Threats and challenges related to grazing paddocks: Recovery of extremely overgrazed grassland after grazing exclusion

Varga, Kristina; Csízi, István; Monori, István; Valkó, Orsolya

doi:10.1080/15324982.2020.1869120

Cited by 6 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…Grazing most often seems to promote the diversity of plants (Papanikolaou et al ., 2011; Báldi, Batáry & Kleijn, 2013; Tälle et al ., 2016), whereas other species groups show diverging responses that strongly depend on grazing intensity (Kruess & Tscharntke, 2002; Dumont et al ., 2007; Wallis De Vries et al ., 2007; Jerrentrup et al ., 2014). Too intense grazing (overgrazing) may have large negative impacts on grassland biodiversity (Bonari et al ., 2017; Sartorello et al ., 2020) and human livelihood (Varga et al ., 2021), and the grassland recovery after being overgrazed is most likely slow (Middleton, Holsten & van Diggelen, 2006; Fetzel et al ., 2018; Varga et al ., 2021). There is a growing awareness that CAP often results in overgrazing (Fetzel et al ., 2018; Marques et al ., 2020; European Commission, 2020 b ), and this raises the question of whether CAP‐grazing regimes are compatible with Natura 2000 targets for biodiversity.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Subsidized Common Agricultural Policy grazing jeopardizes the protection of biodiversity and Natura 2000 targeted species

Kindvall¹,

Franzén

Askling³

et al. 2022

Animal Conservation

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In Europe, Natura 2000 sites should protect threatened target species and networks of habitats. The management of Natura 2000 grasslands is often financed by subsidized grazing as part of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). We studied the extent of CAP grazing for Natura 2000 management and how this affects a butterfly target species (the marsh fritillary) and floral resources. Based on extensive capture-mark-release studies from 2 years in >550 ha grid cells in a 225 km 2 landscape in Sweden that includes 15 Natura 2000 sites, we compared marsh fritillary occurrence probabilities and population densities in ungrazed and CAP-grazed habitats. Moreover, we analyzed how nectar resources and orchids were affected by CAP grazing based on plants records from 2347 sample plots. We estimated the proportion of butterfly habitats that were CAP-grazed within and outside Natura 2000 sites. In total, 10 453 and 4417 butterflies were marked in 2017 and 2019, respectively. The grid cell occurrence probability was 1.8 times higher and the population density was 2.3 times higher in ungrazed compared with CAP-grazed habitats in 2017, and the corresponding numbers for 2019 were 10 and 5.3 times higher, respectively. The number of flowering plants were on average 6.9 times higher and the density of orchids was 12.3 times higher in ungrazed habitats. Roughly, 30% (130 ha) of the marsh fritillary habitat was CAP grazed, and 97% of this grazing occurred within protected areas, of which 111 ha was situated within Natura 2000 area where the marsh fritillary is the target species. Alarmingly, we show that intense yearly CAP grazing, which is the dominant management strategy in all Natura 2000 sites, has devastating consequences for the target species and other aspects of biodiversity. Less intense management, which would benefit biodiversity, requires changes in the CAP, to allow more flexible payments for habitat management objectives and conservation of target species.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Subsidized Common Agricultural Policy grazing jeopardizes the protection of biodiversity and Natura 2000 targeted species

Kindvall¹,

Franzén

Askling³

et al. 2022

Animal Conservation

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“…Routine control measures often neglect the identification of pest risk (Tóth et al, 2018). The changing pasture environment (replace pastoral grazing with closed pasture systems) turns to be a hotspot for continuous chain infections (Varga et al, 2020(Varga et al, , 2021. The objective of our research was to verify traditional pastoral knowledge.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Parasite control with Red Chicory extract

Varga¹,

Csízi

Monori³

et al. 2022

Gyepgazdálk. közl.

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Authors conducted studies in 2021 at the sheep farm of Karcag Research Institute. Searching for methodologies to reduce endoparasitosis. Traditional medical application of weed roots, with a focus on tannin and inulin content were tested. Extracts from Cichorium intybus and Cichorium intybus var. foliosum were made and administered to infected ewes. Strongylus sp. eggs significantly reduced after treatment due to inulin and tannin content. Further experiments should be reveal whether dried or diluted extracts are more efficient.

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Conservation status of birds in habitats along a successional gradient from bare ground to forest

Bystřický,

Dvořáková,

Reif

2023

COMMUNITY ECOLOGY

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Threats and challenges related to grazing paddocks: Recovery of extremely overgrazed grassland after grazing exclusion

Cited by 6 publications

References 47 publications

Subsidized Common Agricultural Policy grazing jeopardizes the protection of biodiversity and Natura 2000 targeted species

Subsidized Common Agricultural Policy grazing jeopardizes the protection of biodiversity and Natura 2000 targeted species

Parasite control with Red Chicory extract

Conservation status of birds in habitats along a successional gradient from bare ground to forest

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