, while Berger–Parker dominance was higher than in ancient grasslands. Species composition and richness displayed a relatively high resistance to moderate woody encroachment; the highest decrease in diversity was detected at a high level of woody encroachment (>52% of woody cover). Conclusions We can conclude that low to moderate woody encroachment cannot be simplistically regarded as degradation. Results suggest that moderately encroached loess grasslands can be easily restored by the suppression of woody species, as their species pool still contains many dry‐grassland species targeted for restoration.

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Isolation and patch size drive specialist plant species density within steppe islands: a case study of kurgans in southern Ukraine

Cited by 31 publications

References 41 publications

Cultural heritage and biodiversity conservation – plant introduction and practical restoration on ancient burial mounds

Cultural heritage and biodiversity conservation – plant introduction and practical restoration on ancient burial mounds

Ecosystem engineering by foxes is mediated by the landscape context—A case study from steppic burial mounds

High resistance of plant biodiversity to moderate native woody encroachment in loess steppe grassland fragments

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