Cultural monuments and nature conservation: a review of the role of kurgans in the conservation and restoration of steppe vegetation

Abstract

Steppe is among the most endangered biomes of the world, especially in Eastern Europe, where more than 90 % of original steppes have been destroyed due to conversion into croplands, afforestation and other human activities. Currently, steppe vegetation is often restricted to places unsuitable for ploughing, such as ancient burial mounds called kurgans. The aim of our study was to collect and synthesise existing knowledge on kurgans by a review of research papers and grey literature. The proportion of kurgans covered by steppe vegetation increases from west to east and from lowlands to uplands. Despite their small size, kurgans act as biodiversity hotspots and harbour many red-listed species. High overall species richness and a high proportion of grassland specialists are maintained by a pronounced fine-scale environmental heterogeneity. The main Communicated by Jürgen Dengler.

The Effects of Grazing Systems on Plant Communities in Steppe Lands—A Case Study from Mongolia’s Pastoralists and Inner Mongolian Settlement Areas

“…This could be primarily due to livestock change and the impact from feeding, trampling, etc., which reduces the surface area for photosynthesis and changes the vegetation structure, thus affecting plant community characteristics [15,16]. Previous studies have shown that vegetation within forbidden grazing regions, which are not impacted by feeding and trampling, grow rampantly; hence, the average height, total aboveground biomass and species richness are significantly greater than in the grazing region [17,18]. However, some studies have also pointed out that the dominant species in the forbidden grazing region will directly or indirectly control the vitality of other species.…”

Step(pe) up! Raising the profile of the Palaearctic natural grasslands

“…The identified threats to steppes have not affected the whole biome evenly; priorities in steppe conservation and restoration are therefore likely to vary regionally . Deák et al (2016) and Dembicz et al (2016) show that in the European part of the steppe and forest steppe zone, only small, fragmented patches of steppe remained. They identified a need for the restoration of steppe habitat to increase landscape-scale connectivity.…”

“…They identified a need for the restoration of steppe habitat to increase landscape-scale connectivity. Deák et al (2016) suggest that steppe vegetation can persist even in heavily degraded landscapes at certain structures, such as kurgans, road verges, and field margins, which can act as sources of species (i.e. donor sites for restoration).…”

“…Across the Siberian and Central Asian steppes, the Virgin Lands Campaign of the Soviet Union led to Fig. 1 Simplified map of the Palaearctic steppe biome (with main steppe ecoregions after Wesche et al 2016) with localisation of the studies included in this Special Issue: (1) Kuzemko et al (2016); (2) Polyakova et al (2016); (3) Sutcliffe et al (2016); (4) Dembicz et al (2016); (5) Kajtoch et al (2016); (6) Weking et al (2016); (7) Mathar et al (2016); (8) Lameris et al (2016); (9) Wang and Wesche (2016); (10) Addison and Greiner (2016); (11) Niu et al (2016); (12) Novenko et al (2016); (13) Deák et al (2016); (14) Ambarlı et al (2016); (15) Kamp et al (2016); (16) Brinkert et al (2016); (17) Kämpf et al (2016). Reviews summarising data across countries are indicated by large asterisks (i.e.…”

Analysis of the Spatial Relationship between Cattle and Wild Ungulates across Different Land-Use Systems in a Tropical Savanna Landscape

“…Conversion of grassland ecosystems into croplands, afforestation, urbanization, and other detrimental human activities is a global problem [10]. Increasing human population has led to increased need for food production and this has resulted in expansion of croplands; close to 20% of savanna grasslands in Africa has been converted to cropland and urban areas [9].…”