The wild bee community of a sand steppe habitat in Eastern Austria was surveyed in the years 2018 and 2019, complemented with historical data from over 100 years, and analyzed in relation to land use ...change. The mapping of land use categories was based on historical aerial photographs and orthophotos. Changes in bee community composition were analyzed by a multivariate statistical approach and took ecological traits into account (lecty, nesting type, habitat requirements, flight period, parasitism). In total, 310 bee species were recorded in the area, with the oldest records dating back to 1882. The bee species composition differed significantly among four defined time periods. Across the two most intensively sampled time periods (1931–1966 vs 2001–2021), a decline in species richness of over 50% was observed. We observed a disproportionally high decline of steppe- and sand-associated species, and a distinct shift from ground nesting species to above-ground nesting species. The area covered with woods increased from 1966 to 2018, while the total area covered with grassland and fallows decreased slightly between 1966 and 1994. The oligolectic species assemblage was specialized on Dipsacaceae, Brassicaceae and Fabaceae in the two earlier periods, and on Asteraceae and specifically on Carduoideae during the two later ones.
Implications for insect conservation
stronger reference to historic land management practices as short time periods of intensive grazing and small-scaled, staggered mowing would be desirable to improve the habitat quality. More drastic measures, such as removal of the topsoil in some parts and changes in the landscape re-establishing exposure to wind erosion, might be necessary, if the area is to be fully restored to the condition it was in a century ago.
Novel techniques such as CRISPR/Cas are increasingly being applied for the development of modern crops. However, the regulatory framework for production, labelling and handling of genome-edited ...organisms varies worldwide. Currently, the European Commission is raising the question whether genome-edited organisms should still be regulated as genetically modified organisms in the future or whether a deregulation should be implemented. In our paper, based on the outcome of a 2-year case study on oilseed rape in Austria, we show that seed spillage during import and subsequent transport and handling activities is a key factor for the unintended dispersal of seeds into the environment, the subsequent emergence of feral oilseed rape populations and their establishment and long-term persistence in natural habitats. These facts must likewise be considered in case of genome-edited oilseed rape contaminants that might be accidentally introduced with conventional kernels. We provide evidence that in Austria a high diversity of oilseed rape genotypes, including some with alleles not known from cultivated oilseed rape in Austria, exists at sites with high seed spillage and low weed management, rendering these sites of primary concern with respect to possible escape of genome-edited oilseed rape varieties into the environment. Since appropriate detection methods for single genome-edited oilseed rape events have only recently started to be successfully developed and the adverse effects of these artificial punctate DNA exchanges remain largely unknown, tracing the transmission and spread of these genetic modifications places high requirements on their monitoring, identification, and traceability.
Biosphere Reserves are considered as means for the people who live and work within them to attain a balanced relationship with the natural and semi-natural environment. Moreover, they contribute to ...the needs of society by showing a way to a more sustainable future. The Wienerwald Biosphere Reserve partly surrounds the city of Vienna and other minor settlements, representing a well-developed example of Green Infrastructure (GI) of great cultural and natural value. Its heterogeneous landscape offers a variety of landscape services (LS). In this work we quantified and mapped the capacity of LS offered by the open land elements of Wienerwald. Starting from a high-resolution dataset, we selected suitable indicator classes, and scored each ecological and socio-cultural service through an expert-based capacity matrix. The subsequent GIS analyses focused on the intensity and density of LS capacities by developing an index useful for mapping GI functionality. The work provides an effective monitoring tool for the Reserve’s both ecological and socio-cultural sustainability performance. It also allows detecting resilient areas, by considering both the spatial distribution and the abundance of landscape elements.
Seed spillage during handling and transportation promotes establishment and invasion of feral crops into adjacent semi-natural habitats. This is also the case for oilseed rape (OSR, Brassica napus), ...where seed spillage may lead to establishment of herbicide resistant OSR populations in countries without cultivation of genetically modified OSR. Using data from Austria—where cultivation and import of genetically modified OSR are banned—as a prime example, we demonstrate that ports, oil mills, switchyards, and border railway stations to countries with different electric current systems—where trains have to stop—are the sites of primary concern with respect to seed spillage. Based on the results of the Austrian case study we discuss common measures to limit crop seed spillage which include intensified controls at border railway stations and the mode of seed packing during transportation. We further recommend sufficient cleaning both of goods wagons and of loading areas of trucks and ships as well as an appropriate weed management.
