The grasslands in the Slovak Republic are divided into 7 categories that have different way and conditions of management to protect and maintain them. From the area of 1,239,777 hectares of habitats ...in SR and payments per hectare, we calculated the amount of financial support that represents 130,265,701 € for the A-G habitats in 2010-2016. Based on the data about potential use of grassland habitats in livestock feeding (mountain meadows and alluvial meadows), the production potential of C 3.12 t.ha
biotope E 4.25 t.ha
of dry matter was calculated, as a result of 5-years long experiment of the Department of Grassland Ecosystems and Forage Crops of SUA in Nitra. We calculated the direct costs for the production of hay dry matter, which reached 116.78 €.ha
in the meadows, and 71.11 €.ha
in valleys. Direct costs per 1 hectare of hay dry production are with a support covered on 111.0% of mountain meadows and 74% of meadows. The annual value of ecosystem services of grassland habitats reached 579,789,008 €. Subsidies for permanent grassland habitats stimulate the economy of agricultural subjects and protect the biodiversity of permanent grasslands.
Warming and N (nitrogen) deposition are the two main driving factors of global change. We examined the effects of increased N deposition (8 kg ha
−1
year
−1
) and warming, as well as their combined ...effect on the leaf photosynthetic pigments of
Leymus secalinus
, which is one of the key alpine plants growing in different grassland habitats on Qinghai-Tibetan plateau. In 2014, the experiments were established in 12 plots (2×5m) of three types of habitats including alpine meadow (AM), alpine steppe (AS), and cultivated grassland (CG) with the following treatments: CK (control treatment), N (only N deposition), W (only warming), and W&N (warming combined with N deposition). Results showed that the effects of warming and N deposition on photosynthetic pigments of
Leymus secalinus
varied with different grassland habitat types. In three grassland types, warming led to no significant effects on the total chlorophyll content of
L. secalinus
, while N deposition alone only significantly enhanced total chlorophyll content in alpine meadow and cultivated grassland. N deposition combined with warming only significantly enhanced total chlorophyll content of
L. secalinus
in alpine steppe and cultivated grassland. Chla content plays an important role in determining the variation of total chlorophyll content. Chla/Chlb ratio of
L. secalinus
was more stable in alpine meadow compared with that of
L. secalinus
in the other two grassland types. Car/Chl ratio of
L. secalinus
was not prone to be affected by warming and N deposition in all grassland types. Leaf N content was obviously positively correlated with photosynthetic pigments, especially Chla content. Warming and N deposition all affected photosynthetic pigment dynamics and tended to increase Chla by enhancing its weight. Our results highlighted that both warming and N deposition as well as their combination can alter the trade-off of photosynthetic pigments through enhancing the Chla ratio in
L. secalinus
. In addition, growing habitats should be within consideration when studying alpine plants adaptation mechanism to global change in the future.
Deadwood provides an important carbon source in forests and wooded ecosystems and, accordingly, forest management strategies discuss the enrichment of deadwood amount and diversity by different tree ...species. To investigate the decomposition processes of enriched deadwood, we simultaneously placed 3,669 size-standardized and gamma sterilized wood specimens of 13 tree species (
Populus tremula, Tilia cordata, Prunus avium, Betula pendula, Carpinus betulus, Fraxinus excelsior, Quercus robur, Fagus sylvatica, Acer platanoides, Larix decidua, Pinus sylvestris, Picea abies
, and
Pseudotsuga menziesii
) at a total of 300 forest and grassland plots in three regions in Germany covering large gradients of management intensity and environmental conditions. After 1 year, mass loss was calculated and its relationship with wood traits and environmental conditions was assessed to determine the most important factors. Mass loss was overall higher in forest compared to grassland habitats, with wood traits as the most important driver, followed by region and environmental factors related to microclimate. However, management intensity was less relevant to explain the mass loss in both habitats. Our results suggest that decomposition of enriched deadwood, even after removal of endophytes, is influenced by the same drivers (positively by moisture and abundance of macronutrients, negatively by lignin and phenol concentration) as naturally occurring wood. Furthermore, due to the immense and standardized experimental setting, our study contributes to a better understanding of the important drivers of mass loss in different tree species and thus provides the basis for predictions of the carbon cycle in a changing world.
Nematodes in South Africa have mainly been studied for their diversity and agricultural importance. However, the ecological status of nematodes and the effect of seasonal variation in local ...grasslands remain unknown. For this reason, a nematode study was conducted in the Telperion Nature Reserve and represented the first ecological study in a natural grassland area in South Africa. In total, 104 soil samples were collected during four consecutive seasons from 2015 until 2016 in three habitats, viz. (i) open grassland, (ii) shrubland with rocky outcrops, and (iii) riparian zone. From these the nematode community structure and soil ecosystem status were studied. In total, 93 genera from 50 families were recorded with herbivores and bacterivores being the most abundant trophic groups in all three habitats. Linear mixed models revealed that season had an overwhelmingly dominant impact on the condition, food web status, and functioning of the soil ecosystems with pairwise comparisons indicating that significantly higher values were recorded during winter. Interestingly, this seasonal shift can largely be attributed to fluctuations in the populations of only a few nematode groups (namely
, Dorylaimidae,
, and
) with high colonizer-persister values. Although the reason for the higher abundance of specific nematode groups recorded during the winter is not explicitly clear, it is possibly linked to reduced competition from other soil fauna. This study clearly shows that further investigations are required to better understand the dynamics of grassland ecosystems.
