First Survey of the Vascular and Cryptogam Flora on Bulgaria’s Ancient Mounds

Apostolova, Iva; Sopotlieva, Desislava; Valcheva, Magdalena; Ganeva, Anna; Shivarov, Veselin V.; Velev, Nikolay; Vassilev, Kiril; Terziyska, Tsvetelina S.; Nekhrizov, Georgi

doi:10.3390/plants11050705

Cited by 10 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…The practical explanation for this is that ploughing on kurgans with steep slopes can be difficult even with modern agricultural machinery and was even more challenging in the ages of large landscape transformation with less effective agricultural tools (Deák et al, 2016). The protective effect of steep slopes is especially apparent in Bulgaria, where mounds generally have extremely steep slopes, which make them highly unsuitable for arable farming (Apostolova et al, 2022). In this sense, kurgans show similarities with other landscape features such as rocky outcrops and ravines that could escape the plough due to their special physical attributes (Dembicz et al 2020; Hunter et al, 2017).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The copyright holder for this this version posted September 30, 2022. ; https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.09.29.510067 doi: bioRxiv preprint of steep slopes is especially apparent in Bulgaria, where mounds generally have extremely steep slopes, which make them highly unsuitable for arable farming (Apostolova et al, 2022).…”

Section: Kurgans Complement Pas In Grassland Conservationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The biodiversity potential of kurgans was demonstrated by regional surveys from Ukraine (Sudnik-Wójcikowska et al, 2011), Hungary (Deák et al, 2020) and Bulgaria (Apostolova et al, 2022)(Fig. 1).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recent ecological studies revealed that millennia-old kurgans often hold dry grasslands and can act as habitat islands in transformed landscapes providing refuge for grassland species and maintaining high biodiversity (Apostolovaetal., 2022; Deák et al, 2020; Dembicz et al, 2020; Sudnik-Wójcikowska et al, 2011). All studies agree that the potential of kurgans for preserving grasslands is connected with their steep slopes, which impede ploughing (Deák et al, 2020; Dembicz et al, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Heritage of ancient cultures supports conservation: a continent-wide perspective from the Eurasian steppes

Deák

Bede

Rádai

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Civilisations including ancient ones, have shaped the global ecosystems in many ways through a co-evolution of landscapes and humans. However, the cultural legacies of ancient and lost civilisations are seldom considered in conservation. Here using a continental-scale dataset containing over 1,000 data records on the localities, land cover, protection status and cultural values related to ancient steppic burial mounds (so-called kurgans), we evaluated how these iconic and widespread landmarks can contribute to grassland conservation in the Eurasian steppes, which is one of the most endangered biomes on Earth. By using Bayesian logistic generalized regressions and proportional odds logistic regressions, we aimed to reveal the potential of mounds in preserving grasslands considering landscapes with different levels of land use transformation. We also compared the conservation potential of mounds situated inside and outside protected areas and assessed whether the presence of cultural, historical or spiritual values support the maintenance of grasslands on them. We revealed that kurgans have enormous importance in preserving grasslands in transformed landscapes outside protected areas, where they can act as habitat islands, and provide an additional pillar for conservation by contributing to habitat conservation and improvement of habitat connectivity. We found that besides their steep slopes hindering ploughing, the existence of cultural, historical or religious values could almost double the chance for grassland occurrence on kurgans due to the related extensive land use and the respect of local communities. As the estimated number of steppic mounds is about 600,000 and also similar historical features exist in all continents, our results can be upscaled to a global level. Our results also suggest that an integrative socio-ecological approach in conservation might support the positive synergistic effects of conservational, landscape and cultural values.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Kurgans Complement Pas In Grassland Conservationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Heritage of ancient cultures supports conservation: a continent-wide perspective from the Eurasian steppes

