The effect of topographic factors and land use history on grassland biodiversity in the Polish carpathians

• Autorzy: Zarzycki Jan , Korzeniak Joanna , Perzanowska Joanna

Identyfikatory

DOI

10.15576/GLL/2023.4.343

• Języki publikacji: EN

Abstrakty

EN

Semi-natural, extensively managed grassland communities are among the most species-rich plant communities. The species number and floristic composition depend on numerous factors, both natural and associated with human activity, both present and past. In European countries, a system of subsidies for farmers is used to preserve extensive, usually unprofitable management of multi-species grassland communities. The development of specific recommendations requires knowledge of the main factors shaping grassland plant communities. A study was carried out in seven regions of the Polish Western Carpathians, in areas with traditional sheep grazing. Plant species composition (phytosociological relevés) of 517 plots were surveyed in different grassland types. For each plot, topographic parameters, i.e. slope, aspect and altitude, were recorded and land use in the past was read from historical maps. The aim of the study was to a) assess differences in the species composition of grassland vegetation between topographically and historically different regions of the Polish Carpathians, and b) to identify the main factors influencing species composition in each of these regions. Depending on the region, different factors contributed most to explaining the variation in the species composition and species numbers. Topographic factors played a decisive role. The type of past use (arable land or grassland) had little influence on current biodiversity. The results of the study indicate the need for a localised approach to developing principles for protection of grassland biodiversity.

Słowa kluczowe

EN

human impact; nature protection; grassland management; regional differences

PL

zarządzanie użytkami zielonymi; wpływ człowieka; ochrona przyrody; różnice regionalne

• Wydawca: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Rolniczego w Krakowie
• Czasopismo: Geomatics, Landmanagement and Landscape
• Rocznik: 2023
• Tom: no. 4
• Strony: 343--355
• Opis fizyczny: Bibliogr. 44 poz., rys., tab.

Twórcy

autor

Zarzycki Jan

• University of Agriculture in Krakow Environmental Engineering and Land Surveying 31-120 Kraków, al. Mickiewicza 24/28