Grasslands are usually the most suitable environment for butterflies, but have been also traditionally used for productive activities. This paper compares the impact of mowing and grazing on ...butterfly biodiversity in two S Italian (Campania) grasslands, at Campo Somma (CS) and Pianoro di Prada (PP) located at an identical altitude of 850 m. These grasslands have an area of approximately 6 ha each and are at a 3 km distance from each other. They share similar climate and are both surrounded by woods, mainly of sweet chestnut. CS is managed for haying and is mown once a year, in June. PP is used for sheep and cattle grazing. Weekly transects were made from April to September in 2008 and 2009, during the butterfly flight activity. We analysed data from eight monthly transects by Kruskal–Wallis and Mann–Whitney tests. We observed 45 butterfly species at PP, and 28 at CS. Diversity indexes were significantly higher at PP, whereas evenness was similar. The monthly comparisons of species richness showed that, except for April, PP values were always significantly higher. Species abundance was significantly higher at PP in June, July and August. In all months, except in April, the Shannon–Wiener index was also significantly higher at PP, as was Simpson’s index in May, June and September. Dominance index differed significantly only in May, June and September, whereas evenness was never significantly different between the two grasslands. These data show that, as concerns butterflies, the impact of mowing was much stronger than that of grazing.
A new species of Thespieus Godman, 1900 (Hesperiidae, Hesperiini), Thespieus maackisp. nov., is described from high altitude grasslands on Araçatuba Mountain peak, Tijucas do Sul, Paraná, Brazil. ...Similar habitats surrounding the type locality were also sampled, but this species was never recorded elsewhere. The most similar species Thespieus caracaEvans, 1955 is also illustrated and compared, in order to provide clear diagnostic characters for species identification.
To examine the effects of human land use and disturbance on butterfly communities we compared the diversity and structure of communities in relatively undisturbed, semi-natural grassland habitats and ...highly disturbed, human-modified ones. Comparisons were based on transect counts conducted at 6 study sites at the foot of Mt. Fuji in the cool temperate zone of central Japan during 1995. Out of the six community parameters used in the analyses, the species richness, species diversities H' and 1/λ, and dominance indices were significantly different between the two habitat types stated above. That is, butterfly communities in semi-natural habitats had higher species richness and diversity, and lower dominance indices than those in human-modified ones. This suggests that heavy land modification and disturbance to semi-natural habitats change greatly its butterfly community structure, which, indeed, leads to decreasing species richness and diversity mainly due to the loss of species that are confined to semi-natural habitats. Through the comparisons of various species' characteristics, it was found that the species confined to semi-natural habitats had lower population abundance, fewer generations per year, more restricted local distributions, and narrower geographic range size in Japan than the other component species. Based on our results, it is critical that the persistence of the species that are limited to semi-natural habitats be ensured in order to maintain high species richness and diversity in grassland butterfly communities. Thus, conservation plans that retain as much semi-natural habitat as possible within the process of human grassland use, development, and modification are needed.PUBLICATION ABSTRACT
1. Good progress has been made in bringing the importance of high-nature-conservation-value farming systems to the attention of a wider audience. However, simply having a broad appreciation of which ...farming systems are good for certain species or species assemblages is of little use without a detailed understanding of how each particular farming system functions and integrates with the species reliant upon that system as a whole. 2. Many species have intimate and complex interactions with the annual farming cycle, and their presence on any one piece of farmland is determined not only by the farm management occurring at that time but also by the management practised over the previous weeks and months. Since their exact farm management requirements are not fully understood, it would currently be difficult (if not impossible) to put in place the exact set of conditions necessary to ensure the continued occurrence of many desired species. 3. Consequently, a detailed understanding of the ecological relationships involved is essential before advice can be provided on how best to develop any individual farming system (and the associated policies) so that the ecological characteristics of the system of value to the wildlife assemblages are maintamed. 4. These issues are highlighted and illustrated with reference to the findings from research into the ecology and requirements of the chough Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax and the effects of farm management practices on ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) and leatherjackets (Diptera: Tipulidae), which together can form important prey items for birds associated with grassland habitats.
Changes in Wisconsin's grasslands have had huge impacts on grassland bird populations. As the original native grassland habitats were altered or destroyed, bird species adapted, exploited newly ...created agricultural habitats, shifted to other available habitats, or disappeared. This chapter attempts to tell this story of change and adaptation, of loss and gain, and see what it forecasts for us and the grassland birds. The story is told in four parts. The first regards the “recent presettlement” era of about 1700–1850, prior to the major changes wrought by Euro–Americans. The second period is the first century after settlement, 1850–1950. The third period spans 1950 to the present. Finally, the future of grasslands and grassland birds in Wisconsin is considered, noting conservation needs based on projected trends and lessons from the past.
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