Landscape structure and management regime as indicators of calcareous grassland habitat condition and species diversity

Mitchley, Jonathan; Xofis, Panteleimon

doi:10.1016/j.jnc.2004.12.001

Cited by 24 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…These findings are in line with the results of numerous other studies, which have also shown that plant species richness in grasslands declines after cessation of livestock grazing (e.g. Luoto et al 2003;Mitchley & Xofis 2005;Pykälä et al 2005).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Long‐term effects of the abandonment of grazing on steppe‐like grasslands

Enyedi

Ruprecht

Deák³

2008

Applied Vegetation Science

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Question: What are the consequences of grazing abandonment on the Stipa lessingiana dominated steppe-like grasslands? What is the relative importance of management and environmental factors in causing variation in species composition and abundance in the continuously grazed and abandoned grassland stands? Location: Transylvanian Lowland, Romania. Methods: Repeated vegetation mapping of a grassland stand, where grazing was abandoned 35 years ago; re-sampling six grassland stands surveyed 29-57 years ago. For revealing long-term changes in species composition and rank abundance PCoA ordination was applied. The relative importance of management and environmental factors in structuring vegetation were explored by CCA ordination. Diversity, evenness and the relative number and abundance of red-listed species were compared between managed and abandoned stands. Results: Our results pointed out that grasslands which were formerly grazed and dominated by S. lessingiana, in the longterm absence of grazing, have been transformed into a S. pulcherrima dominated type. Management, probably by creating bare surfaces and preventing litter accumulation, had the strongest effect on the species composition and abundance in the grasslands. Abandoned grassland stands had lower diversity and evenness compared to continuously grazed stands. While at the same time, the relative number of threatened, rare species did not differ between managed and abandoned sites. Conclusion: Maintaining extensively grazed, as well as unmanaged, Stipa dominated grasslands would be important in order to create various habitat conditions for plant species, especially threatened and rare species, and promote diversity on the landscape scale.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Long‐term effects of the abandonment of grazing on steppe‐like grasslands

Enyedi

Ruprecht

Deák³

2008

Applied Vegetation Science

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“…These grasslands experience a high degree of fragmentation and isolation as a result of changes in land use (Olsson 1994;Poschlod et al 2009). Mitchley and Xofis (2005) investigated the importance of landscape structure and management regime on the state of calcareous grasslands in the UK. They found that unfavourable habitat conditions were related to a lack of management or to a high level of agriculture in the surrounding buffer zone (200 m around the site), and led to habitat degradation and nutrient enrichment.…”

Section: Threats To Calcareous Grasslandsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Soil disturbance as a restoration measure in dry sandy grasslands

et al. 2012

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Severely disturbed habitats such as military training grounds, gravel pits and sand pits contribute to the species diversity of the agricultural landscape in Europe. They host a number of red-listed species not found elsewhere, illustrating that many plant species are threatened by extinction due to too little soil disturbance. Implementing a suitable disturbance regime is therefore crucial to ensure species-rich environments. We have reviewed the literature on soil disturbance as a restoration measure in dry sandy grasslands, with a special focus on xeric sand calcareous grasslands as these are severely threatened. Our objective was to elucidate the relations between diversity and disturbance regimes, and to determine how disturbance can be used to counteract acidification, to reduce nutrient availability and to create gaps in the vegetation. Our findings indicate that the current disturbance regime should be based on the historical disturbance regime, the productivity of the habitat and the propagule supply, in order to promote diversity at a landscape scale. Based on earlier studies and on the diversity/disturbance theory, we propose a conceptual model that can be used to determine the appropriate soil disturbance regime for restoration purposes. Our analysis highlights the importance of considering soil productivity, soil chemistry and dispersal limitations when choosing restoration measures and disturbance regimes for the conservation of biodiversity.

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“…The validation realised with ground data gathered by experts showed that suitable areas covered 95% of the reference habitats of the species. Mitchley and Xofis (2005) investigate the predictive power of landscape spatial characteristics and management regime on the quality and species diversity of calcareous grassland in south-east England. Using classification trees, they develop models of mutually exclusive decision rules which predict with a high degree of accuracy, the conservation status of calcareous grasslands, the diversity of different ecological species groups, and the abundance of the negative habitat quality indicator species, Brachypodium pinnatum.…”

Section: Spatial Indicator Testing and Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%