In the past centuries, farmland has undergone a fundamental transformation through changed farming practices, such as the use of agrochemicals and advanced machine processing. Particularly since the ...1970s, agriculturally driven land-use change has caused destruction of natural and semi-natural habitats, and as a consequence, severe loss of biodiversity. Hence, identifying landscape patterns and habitats that enhance species richness, and detecting species and traits that are most vulnerable to intensive land-use are prerequisites for conservation. To evaluate the effects of agricultural land-use and landscape composition on wild bees, we investigated 340 cross-transects in 34 test areas in the main agricultural regions of Austria within the framework of the biodiversity monitoring program BINATS. Using multivariate models (GLM, DCA), wild bees and potential explanatory parameters (e.g. Shannon landscape diversity index, plant diversity, flower cover) were documented, and their interrelationships analyzed. We found strong negative effects of increased agricultural land cover on species richness, abundance and functional richness. Species richness was positively correlated with an increasing area of semi-natural elements (e.g. extensive grassland, hedgerows, fallows) and the number of different habitat types, while wild bee abundance was best explained by the presence of semi-natural habitats and flower cover. Colletidae were significantly associated with the area of semi-natural elements, and were especially sensitive to agricultural intensification. Many species from communities that are present in complex landscapes disappeared in intensively managed farmland, and the majority of species decreased in response to simplified landscapes. A few species, however, even benefited. Our results emphasize the importance of diverse semi-natural elements and high regional flower cover within farmland for maintaining and enhancing species richness and abundance, and for promoting a positive spillover effect of pollinators to the surrounding agricultural landscape. Especially members of the family Colletidae, with a high proportion of specialized species, will benefit from diverse semi-natural habitat types. Given the unique importance of wild bees as pollinators of wildflowers and crops, it is crucial to improve and expand agri-environmental schemes to combat ongoing biodiversity loss in farmland.
•Agricultural land-use had negative effects on species richness and abundance.•Bees were promoted by semi-natural elements, diverse habitat types and flower cover.•The family Colletidae was most positively affected by semi-natural elements.•The majority of species decreased in response to intensively managed farmland.•Agri-environmental schemes must be improved to combat biodiversity loss in farmland.
Until now, monitoring of large-scale regional funding programmes has been rare, although their large scope and abstract planning targets generally involve high levels of uncertainty. This study ...applies and examines a newly developed methodological approach for monitoring such programmes. It also critically reflects to what extent the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) contributes to a better consideration of environmental sustainability and to a learning effect among the stakeholders as well as within the decision-making process. The interviews conducted during the SEA monitoring revealed a very low recognition of the SEA, and its content, among project applicants of the transnational regional funding programme. They further show that more information on the SEA and its recommendations to mitigate negative environmental impacts would be beneficial in the future. Overall, the monitoring confirmed, however, that the institutions responsible for the programme were aware of the benefits of considering environmental sustainability. The long-term application of SEA in an iterative process provided positive learning effects on environmental sustainability and awareness for environmental aspects. This study also shows how SEA monitoring can serve as a tool to enhance visibility and foster communication among decision makers and applicants.
•New SEA monitoring approach for large-scale cohesion funding programmes.•Potential to improve the awareness of the SEA's content among applicants.•SEA monitoring added to learning-loops initialized by the iterative SEA procedure.•SEA had the capacity to enhance the visibility of environmental objectives.•Monitoring encouraged communication on environmental issues and co-benefits through interrelationships.
The concept of green infrastructure has been recently taken up by the European Commission for ensuring the provision of ecosystem services (ESS). It aims at the supply of multiple ESS in a given ...landscape, however, the effects of a full suite of management options on multiple ESS and landscape multifunctionality have rarely been assessed. In this paper we use European floodplain landscapes as example to develop an expert based qualitative conceptual model for the assessment of impacts of landscape scale interventions on multifunctionality. European floodplain landscapes are particularly useful for such approach as they originally provided a high variety and quantity of ESS that has declined due to the strong human impact these landscapes have experienced. We provide an overview of the effects of floodplain management options on landscape multifunctionality by assessing the effects of 38 floodplain management interventions on 21 relevant ESS, as well as on overall ESS supply. We found that restoration and rehabilitation consistently increased the multifunctionality of the landscape by enhancing supply of provisioning, regulation/maintenance, and cultural services. In contrast, conventional technical regulation measures and interventions related to extraction, infrastructure and intensive land use cause decrease in multifunctionality and negative effects for the supply of all three aspects of ESS. The overview of the effects of interventions shall provide guidance for decision makers at multiple governance levels. The presented conceptual model could be effectively applied for other landscapes that have potential for a supply of a high diversity of ESS.
