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Succession and management of calcareous dry grasslands in the Northern Franconian Jura, Germany
(2009)
The massive decline of calcareous grasslands in the Franconian Jura is caused mainly by land use abandonment and afforestation. In the district Lichtenfels, the northernmost part of the Franconian Alb, management measures were put in action since the middle of the 1980s to conserve or restore those threatened ecosystems. Important actions were removal of trees (mainly Pinus sylvestris) and shrubs as well as reintroduction of sheep grazing. This study analyses the success of restoration measures taken at two Natura 2000 sites. Based on vegetation relevés from 70 sites with different land use histories, we investigate the influence of the successional status of the woodlands prior to clear-cutting and the time period of subsequent grazing on the actual vegetation. The results suggest that both factors influence species composition. On formerly dense pine woodland sites, it takes at least five years of grazing until the number of target species increases. On formerly more sparsely wooded sites, target species establish faster after reintroduction of grazing. Our results show that keeping sites open by tree and shrub removal followed by seasonal grazing are important measures to maintain and restore plant communities of calcareous grasslands in the Franconian Jura.
The continuous decline in biodiversity in some European landscapes has led recently to the (re-) implementation of low-intensity grazing systems as an alternative to more cost-intensive conservation practices. This approach aims at developing habitat complexes comprising various successional stages and increasing plant species diversity on local (a-diversity) and landscape scales (b-, y-diversity). The primary objectives of this review were to uncover ecological processes in which large domestic herbivores (cattle, equids, sheep, goats, pigs) have a key function in affecting plant diversity and to provide a framework for future research and conservation practices. The reviewed literature covers a wide range of ecosystem types in various temperate regions of Europe with a main focus on recent results from Central Europe. Low-intensity grazing enhances existing environmental gradients and generates manifold disturbance patterns on various spatial scales resulting in high habitat diversity. Livestock trampling has a so far underestimated impact on plant species composition and richness. Additionally, selective herbivore behavior facilitates the coexistence of plant species representing different functional types including a considerable number of threatened and grazing-sensitive species. Co-occurrence of progressive and regressive successional processes on low-intensive pastures results in a high b- and y-diversity, an effect that has been observed soon after the (re-)implementation of grazing. Persistence of speciespoor successional stages of dominant competitive graminoid and herb species can in many cases be inhibited by grazing. Large domestic herbivores serve as effective vectors for the dispersal of diaspores, thus improving the connectivity of isolated plant populations. There is a combined effect of diaspore dispersal and microsite creation which can increase the probability of diaspores to successfully germinate and establish. Overall, low-intensity grazing represents a highly flexible concept to maintain and restore plant diversity in cultivated landscapes; general management implications are given.