Hanne Sickel
Research Scientist
Abstract
Semi-natural grasslands are amongst the most species-rich habitats in Scandinavia and elsewhere in Europe. However, the ecological values of these habitats are threatened, by intensification of agriculture in some areas and by abandonment in others. A key question is whether current measures aiming to protect this biodiversity in Norway are in fact successful. We evaluated, in the field, the condition of 55 localities of semi-natural pastures and hay meadows recorded in the Norwegian nature database, Naturbase. We found that only 20 localities (36%) were receiving the agri-environmental subsidies for which they were all eligible. All but one of the localities receiving the subsidies were in fair to good condition, compared with just 41% of the localities that did not receive subsidies. However, only four the 16 most valuable localities, those classed as nationally important, received agri-environmental subsidies. Through a questionnaire to landowners, we found that many were not aware of the biodiversity value on their properties. Of 33 respondents, 20 (61%) knew that they had these valuable ecosystems on their property, whilst 13 (39%) did not. Further, twenty respondents were not aware that they were eligible for financial support to maintain their species-rich grasslands. We conclude that to achieve long-term conservation in habitats dependent on management, it is essential to improve dialogue with landowners.
Authors
Alexandra Kruse Jana Spulerova Csaba Centeri Sebastian Eiter Viviana Ferrario Suzan Jurgens Drago Kladnik Zdeněk Kučera Teodor Marusca Dragomir Neculai Hans Renes Hanne Sickel Maurizia Sigura Martina Slámová Kari Stensgaard Peter StrasserAbstract
This paper provides an overview of traditional hay-making structures and the related agricultural landscapes in Europe. The information was collected using a standardised questionnaire that was completed by experts from different countries. What all countries had in common was that hay production with its corresponding structures was widespread. However, the scope and importance differed among the countries today. We found differences in type and extent, in degree of awareness, and in the cultural meaning of hay-making structures. The differences were connected with built structures, as well as with other tangible and intangible aspects of cultural heritage. The distribution of the broad variety of hay-making-related structures, especially semipermanent ones, has changed throughout history, as well as the hay-making techniques, as a result of agrarian specialisation, land reclamation, and consolidation. Today, in some countries, the relevance of hay-making was mainly connected to horse keeping and landscape management (like in Germany and Hungary), while in others (like Slovakia and Slovenia), it was still predominantly used for cattle and sheep.
Abstract
Aim Grasslands of varying land-use intensity and history were studied to describe and test species richness and compositional patterns and their relationships with the physical environment, land cover of the surrounding landscape, patch geometry, and grazing. Location The mainland of Norway. Methods We utilized data from the Norwegian Monitoring Programme for Agricultural Landscapes, which recorded vascular plants from 569 plots, placed within 97 monitoring squares systematically distributed throughout agricultural land on the Norwegian mainland. We identified four grassland types: (i) moderately fertilized, moist meadows; (ii) overgrown agricultural land; (iii) cultivated pastures and disturbed ground; and (iv) natural/unfertilized and outfield pastures. Results Soil moisture and grazing measures were found to be important in explaining species compositional variation in all grassland types. Richness patterns were best explained by complex and differing combinations of environmental indicators. Nevertheless, negative (nitrogen and light level) or unimodal (pH) responses were similar across grassland types. Vegetation plots adjacent to areas historically and/or currently dominated by mires, forests, or pastures, as well as abandoned and overgrown grasslands, had a slightly higher species richness. Larger grasslands surrounding the vegetation plots had slightly less species than smaller grasslands. Conclusions This study demonstrates that data from a national monitoring programme on agricultural grasslands can be used for plant ecological research. The results indicate that climate-change-related shifts along moisture and nutrient gradients (increases) may alter both species composition and species richness in the studied grasslands. It is likely that large and contiguous managed (grass)land might affect areas perceived as remnants, probably caused by the transformation to homogeneous (agri)cultural landscapes reducing edge zones, which in turn may threaten the species pool and richness. The importance of land use and land-cover composition should be considered when planning management actions in extensively used high-latitude grasslands.