Over time, grassland use has changed from traditional (extensive) to intensive agricultural management, a change which has caused biodiversity loss in the European grassland area. To save Europe's ...biodiversity, the most important measure was the establishment of the Natura 2000 network. Goričko Landscape Park in Slovenia is in Natura 2000 to preserve its traditional and extensive small-scale farming. The aims of this research were to identify potential obstacles to proper management of the extensively used meadows in this region and identify major factors that would affect such management in order to prepare more appropriate strategies for habitat conservation. The data was collected by online survey and in paper and pencil format. Based on Principal Component Analysis (PCA), Confirmatory Factor Analysis and Structural Equation Modelling, we can conclude that less than a half of 228 respondents can identify what activities are permitted in a Natura 2000 area, which indicates a lack of knowledge about Natura 2000. The majority agree with meadow management in the welfare of protected plants and animals but would accept management under stricter regulations only if accompanied by higher subsidies in for management under stricter regulations. These respondents are not prepared to participate in measures for preserving biodiversity without beneficiaries. Respondents have in average a positive opinion toward protected plants and animals, but the procedure for obtaining environmental subsidies for meadows seems to them too complicated. Although the majority of respondents do not see a Natura 2000 area as a place for quality living, it is the factor with the highest significant effect on willingness to participate in measures to preserve biodiversity.
•Residents of a landscape park possess flawed knowledge about Natura 2000.•Residents have positive attitudes toward protected animals and plants on meadows.•Respondents want higher payments for extra work in meadow management.•Beliefs about the quality of living in a Natura 2000 have the highest effect on participation in preservation measures.•The amount of subsidies has no significant effect on the intention to participate in measures.
This article deals with the impact of diffuse and point sources of nitrogen and phosphorus pollution on the environment in Goričko Nature Park. The park was divided into three parts: the Ledava, Big ...Krka (Velika Krka), and Kobilje Creek (Kobiljski potok) basins, which were then compared. The surface waters were monitored and their chemical composition was examined. All three areas are characterized by elevated levels of nitrogen and phosphorus compounds in the water. Nitrogen and phosphorus pollution results from unregulated manure pits on livestock farms, unregulated sewage systems, and runoff of nitrogen and phosphorus compounds from farmland.
Flowering in many orchids is determined by the resource status of plants, which in turn is influenced by habitat management. Most European orchids require high light intensities for photosynthesis, ...failing to flower and fruit at low light levels. Agricultural practices, especially fertilisation and mowing/grazing regime, can therefore influence the fitness and reproductive success of orchids. The studied species, autumn lady's-tresses (Spiranthes spiralis), is a small, long-lived and late-flowering perennial orchid and one of the most sensitive to low light availability. The general species' fitness, measured as a set of robust morphological traits in relation to vegetation height, which directly reflect the time of the last seasonal mowing and so the light availability, was the main scope of this research. A total of 2442 flowering exemplars (of which 427 were morphologically evaluated) were recorded on 26 grassland patches applying the systematic scanning of the potential growing sites in the Goričko Natural Park (NE Slovenia). We revealed that earlier mowing negatively affects the density of flowering individuals and plant fitness in general. The number of the rosette leaves was found to be the most important trait that could be used as a proxy for the general plant fitness of this orchid species because the significant positive correlation with the measured morphological traits was confirmed. The number of the rosette leaves shows a significant negative relation to vegetation height. Late seasonal mowing, which has a significant positive impact on the plant fitness, enhances Spiranthes spiralis population viability and density.
In 2012 and 2013, the selection of foraging habitats and the diet of the Hoopoe Upupa epops were studied in the Goričko area, where a significant population decline of the species has been recorded ...in the past 15 years. Goričko is an area with a well-preserved traditional mosaic-like agricultural landscape very rich in biodiversity which, however, is disappearing. The diet was determined using automatic camera recordings of prey brought to chicks by parents. Mole crickets Gryllotalpa gryllotalpa were the most dominant prey (35.4% frequency and 81.3% biomass of prey), followed by Scarab beetles larvae Scarabaeidae, caterpillars Lepidoptera larvae and True flies Diptera. Feeding frequency was highest in the period of most intensive chick growth (between 8 and 21 days of age). Selection of foraging habitat was researched by observation of birds during foraging. Hoopoes foraged mostly in mown meadows and grassy courtyards and, to a lesser extent, on sandy cart tracks and road edges. These habitats were characterized by low vegetation and patches of bare ground that enabled Hoopoes to forage efficiently. Home range size was determined using minimum convex polygons. The maximum home range size was between 42.9 and 57.7 ha, while the percentage of foraging habitats within the home range did not exceed 18%. Based on our results, we propose the following measures for effective Hoopoe conservation in the area: maintaining the present range of existing unimproved meadows, stopping the conversion of meadows into fields, restoring fields to meadows, prohibiting the use of pesticides targeting Mole crickets.