• https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0066-4777

autor

Korzeniak Joanna

• Institute of Nature Conservation, Polish Academy of Sciences

• https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2991-3340

autor

Perzanowska Joanna

• Institute of Nature Conservation Polish Academy of Sciences

Bibliografia

• 1. Bailey J.J., Boyd D.S., Hjort J., Lavers C.P., Field R. 2017. Modelling native and alien vascular plant species richness. At which scales is geodiversity most relevant? Global Ecology and Biogeography, 26(7), 763–776.
• 2. Bakker M.M., Hatna E., Kuhlman T., Mücher C.A. 2011. Changing environmental characteristics of European cropland. Agricultural Systems, 104(7), 522– 532.
• 3. Baumgärtner J., Hartmann J. 2001. The design and implementation of sustainable plant diversity conservation program for alpine meadows and pastures. Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics, 14, 67–83.
• 4. Bochniak A., Zdulski J. 2019. Impact of the type of use of permanent grasslands areas in mountainous regions on the floristic diversity of habitats and animal welfare. Global Ecology and Conservation, 19. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gecco.2019. e00629
• 5. Braun-Blanquet J. 1964. Pflanzensoziologie, Grundzüge der Vegetationskunde. Springer, Wien–New York.
• 6. Bruun H.H., Fritzbøger B., Rindel P.O., Hansen U.L. 2010. Plant species richness in grasslands, the relative importance of contemporary environment and land-use history since the Iron Age. Ecography, 24(5), 569–578.
• 7. Bucała A. 2014. The impact of human activities on land use and land cover changes and environmental processes in the Gorce Mountains (Western Polish Carpathians) in the past 50 years. Journal of Environmental Management, 138, 4–14.
• 8. Ceulemans T., Merckx R., Hens M., Honnay O. 2013. Plant species loss from European seminatural grasslands following nutrient enrichment. Is it nitrogen or is it phosphorus? Global Ecology and Biogeography, 22(1), 73–82. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1466-8238.2012.00771.x
• 9. Chabuz W., Kulik, M., Sawicka-Zugaj W., Żółkiewski P., Warda M., Pluta M., Lipiec A., Bochniak A., Zdulski J. 2019. Impact of the type of use of permanent grasslands areas in mountainous regions on the floristic diversity of habitats and animal welfare. Global Ecology and Conservation, 19, e00629.
• 10. Chabuz W., Kulik M., Sawicka-Zugaj W., Żółkiewski P., Warda M., Pluta M., Lipiec A., Cousins S.A.O., Eriksson Å., Franzén D. 2002. Reconstructing past land use and vegetation patterns using palaeogeographical and archaeological data. A focus on grasslands in Nynäs by the Baltic Sea in south-eastern Sweden. Landscape and Urban Planning, 61(1), 1–18.
• 11. Darnhofer I., Schermer M., Steinbacher M., Gabillet M., Daugstad K. 2017. Preserving permanent mountain grasslands in Western Europe. Why are promising approaches not implemented more widely? Land Use Policy, 68, 306–315.
• 12. Dembicz I., Velev N., Boch S., Janišová M., Palpurina S., Pedashenko H., Vassilev K., Dengler J. 2020. Drivers of plant diversity in Bulgarian dry grasslands vary across spatial scales and functional-taxonomic groups. Journal of Vegetation Science, 32(1), 1–14.
• 13. Dengler J., Janišová M., Török P., Wellstein C. 2014. Biodiversity of Palaearctic grasslands. A synthesis. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, 182, 1–14.
• 14. Fischer M., Wipf S. 2002. Effect of low-intensity grazing on the species-rich vegetation of traditionally mown subalpine meadows. Biological Conservation. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0006-3207(01)00149-5
• 15. Halada L., David S., Hreko J., Klimantová A., Bača A., Rusňák T. et al. 2017. Changes in grassland management and plant diversity in a marginal region of the Carpathian Mts. in 1999– 2015. Science of the Total Environment, 609, 896–905.
• 16. Janišova M., Uhliarova E., Hlasny T., Turisova I. 2010. Vegetation-environment relationships in grassland communities of central Slovakia. Tuexenia, 30, 423–443.
• 17. Janssens F., Peeters A., Tallowin J.R.B., Smith R.E.N., Bakker J.P., Bekker R.M., Verweij G.L., Fillat F.C.C., Oomes M.J.M. 1997. Relationship between soil nutrients and plant diversity in grasslands, definitions of limits for the maintenance and the reconstruction of species-rich communities. February, 315–322.
• 18. Kalusová V., Le Duc M.G., Gilbert J.C., Lawson C.S., Gowing D.J.G., Marr R.H. 2009. Determining the important environmental variables controlling plant species community composition in mesotrophic grasslands in Great Britain. Applied Vegetation Science, 12(4), 459–471.
• 19. Klimek S., Richter K.A., Hofmann M., Isselstein J. 2007. Plant species richness and composition in managed grasslands. The relative importance of field management and environmental factors. Biological Conservation, 134(4), 559–570.