Deák

Bede

Rádai

et al. 2022

Preprint

Self Cite

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“…A sírhalmokat érő antropogén hatás mellett érdemes megemlíteni az ökoszisztémamérnök állatok szerepét (GODÓ et al 2018), mivel kotorékaik kialakítása a talaj bolygatásával jár, melynek eredményeként létrejövő csupasz talajfelszínek akár ideális szubsztrátként funkcionálhatnak efemer megjelenésű mohák számára is. Az európai kurgánokat érintő bryológiai szempontú kutatások az edényes növényekhez képest meglehetősen alulreprezentáltak, mohaflorisztikai felmérések csupán Bulgáriában zajlottak (APOSTOLOVA et al 2022).…”

Section: Bevezetésunclassified

Hernád menti kunhalmok mohaflorisztikai vizsgálatának eredményei

Szűcs

2022

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Jelen közlemény a Hernád menti kurgánok mohaflorisztikai vizsgálatának eredményeit ismerteti. Összesen 41 taxon (1 májmoha és 40 lombosmoha) azonosítása történt meg a vizsgált kilenc kunhalomról. Előfordulásuk száma alapján a Brachythecium rutabulum, a Tortulaacaulon var.acaulon és a Barbula unguiculata bizonyultak a leggyakoribb mohafajoknak. További érdekes taxonok a sírhalmokról: Acaulon muticum, Acaulon triquetrum, Pterygoneurum subsessile, Riccia ciliata, Tortula caucasica, Trichostomum brachydontium és Trichostomum crispulum. A kunhalmok térbeli nagysága és a mohafajok száma között nem áll fenn egyértelmű korreláció. A hazánkban zajlott újabb mohaflorisztikai vizsgálatokkal (pl. Budai arborétum, Balaton település) összevetve megállapítható, hogy a kurgánokon az egyéves vándorló életstratégiájú mohafajok aránya viszonylag magas a más stratégiájú taxonokhoz képest, ebből adódóan a kunhalmok potenciális refúgium élőhelyek lehetnek egyes efemer megjelenésű mohák számára.

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‘Sense of place’ and conservation: Toponym diversity helps to maintain vegetation naturalness

et al. 2023

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Place names are an important but vanishing part of cultural diversity, and their relevance for environmental sciences is increasingly acknowledged. Still little is known about whether the diversity of toponyms affects human–nature relationships and the decisions of humans on how to use certain parts of the landscape. To investigate this question, we combined approaches from social sciences and ecology in a comprehensive multidisciplinary survey of 1521 cultural landscape features in Hungary. The landscape features studied were ancient millennia‐old burial earthen mounds built by nomadic steppic tribes, that often hold the last remnants of grassland vegetation and provide safe havens for grassland specialist plant and animal species in the intensively used agricultural landscapes of Eurasia. In our research, we (i) compiled a comprehensive database of the mounds in the 5150 km2‐sized study region, (ii) collected all toponyms of the mounds recorded since the 18th century, (iii) derived the height and distance from settlements for each mound and (iv) visited all the mounds in a field survey, and evaluated their vegetation naturalness. We found that despite the intensive landscape transformation in the region, and independently of topographical factors, a higher number of toponyms was associated with a higher degree of naturalness of the vegetation on the landscape features. Independently of the protective effect of the height of the mound against ploughing, and the distance from settlements that reflects to decreasing land use intensity, we found that the vegetation on the mounds with more names had a higher degree of naturalness. Synthesis and applications. Cultural recognition of these places has eroded considerably in the past centuries, but its effect is still noticeable, suggesting an extinction delay of culture‐driven biodiversity patterns. Our results suggest that reestablishment of the lost cultural connections between people and nature can contribute to reversing the deterioration. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

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First Survey of the Vascular and Cryptogam Flora on Bulgaria’s Ancient Mounds

Cited by 10 publications

References 30 publications

Heritage of ancient cultures supports conservation: a continent-wide perspective from the Eurasian steppes

Heritage of ancient cultures supports conservation: a continent-wide perspective from the Eurasian steppes

Hernád menti kunhalmok mohaflorisztikai vizsgálatának eredményei

‘Sense of place’ and conservation: Toponym diversity helps to maintain vegetation naturalness

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