The natural resource management literature stresses the need for public participation and community involvement in resource management and planning. Recently, some of this literature turned to the ...theory on deliberative democracy and demonstrated that a deliberative perspective on participation can help to challenge established practices and contribute with new ideas about how to conduct participation. The purpose of this paper is to consider the latest developments in deliberative democracy and outline the implications arising from these insights for a “deliberative turn” in resource management. A bottom-up protected area establishment, the Goričko Landscape Park, is examined. The empirical case is discussed from a discursive perspective, which relied on John Dryzek’s approach to discourse analysis here used to explore the construction of discourses on the use of local natural resources. Two discourses are identified and the way these interfaced with the participatory park establishment process is considered. Findings indicate that advocates of the two discourses engaged differently with the participatory tools used and this had important implications for the park establishment. The case study suggests that, in contexts where participation has been recently introduced, knowledge of discourses on the use of local natural resources and of mobilization strategies actors may pursue could usefully assist in the design and implementation of participatory processes.
► Dryzek’s approach to discourse analysis is used. ► The construction of discourses on the use of local resources is explored. ► Two discourses on local resource use are identified. ► It is demonstrated how discourses influenced the participatory process.
Abstract Due to numerous bird surveys in the past 20 years, the avifauna of Goričko is relatively well known. For some species, the very first national ecological researches were conducted in this ...area. The article summarizes all bird surveys so far. It presents population trends of farmland species which is one of the most threatened bird groups in Europe. Most of the qualifying species of this habitat that are protected within the Natura 2000 network have suffered a decline at Goričko, specifically Quail Coturnix coturnix , Scops Owl Otus scops , Hoopoe Upupa epops , Woodlark Lullula arborea and White Stork Ciconia ciconia . The number of breeding pairs of the latter has not changed, but its fecundity has decreased. Furthermore, populations of other farmland bird species have decreased, for example Skylark Alauda arvensis , Stonechat Saxicola rubicola , Serin Serinus serinus and Common Linnet Linaria cannabina , as well as butterfly populations and tracts of grassland habitat types. National agricultural and nature conservation policies are evidently inefficient in protecting the biodiversity of Goričko. The most probable cause for bird population decline is agricultural intensification, which manifests itself at Goričko as disappearance and intensification of meadows, land consolidation, degradation of traditional orchards and use of pesticides. As a result of land consolidation hedges, uncultivated strips between fields, individual trees and bushes and minority habitat types are disappearing, whereas the surface of arable fields is increasing. Nature conservation measures performed by the Public Institute Goričko Nature Park with the support of DOPPS – BirdLife Slovenia volunteers seem to be efficient, but are spatially and temporally constrained. For this reason, they cannot serve as a substitute for insufficient systemic financing which could be improved by substantive and financial reform of the agri-environmental scheme. Currently, a negligible percentage (1% in 2016) of Goričko is covered by agrienvironmental scheme measures with positive influence on qualifying species and habitat types. As a consequence, only an insignificant share of subsidies from the Rural Development Plan is used for nature protection at Goričko. If the system of agricultural subsidies remains unaltered, no improvement of the conditions for bird conservation at Goričko can be expected.
Goričko Landscape Park is a well-preserved example of typical Central-European agricultural landscape. We used modified PHYSIS typology to describe and classify different habitat types (HT), ...especially the riparian stream corridors and patches (RSCP)—habitats of riparian woody stands occurring outside the closed woodland. The RSCP of Goričko were categorized into 107 HT, which cover 1.35% of the 45,000
ha in Goričko. The ash–alder vegetation is the most widespread riparian HT. For the detailed analysis, we compared two similar areas that differ only in land-use intensity. RSCP showed slightly higher fractal dimension and significantly higher elongation index in more intensified area
B. The analysis of RSCP types on these areas showed a shift, accompanying increased agricultural impact, from pure stands to mixed, from trees to scrub, from ash–alder and white willow stands to mixed riverine willow stands. The course of the intensification produced two results: arable HT were united into large, homogeneous polygons, while less usable land was abandoned. We can conclude that some of the landscape characteristics we used can be applied to detect the level of preserved traditional cultural landscape.
Zavarovana območja so znana po številnih posebnostih, bodisi naravnih, bodisi kulturnih, vendar zavarovanje prinaša določene omejitve, zaradi katerih se tudi kmetijstvo vse bolj usmerja v ekološko ...kmetovanje. Prispevek je povezan z raziskavo o ekološkem kmetovanju, njegovo uspešnostjo in njegovi pomembni vlogi v zavarovanih območjih. Kot primer so izbrana tri zavarovana območja v Sloveniji: Triglavski narodni park (TNP), Kozjanski regijski park (KRP) in Krajinski park Goričko (KPG). Rezultati so bili pridobljeni z intervjuji odgovornih za razvoj tamkajšnjega kmetijstva.
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