Changes in the area of permanent grassland and its implications for the provision of bioenergy: Slovakia as a case study

Abstract

Throughout Europe, grasslands are managed primarily for agricultural production but also provide a range of ecosystem services, the magnitude of which is influenced by their area, management and the abiotic properties of the ecosystem. The grassland area in Europe has been affected by significant changes in recent decades, including abandonment and conversion to arable land. This study presents an assessment of changes in the permanent grassland area with reference to Slovakia and provides an assessment of the bioenergy potential of permanent grassland surplus to agricultural needs. In 2015, of the total permanent grassland area (868,000 ha) 42% had ceased to be used as feed for milk or meat production and had been abandoned. Results from field experiments show that low-level improvement of permanent grasslands, e.g., by oversowing commonly sown agricultural grassland species and low-dose fertilization (up to 30 kg N ha À1 year À1) could provide herbage biomass of 1.7 million tonnes of herbage dry matter per year. This would be sufficient to generate an energy output of approximately 31.3-31.9 PJ/year (4.5% of the current gross inland energy consumption of Slovakia). Low-intensity use of the currently surplus permanent grassland is also considered to have potential beneficial outcomes in terms of delivery of ecosystem services. Results are also discussed in the context of countries beyond the case-study area.

Fatty Acid Profiles of Cow’s Milk and Cheese as Affected by Mountain Pasture Type and Concentrate Supplementation

“…In mountain areas, grasslands allow for the subsistence of dairy farms by providing much of the ruminants’ feed. Mountain dairy farms are widely recognized as providing a so-called ‘ecosystem service’ to society [4]. Indeed, they have a role in carbon sequestration, in soil fertility, in cultural heritage maintenance, and in fire hazard prevention [5].…”

How Do Agricultural Biogas Investments Affect Czech Farms?

“…The grassland surplus has the potential for biogas production. A recent study declared that the use of grassland biomass for biogas production is consistent with supporting ecosystem services provision (Kizeková et al, 2018). The area of the sampled farms did not significantly change in the period 2004 -2016 (p = 0.2803 > 0.05), thus the biogas plants have not significantly impacted on land area.…”

The Evaluation of Water Regulation Agroecosystem Services in Context with Risk Area Determination

“…The cartographic basis for agroecosystem evaluation and mapping units was the LPIS (Land Parcel Identification System) layer (https://podnemapy.vupop.sk). For spatial quantifying of regulating agroecosystem services of used agricultural land in Slovakia, we have created a mapping unit combining four input layers: climatic region (four categoriesmoderately cold, moderately warm, warm and very warm [27], slope topography (four categories 0-2º, 2.1º-5º,5.1º-12º, more than 12º), soil texture (three categories) and land use (arable land, grassland and other cultures (orchards, vineyards, hops fields)). The layer for evaluating and mapping agroecosystem services is the result of a combination of all four layers, creating 100 functional aggregate units.…”