Michiel F. WallisDeVries

The historical and socioeconomic perspective of calcareous grasslands—lessons from the distant and recent past

Calcareous grasslands are one of the most species-rich habitats and a central issue in nature conservation management in Europe. Comparative vegetation ecological studies let us suppose that calcareous grasslands did not exist before the neolithic age except on small and isolated areas such as hilly domes or outcrops in the Jurassic mountains and, therefore, they are man-made. Species number increased from the neolithic age whereas calcareous grasslands only spread since the Roman Empire which is evident from palynological and macrofossil findings. A historical analysis of the more recent times showed that the maximum of spread was only between the fifteenth and twentieth century, the period of large sheep flock migrations and transhumance. However, there were many different types of land use beside grazing from which calcareous grasslands developed such as alternate husbandry and three field rotation system. Practices to establish calcareous grasslands included also the sowing of hayseed. During the twentieth century, the number and area of calcareous grasslands decreased tremendously due to abandonment and afforestation since hay making and especially traditional shepherding became more and more uneconomical. Today, calcareous grasslands are threatened. Conservation management such as mowing was not able to maintain species richness and characteristic species, especially indicators of land use history. An integrative approach combining historical and socio-economic issues is proposed to maintain and to redevelop calcareous grasslands in Europe.

Challenges for the conservation of calcareous grasslands in northwestern Europe : integrating the requirements of flora and fauna

The conservation of biological diversity requires an integrated approach covering the ecological demands of a multitude of species. Integration may be achieved by focusing on a careful selection of target species, which is rare in practice. Calcareous grasslands offer a case in point. Although they harbour a high diversity of both plant and insect species, in management the emphasis is placed on the flora. This results in an underestimation of, notably, the importance of structural heterogeneity in the vegetation. As an apparent consequence, conservation management in the Netherlands has been much more successful for the flora than for butterflies. In contrast, Germany shows promising efforts to integrate both plant and animal species in conservation management and landscape planning. The main constraints for a successfully integrated conservation management presently consist of a limited availability and exchange of information, and an insufficient organisation of research and management at an international level.

Differences in the climatic debts of birds and butterflies at a continental scale

Climate changes have profound effects on the distribution of numerous plant and animal species(1-3). However, whether and how different taxonomic groups are able to track climate changes at large spatial scales is still unclear. Here, we measure and compare the climatic debt accumulated by bird and butterfly communities at a European scale over two decades (1990-2008). We quantified the yearly change in community composition in response to climate change for 9,490 bird and 2,130 butterfly communities distributed across Europe(4). We show that changes in community composition are rapid but different between birds and butterflies and equivalent to a 37 and 114 km northward shift in bird and butterfly communities, respectively. We further found that, during the same period, the northward shift in temperature in Europe was even faster, so that the climatic debts of birds and butterflies correspond to a 212 and 135 km lag behind climate. Our results indicate both that birds and butterflies do not keep up with temperature increase and the accumulation of different climatic debts for these groups at national and continental scales.

Bias in phenology assessments based on first appearance data of butterflies

Data on the first appearance of species in the field season are widely used in phenological studies. However, there are probabilistic arguments for bias in estimates of phenological change if sampling methods or population abundances change. We examined the importance of bias in three measures of phenological change: (1) the date of the first X appearances, (2) the date of the first Y% of all first appearances and (3) the date of the first Z% of the individuals observed during the entire flight period. These measures were tested by resampling the data of the Dutch Butterfly Monitoring Scheme and by simulations using artificial data. We compared datasets differing in the number of sampling sites, population abundance and the start of the observation period. The date of the first X appearances proved to be sensitive to the number of sampling sites. Both the date of the first X appearances and the date of the first Y% of all first appearances were sensitive to population trend. No such biases were found for estimates of the first Z% of the flight period, but all three measures were sensitive to changes in the start of the observation period. The conclusions were similar for both the study on butterfly data and the simulation study. Bias in phenology assessments based on first appearance data may be considerable and should no longer be ignored in phenological research.

The synergistic effect of combining woodlands and green veining for biodiversity

Combining nature reserves with small semi-natural elements (green veining) may improve the persistence of plant and animal species in fragmented landscapes. A better understanding of this synergy is essential to improve species diversity in the European Natura 2000 sites and in green veining elements. To test this hypothesis, we investigated the relationship between the occurrence of 40 forest plant and animal species in 1,000xa0km grid cells in the Netherlands and the spatial cohesion of the surrounding large woodlands and small woody elements. Two types of synergy were found. First, nine species were more often present if there was more cohesion of large elements; small elements enhanced this effect. Second, 11 other species were more often present when there was more cohesion of small elements; large elements enhanced this effect. Eight species showed both effects, indicating two-way synergy. The remaining 12 species preferred landscapes dominated by either large or small elements, or displayed no positive relationship whatsoever to woody elements. Species showing synergy often had a low dispersal capacity; the type of synergy seemed to be related to their habitat preference. These results imply that species diversity could be improved by integrating different policy instruments used for nature reserves and green veining. Using a zoning principle where green veins surround and connect nature reserves, the different spatial and habitat preferences of species can be secured. In this way a coherent network could become reality.