Effects of grazing on plant composition, conservation status and ecosystem services of Natura 2000 shrub-grassland habitat types

Silva, Vasco; Catry, Filipe X.; Fernandes, Paulo M.; Rego, Francisco; Paes, Paula de Souza; Nunes, Leónia; Caperta, Ana D.; Sérgio, Cecı́lia; Bugalho, Miguel N.

doi:10.1007/s10531-019-01718-7

Cited by 35 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 68 publications

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“…In the Italian Alps, as in most mountain regions of Europe, dairy cattle are traditionally moved seasonally to summer farms, which are temporary units, located mostly between 1200 and 2000 m of altitude, that rely on the grazing of Alpine pastures to feed the animals, usually from June to September [8]. These pasture-based livestock systems have contributed to the establishment and maintenance of semi-natural grasslands rich with environmental and cultural values, and provide multiple ESs [3,5], including provisioning ESs, e.g., the production of milk and traditional cheese [1][2][3], regulating and supporting ESs, e.g., soil carbon sequestration [9], protection from landslides and fires [10,11]), conservation of natural habitats and biodiversity [9,[12][13][14], and also cultural ESs, e.g., aesthetic value [15] and touristic attractiveness [16] of the landscape, conservation of the cultural heritage [17,18]. However, during the last decades traditional livestock farming systems have experienced a strong decline, with the consequent abandoning of Alpine grasslands [19][20][21][22].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tourists and Local Stakeholders’ Perception of Ecosystem Services Provided by Summer Farms in the Eastern Italian Alps

Pachoud

Ramanzin

et al. 2020

Sustainability

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In the Alps, summer farms are temporary units, where cattle are moved during summer to graze on Alpine pastures, which provide multiple ecosystem services (ESs), many of which do not have a market value. This study aimed at understanding and comparing the perceptions of summer farms and of the associated ESs by local stakeholders and tourists in a study area of the province of Trento in the eastern Italian Alps. Thirty-five online questionnaires and two focus groups were realized with local stakeholders involved in the dairy value-chain. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 405 tourists in two representative summer farms. The perceptions of summer farms differed between local stakeholders, who mainly focused on provisioning ESs, and tourists, who mainly focused on cultural and regulating ESs. Both categories of actors rated positively eight different ESs associated with summer farms, but demonstrated a lack of knowledge of specific regulating ESs. This study showed that discussion among the different actors is required to increase mutual knowledge and to grasp the diversity of links between summer farms and ESs, in order to support public policies and private initiatives for promoting summer farm products and the sustainable development of mountain regions.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tourists and Local Stakeholders’ Perception of Ecosystem Services Provided by Summer Farms in the Eastern Italian Alps

Pachoud

Ramanzin

et al. 2020

Sustainability

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“…Even butterfly species typically considered as habitat specialists according to the literature were actually observed across several habitats, suggesting that protecting them only within their focal habitat can be limiting. Calcareous dry grasslands are well-known key habitats for butterfly conservation (Silva et al, 2019), but we also pointed out the central role of agriculturally managed meadows across the protected area. Hay meadows, in particular, can act as a surrogate habitat for evolved calcareous grasslands patches, hosting surprisingly similar species assemblages.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 77%

“…Hay meadows, despite being impacted by mowing, hosted many species and were as central as evolved grasslands. The positive impact of low-intensity management on plant and butterfly communities has already been investigated (WallisDeVries & Raemakers, 2001;Silva et al, 2019), and a mosaic of managed and un-managed patches seems to be the best solution for maintaining biodiversity and network robustness. In fact, managed meadows are located in sites where floods, quite common in the study area, do not occur, safeguarding habitat patches suitable for a large number of butterfly species.…”

Section: Habitat Levelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Improving insect conservation across heterogeneous landscapes using species–habitat networks

Cappellari¹,

Marini²

2021

PeerJ

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Background One of the biggest challenges in conservation is to manage multiple habitats for the effective conservation of multiple species, especially when the focal species are mobile and use multiple resources across heterogeneous protected areas. The application of ecological network tools and the analysis of the resulting species–habitat networks can help to describe such complex spatial associations and improve the conservation of species at the landscape scale. Methods To exemplify the application of species–habitat networks, we present a case study on butterflies inhabiting multiple grassland types across a heterogeneous protected area in North-East Italy. We sampled adult butterflies in 44 sites, each belonging to one of the five major habitat types in the protected area, that is, disturbed grasslands, continuous grasslands, evolved grasslands, hay meadows and wet meadows. First, we applied traditional diversity analyses to explore butterfly species richness and evenness. Second, we built and analyzed both the unipartite network, linking habitat patches via shared species, and the bipartite network, linking species to individual habitat patches. Aims (i) To describe the emerging properties (connectance, modularity, nestedness, and robustness) of the species–habitat network at the scale of the whole protected area, and (ii) to identify the key habitats patches for butterfly conservation across the protected area, that is, those supporting the highest number of species and those with unique species assemblages (e.g., hosting specialist species). Results The species–habitat network appeared to have a weak modular structure, meaning that the main habitat types tended to host different species assemblages. However, the habitats also shared a large proportion of species that were able to visit multiple habitats and use resources across the whole study area. Even butterfly species typically considered as habitat specialists were actually observed across multiple habitat patches, suggesting that protecting them only within their focal habitat might be ineffective. Our species–habitat network approach helped identifying both central habitat patches that were able to support the highest number of species, and habitat patches that supported rare specialist species.

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“…Mapping plant communities is a major challenge when monitoring biodiversity, especially in the framework of the European Union (EU) Habitats Directive (Attorre et al, 2018). Since plant communities indicate the conservation status of natural habitats (Rodwell et al, 2018), mapping and monitoring them is essential to assess impacts of management practices on plant biodiversity (Silva et al, 2019). Maps of plant communities are usually produced from time-consuming field observations supplemented by visual analysis of aerial photographs (Díez-Garretas et al, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Contribution of free satellite time-series images to mapping plant communities in the Mediterranean Natura 2000 site: the example of Biguglia Pond in Corse (France)

Rapinel

Rozo

Delbosc³

et al. 2020

Mediterr. Bot.

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Mapping plant communities, which is essential to assess the conservation status of natural habitats, is currently based mainly on time-consuming field surveys without the use of satellite data. However, free image time-series with high spatial and temporal resolution have been available since 2015. This study assessed the contribution of Sentinel-2 time-series images to mapping the spatial distribution of 18 plant communities within a Natura 2000 site (1978 ha) located on the Mediterranean biogeographical region (Corsica, France). The method was based on random forest modeling of six Sentinel-2 images acquired from 26 February to 24 October 2017, which were calibrated and validated using a field vegetation map. The results showed that the 18 plant communities were modeled correctly, with 72% overall accuracy. The uncertainty map associated with the model indicated areas that required additional field observations.

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Effects of grazing on plant composition, conservation status and ecosystem services of Natura 2000 shrub-grassland habitat types

Cited by 35 publications

References 68 publications

Tourists and Local Stakeholders’ Perception of Ecosystem Services Provided by Summer Farms in the Eastern Italian Alps

Tourists and Local Stakeholders’ Perception of Ecosystem Services Provided by Summer Farms in the Eastern Italian Alps

Improving insect conservation across heterogeneous landscapes using species–habitat networks

Contribution of free satellite time-series images to mapping plant communities in the Mediterranean Natura 2000 site: the example of Biguglia Pond in Corse (France)

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