Laura M. E. Sutcliffe

Organic farming favours insect-pollinated over non-insect pollinated forbs in meadows and wheat fields.

The aim of this study was to determine the relative effects of landscape-scale management intensity, local management intensity and edge effect on diversity patterns of insect-pollinated vs. non-insect pollinated forbs in meadows and wheat fields. Nine landscapes were selected differing in percent intensively used agricultural area (IAA), each with a pair of organic and conventional winter wheat fields and a pair of organic and conventional meadows. Within fields, forbs were surveyed at the edge and in the interior. Both diversity and cover of forbs were positively affected by organic management in meadows and wheat fields. This effect, however, differed significantly between pollination types for species richness in both agroecosystem types (i.e. wheat fields and meadows) and for cover in meadows. Thus, we show for the first time in a comprehensive analysis that insect-pollinated plants benefit more from organic management than non-insect pollinated plants regardless of agroecosystem type and landscape complexity. These benefits were more pronounced in meadows than wheat fields. Finally, the community composition of insect-pollinated and non-insect-pollinated forbs differed considerably between management types. In summary, our findings in both agroecosystem types indicate that organic management generally supports a higher species richness and cover of insect-pollinated plants, which is likely to be favourable for the density and diversity of bees and other pollinators.

Reviving wood-pastures for biodiversity and people: A case study from western Estonia

Wood-pastures are associated with high cultural and biodiversity values in Europe. However, due to their relatively low productivity, large areas of wood-pastures have been lost over the last century. In some areas, incentive schemes have been developed to revive wood-pastures. We investigated the effects of one such scheme in western Estonia. We compared the structure of grazed wood-pastures (old and restored) to those of abandoned wood-pastures and ungrazed forest stands to explore the effects of management, and conducted interviews with 24 farmers to investigate their motivations to carry out the management. We found a positive influence of active management on the semi-open structure of wood-pastures. Financial support was vital for management, but personal values related to tradition also played an important role. The interviewees differed widely in their range of motivations, suggesting that other strategies in addition to financial incentives would further improve the management of wood-pastures in the region.

Both local and landscape factors determine plant and Orthoptera diversity in the semi-natural grasslands of Transylvania, Romania

Semi-natural grassland supports a large proportion of biodiversity and ecosystem services in Europe, however, it is continuing to be destroyed or degraded. In addition to the clear role of local management in these processes, there is increasing evidence for wider landscape-scale effects on species richness and community composition of plants and animals. Most of this evidence comes from studies in highly altered western European landscapes with only fragments of remaining semi-natural grassland. In contrast, Eastern European countries such as Romania still contain large areas of semi-natural grassland, but this habitat is threatened by agricultural intensification and homogenization. We analyzed vascular plant and Orthoptera communities from species-rich pastures in Southern Transylvania, Romania, against a range of local and landscape factors. Species richness of plants had a highly significant positive relationship with landscape heterogeneity. Orthoptera species richness and abundance were negatively correlated with plant species richness, and increased with proportion of grassland in the landscape and local vegetation height. The results suggest that large and species-rich grassland communities can be significantly affected by both local and landscape scale land use changes, but effects can vary within and between taxonomic groups. Conservation measures such as agri-environment schemes should therefore seek to address landscape scale processes better, promoting a range of low-intensity land use practices in order to support a variety of landscape types.

Combining Approaches to Support High Nature Value Farmland in Southern Transylvania , Romania