Many ongoing processes in today's landscapes impact our environment considerably. Thus, it is enormously important to gather information on qualitative characteristics of our landscapes in order to ...effectively counteract the negative developments. Structural functionality as proxy for the assessment of habitat quality and species patterns has already proven potential to successfully describe ecological values. Completed by the measurement of green infrastructure information for a defined profile of a functional trait, a rapid and rough assessment of the qualitative state of habitats seems feasible. We therefore present in this study (i) an assessment of structural functionality based on the statistical analysis of landscape metrics, (ii) the measurement of green infrastructure and travelling costs for the ecoprofile of a Disturbance Sensitive Species Group (DSG) and (iii) an investigation if functionality and green infrastructure change between different types of landscapes and protection status. In the Lake Neusiedl region we selected 41 landscape samples based on a stratified random process. Based on orthophoto interpretation, we calculated landscape metrics with FRAGSTATS and reduced them to a core set of 13 indices by combining statistical results with literature review. Their relation to main ecological processes determined if the individual metric related positively or negatively with the land cover category and structural functionality was given by the average value of the landscape metrics. Green infrastructure elements were allocated with GUIDOS, whereas the travelling costs to move between them was also considered. Landscape elements of valuable matrix and connecting corridors ranked highest in structural functionality based on the calculated landscape indices but showed large differences between different land use regimes. Correlation and regression analysis confirmed the dependence of green infrastructure elements (corr. r2=0.877) as well as travelling costs (corr. r2=0.669) to functionality values. Protection status of the landscape samples proved to be a determining factor because functionality values as well as green infrastructure differed significantly (both with a p-value<0.05) with the exception of dissecting corridors, stepping stones and travelling costs. We conclude that one simple guideline for a holistic assessment of structural functionality is hardly reachable but we did set up a comprehensive rule set. Based on a transparent sampling procedure, a qualitative assessment of habitats and landscapes can easily be conducted. The complementary use of an ecoprofile enables the valuation of green infrastructure elements and the identification of major driving forces along with scenario development for sustainable landscape planning.
European cultural landscapes are characterised by a high level of anthropogenic fragmentation which is known as a major reason for the loss of biodiversity in industrialised countries. To receive ...support for adequate choices in sustainable landscape planning, information on the spatial distributions of landscape functions and services is needed. Therefore, the objective of this study was to develop an integrative assessment framework to evaluate a wide range of landscape services at different spatial scales. The proposed methodology was applied within the cross-border region of Austria and Hungary. Embedded in a spatial reference framework we assessed and visualised five main landscape services within the investigation area: regulation, habitat, provision, information and carrier. Considering location and spatial extent three different levels of service assessment were distinguished: (1) the Landform Approach was based on seven different Landform Types within the study area. All services were directly observable either by the use of Corine land cover or by clearly identifiable spatial indicators. (2) The Broader Habitat Approach focused on the assessment of services at the landscape element scale within randomly selected landscape sample sites. It was based on the use of an expert driven capacity matrix, which values were revised by semi-quantitative data gained from field work. (3) The information services occurring at a broader scale were assessed at the Landscape Character Type scale within the Socio-cultural Approach. Additional indicators mainly based on geo-data were defined. Finally, all services were extrapolated to the Landform Types revealing the actual landscape service provision within the study area. The results presented hot and cold spots of service provision at different spatial scales as well as the trade-offs between the different services. The landscape service maps might provide regional stakeholders with valuable information on service supply and can therefore be used as knowledge basis in cross-border landscape planning decision processes. Making landscape services spatially explicit and combining empirical data with spatial information presents an innovative approach to landscape research in the field of assessing and visualising landscape services. This would enable the development of a decision support tool, which can be used for the systematic evaluation of goal attainments and conflict detection.
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