Restoration measures foster biodiversity of important primary consumers within calcareous grasslands

Helbing, Felix; Fartmann, Thomas; Poniatowski, Dominik

doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2021.109058

Cited by 10 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 55 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Std sensitivities to grassland restoration and degradation (Helbing et al, 2021), and our findings support this opinion (Figure 4). Besides direct effects, livestock grazing can also affect insect diversity indirectly in many cases.…”

Section: Estimatesupporting

confidence: 88%

Impacts of different fencing periods and grazing intensities on insect diversity in the desert steppe in Inner Mongolia

Wang

Song

Wang³

et al. 2022

Front. Ecol. Evol.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

For the past several decades, both species biodiversity and productivity of desert steppe have been reduced due to excessive use and climate factors. To counteract this, Chinese government has supported large-scale grassland ecological restoration programs since the year 2000. The policy needs a standard for the evaluation of the effects of such restorative measures on the grasslands after decades. Grassland insect diversity plays an important role in the maintenance of plant species and functional diversity. To understand the relation of grazing management and insect diversity, we use a complete two factor design, two fencing periods (3 or 7 years) and three grazing intensities (0, 6, or 12 sheep per ha), to examine the response of the insect diversity to fencing and grazing in desert steppe. We found almost no significant differences in either plant or insect species diversity between the sites fenced for 3 and 7 years, as the pressure of grazing increased, insect diversity decreased to a greater extent at 7-year enclosure sites than at 3-year sites. We recommend the most suitable grazing intensity for the sustainability of biodiversity of the desert steppe in Inner Mongolia is light grazing (8 sheep/ha 0.5 yr−1), and the most suitable fencing period is three years, which suggest that policies that remove livestock from the desert grassland for long periods (7 + years) are not beneficial for maintaining insect diversity, and heavy grazing lead ecological environment weaker and insect diversity decreasing. Thus, periodic livestock grazing is important in the design of management actions to preserve biodiversity.

show abstract

Section: Estimatesupporting

confidence: 88%

Impacts of different fencing periods and grazing intensities on insect diversity in the desert steppe in Inner Mongolia

Wang

Song

Wang³

et al. 2022

Front. Ecol. Evol.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Nutrient‐poor grasslands on calcareous soils are hotspots of insect diversity (WallisDeVries et al ., 2002; Löffler et al ., 2020; Helbing et al ., 2021). For instance, about half of all indigenous European butterfly species may occur in calcareous grasslands (van Swaay et al ., 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Occurrence of an endangered grassland butterfly is mainly driven by habitat heterogeneity, food availability, and microclimate

Scherer

Fartmann

2021

Insect Science

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The Marsh Fritillary (Euphydryas aurinia) was once widespread in large parts of Central Europe. However, in the course of the last century, populations of the butterfly largely collapsed. Here, we surveyed patch and microhabitat occupancy and its drivers in one of the last vital populations in calcareous grasslands. Our study revealed that environmental conditions at the landscape and habitat level determined the occurrence of E. aurinia in a montane agricultural landscape with low land‐use intensity. Patch occupancy increased with the cover of Devil's‐bit Scabious (Succisa pratensis) grasslands in the surroundings of the patches, habitat heterogeneity and host‐plant cover. Microhabitat occupancy was driven by a warm microclimate and high availability of host plants. In the well‐connected landscape of nutrient‐poor grasslands, patch occupancy of E. aurinia was driven by parameters defining a high habitat quality. Habitat heterogeneity very likely buffers E. aurinia populations against environmental stochasticity and, hence, enhances long‐term viability. For the gregariously feeding caterpillars of E. aurinia, host‐plant biomass is essential. Due to their more luxuriant growth, S. pratensis plants were clearly preferred, although the Glossy Scabious (Scabiosa lucida) was also widespread. Additionally, the growth of large Succisa plants was favored by soil humidity and grassland abandonment. To cope with the adverse macro‐ and mesoclimatic conditions of the study area, females of the butterfly selected host plants growing in extraordinarily warm microhabitats for oviposition. To secure long‐term viability of E. aurinia populations, we recommend creating mosaics of traditionally managed grasslands and early stages of abandonment within the patches.

show abstract

“…Nutrient-poor dry calcareous grasslands are a highly threatened habitat that harbours numerous rare and endangered plant and invertebrate species 1 , 2 , 45 , 47 , 48 . Among gastropods, some thermophilic snail species are threatened 49 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The type of forest edge shapes snail assemblages at forest–pasture transitions

Schmera,

Boschi,

Baur

2023

Sci Rep

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Semi-natural, nutrient-poor calcareous grasslands are local biodiversity hotspots that are increasingly threatened by land use intensification, abandonment, or indirect effects from adjacent habitats. The habitat quality of these grasslands is often influenced by neighbouring forests or intensively managed agricultural land. For example, shrubs encroaching on grassland reduce the sensitive habitat, but at the same time represent a new habitat type (transition zone at gradual forest edge). We investigated the effects of gradual and abrupt forest edges on the species richness, abundance, species composition, functional diversity and number of species of conservation importance (red-listed species) of land snail assemblages at forest–pasture transitions in the Jura Mountains, Switzerland. Forest edge type influenced the snail assemblages in different ways. Transition zones at abrupt forest edges had a higher species richness and more snail individuals than transition zones at gradual forest edges. Transition zones also differed in land snail species composition. At gradual forest edges, the transition zones contained some openland snail species, while those at abrupt forest edges had a similar species composition to the forest interior. Functional diversity was significantly higher for snails in the forests and transition zones at both abrupt and gradual edges than in pastures. In contrast, pastures and transition zones at both abrupt and gradual edges had a significantly higher number of red-listed snail species. Based on our findings, we recommend the creation of gradual forest edges through regular forest management practices, rather than through shrub encroachment into pasture, which could reduce the size of the threatened habitat.

show abstract

Restoration measures foster biodiversity of important primary consumers within calcareous grasslands

Cited by 10 publications

References 55 publications

Impacts of different fencing periods and grazing intensities on insect diversity in the desert steppe in Inner Mongolia

Impacts of different fencing periods and grazing intensities on insect diversity in the desert steppe in Inner Mongolia

Occurrence of an endangered grassland butterfly is mainly driven by habitat heterogeneity, food availability, and microclimate

The type of forest edge shapes snail assemblages at forest–pasture transitions

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About