Dry Grasslands of Southern Europe: Syntaxonomy, Management and Conservation

Abstract

The Mediterranean area is a natural biodiversity hotspot that has also been influenced by humans for millennia. Especially the grasslands of Southern Europe have long been known for their diversity and beauty. However, several gaps remain in our knowledge about these grasslands, e.g. for some regions such as the southern Balkans, or taxonomic groups such as cryptogams. Here we introduce a Special Issue with contributions from the 9 th European Dry Grassland Group meeting held in Prespa, Greece, 2012. The topic of this meeting was "Dry grasslands of Europe: grazing and ecosystem services" with special focus on Southern European regions. The Special Issue, apart from this Editorial, consists of eight contributions arranged according to the three major topics: syntaxonomy (5 articles), management (2) and conservation (1). The classification papers include descriptions of four new associations and four subassociations. Data about management practices are provided as well. We conclude that dry grassland vegetation in Southern Europe exhibits transitions between different higher syntaxa and thus requires further studies at broader scales to allow better understanding at the supranational scale. Keywords: Elyno-Seslerietea, European Dry Grassland Group (EDGG), Festuco-Brometea, grazing, Helianthemetea guttati, Koelerio-Corynephoretea, Mediterranean, Molinio-Arrhenatheretea. IzvlečekMediteran je naravna vroča točka biodiverzitete, na katero je človek tisočletja močno vplival. Po svoji raznolikosti in lepoti so še posebej že dolgo znana travišča južne Evrope, vendar so v poznavanju teh travišč prisotne številne vrzeli na območju južnega Balkana ali posameznih taksonomskih skupin, kot so kriptogami. Predstavljamo posebno številko s prispevki z 9. srečanja Evropske skupine za suha travišča (European Dry Grassland Group), ki je bilo leta 2012 v mestu Prespa (Grčija). Tema srečanja je bila "Suha travišča Evrope: paša in ekosistemske storitve" s posebnim poudarkom na območjih južne Evrope. Posebno številko poleg tega uvodnika sestavlja osem prispevkov, ki smo jih uredili v tri glavne teme: sintaksonomijo (5 člankov), gospodarjenje (2) in ohranjanje travišč (1). Članki o klasifikaciji vsebujejo opise štirih novih asociacij in štirih subasociacij. Prav tako vsebujejo podatke o načinu gospodarjenja. Zaključimo lahko, da kaže vegetacija suhih travišč v južni Evropi prehod med različnimi višjimi sintaksoni in zato so potrebne nadaljnje raziskave v večjem merilu, ki bodo omogočile boljše razumevanje v nadnacionalnem merilu.

The current state and biodiversity of steppe phytocenoses in the territory of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic

“…Due to the fact that an increase in the intensity of grazing in pasture meadows leads to a decrease in the productivity of the aboveground phytomass, a simplification of the structure, a decrease in species diversity, an increase in the role of digression-resistant synanthropic herb species, soil compaction and drying, the protection of steppe meadows with their constant economic use should be directed to maintain high productivity, restore and preserve biodiversity [7][8][9][10][11][12][13]. Ecological restoration of degraded steppe ecosystems is possible subject to the introduction of normalized pasture loads and observance of the grazing time [14,15].…”

The challenge of abandonment for the sustainable management of Palaearctic natural and semi-natural grasslands

“…This special feature complements a series of special issues devoted to Palaearctic grasslands (including Habel et al 2013, Apostolova et al 2014, Carboni et al 2015, Ruprecht et al 2015, Becker et al 2016, Valkó et al 2016c, Deák et al 2017, edited on behalf of the Eurasian Dry Grassland Group (EDGG, http://www. edgg.org).…”

Re-launch of Phytocoenologia: new profile for the classic vegetation ecology journal

“…editors Jürgen Dengler, Nikolai Ermakov, Monika Janišová & Wolfgang Willner), continuing a long-standing tradition of EDGG with such Special Features (e.g. Janišová et al 2011;Dengler et al 2013Dengler et al , 2014Apostolova et al 2014). Within the framework of the European Vegetation Survey (EVS; http://www.euroveg.org) a new Special Issue on "Saline habitats" (S.I.…”