• 20. Kondracki J., Richling A. 1994. Regiony fizycznogeograficzne. In: Atlas Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej. Główny Geodeta Kraju, Warszawa.
• 21. Korzeniak J. 2016. Mountain Nardus stricta grasslands as a relic of past farming – the effects of grazing abandonment in relation to elevation and spatial scale. Folia Geobotanica, 51(2), 93–113.
• 22. Leuschner C., Ellenberg H. 2017. Vegetation Ecology of Central Europe. Vol. II: Ecology of Central European Non-Forest Vegetation: Coastal to Alpine, Natural to Man-Made Habitats. Springer International Publishing, Switzerland.
• 23. Lunt I.D., Spooner P.G. 2005. Using historical ecology to understand patterns of biodiversity in fragmented agricultural landscapes. Journal of Biogeography, 32(11), 1859–1873.
• 24. Marini L., Scotton M., Klimek S., Isselstein J., Pecile A. 2007. Effects of local factors on plant species richness and composition of Alpine meadow. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, 119(3–4), 281–288.
• 25. McCain C.M., Grytnes J. 2010. Elevational Gradients in Species Richness. ELS, 1–10.
• 26. McCune B., Keon D. 2002. Equations for potential annual direct incident radiation and heat load. Journal of Vegetation Science, 13(1966), 603–606.
• 27. Merunková K., Chytrý M. 2012. Environmental control of species richness and composition in upland grasslands of the southern Czech Republic. Plant Ecology, 213(4), 591–602.
• 28. Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. 2005. Ecosystems and Human Well-Being, Vol. I: Current States and Trends. Washington, D.C., Island Press. https://www.millenniumassessment.org/en/Condition.html.
• 29. Pärtel M., Bruun H.H., Sammul M. 2005. Biodiversity in temperate European grasslands, origin and conservation. Grassland Science in Europe, 10, 1–14.
• 30. Pittarello M., Lonati M., Ravetto Enri S., Lombardi G. 2020. Environmental factors and management intensity affect in different ways plant diversity and pastoral value of alpine pastures. Ecological Indicators, 115. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2020.106429
• 31. Prangel E., Kasari‐Toussaint L., Neuenkamp L., Noreika N., Karise R., Marja R., Ingerpuu N., Kupper T., Keerberg L., Oja E., Meriste M., Tiitsaar A., Ivask M., Helm A. 2023. Afforestation and abandonment of semi‐natural grasslands lead to biodiversity loss and a decline in ecosystem services and functions. Journal of Applied Ecology, 60(5), 825–836.
• 32. Raduła M.W., Szymura T.H., Szymura M., Swacha G., Kącki Z. 2020. Effect of environmental gradients, habitat continuity and spatial structure on vascular plant species richness in seminatural grasslands. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, 300, 106974.
• 33. Riibak K., Bennett J.A., Kook E., Reier Ü., Tamme R., Bueno C.G., Pärtel M. 2020. Drivers of plant community completeness differ at regional and landscape scales. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, 301(May), 107004.
• 34. Schils R.L.M. et al. 2022. Permanent grasslands in Europe: Land use change and intensification decrease their multifunctionality. Agriculture Ecosystem and Environment, 330, 107891.
• 35. Tasser E., Tappeiner U. 2002. Impact of land use changes on mountain vegetation. Applied Vegetation Science, 5(2), 173–184.
• 36. Tokarczyk N. 2018. Challenges for the conservation of semi-natural grasslands in mountainous national parks – case studies from the Polish Carpathians. Carpathian Journal of Earth and Environmental Sciences, 13(1), 187–198.
• 37. Tuomisto H. 2010. A diversity of beta diversities. Straightening up a concept gone awry. Part 1. Defining beta diversity as a function of alpha and gamma diversity. Ecography, 33(1), 2–22.
• 38. Wellstein C., Otte A., Waldhardt R. 2007. Seed bank diversity in mesic grasslands in relation to vegetation type, management and site conditions. Journal of Vegetation Science, 18, 153–162.
• 39. Wesche K., Krause B., Culmsee H., Leuschner C. 2012. Fifty years of change in Central European grassland vegetation: large losses in species richness and animal-pollinated plants. Biological Conservetion, 150, 76–85.
• 40. White R.P., Murray S., Rohweder M. 2000. Grassland ecosystems. Pilot analysis of global ecosystems. World Resources Institute, Washington, DC.
• 41. Włodarczyk S. 1956. Samozadarnianie mieszanek koniczynowych w rejonach górnych upraw polowych w Kościelisku k. Zakopanego. Roczniki Nauk Rolniczych, 71, 4, 893–920.
• 42. Zarzycki J., Bedla D. 2017. The influence of past land-use and environmental factors on grassland species diversity. Applied Ecology and Environmental Research, 15, 267–278. doi.org/10.15666/aeer%2F1504_267278
• 43. Zarzycki J., Korzeniak J., Perzanowska J. 2022. Impact of Land Use Changes on the Diversity and Conservation Status of the Vegetation of Mountain Grasslands (Polish Carpathians). Land, 11, 252.
• 44. Zobel M., Otsus M., Liira J., Moora M., Möls T. 2000. Is small-scale species richness limited by seed availability or microsite availability? Ecology, 81(12), 3274–3282.