Abstract The region of Tarnava Mare in Southern Transylvania contains extensive semi-natural open landscapes maintained by predominantly low-intensity farming, which is widespread in Romania and indeed many areas of Eastern Europe. Threats to these species-rich habitats from agricultural intensification and land abandonment have been increasing in recent years, to a large extent linked with Romania’s accession to the EU in 2007. At the same time, however, the opportunities for biodiversity conservation in the area have expanded. In 2008, the region became a Site of Community Importance (SCI) as part of the Natura 2000 network, and farmers have applied agri-environment schemes as part of the EU Common Agricultural Policy since 2006. Furthermore, the Tarnava Mare region has been the location of several EU and nationally funded projects combining research, practical and information measures. In this article, we review these various instruments from the practical perspective of an NGO that has been working since 2004 to support High Nature Value farmland and rural communities in this region. We focus on three major support measures - agri-environment schemes, Natura 2000, and publicly funded conservation projects - and consider their effects individually and collectively. We conclude that the presence of multiple instruments can have synergistic effects on the conservation of semi-natural open habitats such as HNV farmland, and that this overlap provides a certain amount of resilience: if one instrument fails, another may fill the gap. Cross-cutting projects combining research with activities to tackle the “problem” of the socio-economic undesirability of low-intensity farming as well as the “symptom” of the loss of HNV farmland are also particularly important in this context. Izvleček Na območju Tarnava Mare v južni Transilvaniji najdemo ekstenzivno polnaravno odprto krajino, ki se ohranja predvsem z nizko intenzivnim kmetijstvom, ki je splošno razširjeno v Romuniji in številnih drugih območjih v vzhodni Evropi. Ogroženost teh vrstno bogatih habitatov se v zadnjih letih povečuje zaradi intenziviranja kmetijstva in opuščanja obdelovanja kar je v veliki meri povezano z vstopom Romunije v EU leta 2007. Obenem pa so se na tem območju povečale možnosti za ohranjanje biodiverzitete. V letu 2008 je regija postala območje pomembno za skupnost (SCI) kot del omrežja Natura 2000 in kmetje so se vključili v kmetijsko- -okoljske sheme kot del skupne kmetijske politike EU od leta 2006. Dodatno so v regiji Tarnava Mare izvajali številne evropske in nacionalne projekte v kombinaciji z znanstvenimi raziskavami, praktičnimi ukrepi in osveščanjem. V članku predstavljamo različne praktične inštrumente z vidika NVO, ki podpira kmetijstvo z visoko vrednostjo narave (HNV) od leta 2004 in podeželsko skupnost v tej regiji. Osredotočili smo se na tri glavne podporne ukrepe - kmetijsko-okoljske sheme, Naturo 2000 in javno financirane naravovarstvene projekte in preučili njihove posamične in skupen učinek. Zaključimo lahko, da imajo lahko številni inštrumenti sinergistične učinke na varstvo pol naravnih odprtih habitatov, kot je na primer kmetijstvo z visoko vrednostjo narave (HNV). To prekrivanje ukrepov zagotavlja določeno odpornost, saj če en inštrument ni uspešen, ga lahko nadomesti drugi. Interdisciplinarni projekti, ki združujejo raziskave z dejavnostmi, ki rešujejo probleme socio-ekonomske nezaželenosti kmetovanja z nizko intenzivnostjo in zmanjševanja kmetovanja z z visoko vrednostjo narave (HNV) so še posebej pomembni v tem okviru.

Dry grasslands of Central-Eastern and South-Eastern Europe shaped by environmental heterogeneity and human land use – Editorial to the 10th Dry Grassland Special Feature

Der diesjahrige 10. Trockenrasen-Sonderteil von Tuexenia beginnt mit einem Bericht uber die aktuellen Aktivitaten der European Dry Grassland Group (EDGG). Zunachst geben wir einen Uberblick uber die Entwicklung der Mitgliederzahl. Dann berichten wir vom letzten European Dry Grassland Meeting in Tula (Russland, 2014) und vom letzten European Dry Grassland Field Workshop in Navarra (Spanien, 2014) und informieren uber kunftige Veranstaltungen der EDGG. Anschliesend erlautern wir die Publikationsaktivitaten der EDGG. Im zweiten Teil des Editorials geben wir eine Einfuhrung zu den funf Artikeln des diesjahrigen Trockenrasen-Sonderteils. Zwei Artikel beschaftigen sich mit der Syntaxonomie von Trockenrasen in Ost- bzw. Sudosteuropa: der eine prasentiert erstmalig eine Gesamtklassifikation der Trockenrasengesellschaften Serbiens und des Kosovo wahrend der andere Originalaufnahmen sub-montaner Graslandgesellschaften aus den bislang kaum untersuchten ukrainischen Ostkarpaten analysiert. Zwei weitere Artikel behandeln Trockenrasen-Feuchtwiesen-Komplexe im ungarischen Tiefland: Der eine behandelt den Einfluss der Landnutzung auf die Phytodiversitat von Steppen und Feuchtwiesen, der andere den Einfluss von Niederschlagsschwankungen in einem Zeitraum von drei Jahren auf die Ausbildung salzbeeinflusster Steppen-Feuchtwiesen-Komplexe. Der funfte Artikel analysiert landnutzungsbedingte Veranderungen des Graslands des Tsentralen-Balkan-Nationalparks in Bulgarien uber einen Zeitraum von 65 Jahren