Temporary pond loss as a result of pasture abandonment: exploring the social-ecological drivers and consequences on amphibians

Abstract

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>Amphibian conservation in farming landscapes should address two challenges. First, to understand the relationship between landuse and amphibian habitat quality and second, to understand and support of the capacity of the local communities to continue those farming practices which supports amphibian friendly habitats. While the first challenge is addressed by several studies, there is virtually no study addressing the socio-economic drivers of landuse change. The major aim of this study to fill this knowledge gap by (i) documenting the temporary pond loss in 10 years in a traditionally managed pasture as a result of land abandonment and (ii) exploring the socio-economic and environmental drivers of abandonment. The results show a dramatic increase of scrub cover in the study area as a result of land abandonment. The formation of temporary ponds was negatively influenced by the increase of scrub cover in the vicinity of ponds. There were no differences between the amphibian species assemblages nor the species richness between the lost- and persisting ponds. The social component of the research highlights possible maladaptive paths in pasture management reinforced by the village depopulation, wrong interpretation of nature protection law by officials, scrub encroachment caused decrease in pasture quality and the demotivation of locals to restart traditional grazing. Conservation efforts in traditional farming landscapes facing land abandonment should (i) target the maximization of the quality of the remaining ponds for amphibians and (ii) should support reviving traditional farming practices within the local community.</jats:p>

Mosaic landscapes provide conservation pockets for an endangered species: Colias myrmidone in Romania

“…Notwithstanding, the site contains a few inaccessible patches, in which little or no grazing takes place, and where shrubs may serve as wind cover, creating a preferable microhabitat for this densely occupied patch. However, given the general trend of abandonment of small‐scale pastoralism (Erős et al, 2020; Fischer et al, 2012), the accelerating scrub encroachment may soon turn into a dense woodland, which is unsuitable not only for C. myrmidone but also potentially for other species that occur in transition zones between grasslands and forests (Baur et al, 2006). Hence, we evaluate the survival probability as low (Nippen et al, 2021) and emphasise the need for landscape‐scale management for conservation success in cultural landscapes (Bergman et al, 2004).…”