Historic hay cutting dates from Sweden 1873–1951 and their implications for conservation management of species-rich meadows

Eriksson, Ove; Bolmgren, Kjell; Westin, Anna; Lennartsson, Tommy

doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2015.01.012

Cited by 21 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 32 publications

(46 reference statements)

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“…For instance, increases in temperature and drought frequency may lead to premature leaf senescence in deciduous forests, affecting the efficiency of nutrient resorption and the length of growing seasons, impacting carbon uptake and ecosystem nutrient cycling (Estiarte & Peñuelas 2015), and therefore management practices (e.g. Eriksson et al, 2015).…”

Section: Leafing and Herbivorymentioning

confidence: 99%

Linking plant phenology to conservation biology

Morellato

Alberton

Alvarado

et al. 2016

Biological Conservation

307

243

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Phenology has achieved a prominent position in current scenarios of global change research given its role in monitoring and predicting the timing of recurrent life cycle events. However, the implications of phenology to environmental conservation and management remain poorly explored. Here, we present the first explicit appraisal of how phenology -a multidisciplinary science encompassing biometeorology, ecology, and evolutionary biology -can make a key contribution to contemporary conservation biology. We focus on shifts in plant phenology induced by global change, their impacts on species diversity and plantanimal interactions in the tropics, and how conservation efforts could be enhanced in relation to plant resource organization. We identify the effects of phenological changes and mismatches in the maintenance and conservation of mutualistic interactions, and examine how phenological research can contribute to evaluate, manage and mitigate the consequences of land-use change and other natural and anthropogenic disturbances, such as fire, exotic and invasive species. We also identify cutting-edge tools that can improve the spatial and temporal coverage of phenological monitoring, from satellites to drones and digital cameras. We highlight the role of historical information in recovering long-term phenological time series, and track climate-related shifts in tropical systems. Finally, we propose a set of measures to boost the contribution of phenology to conservation science. We advocate the inclusion of phenology into predictive models integrating evolutionary history to identify species groups that are either resilient or sensitive to future climatechange scenarios, and understand how phenological mismatches can affect community dynamics, ecosystem services, and conservation over time. We hereby submit the revised draft of our 'Perspectives' manuscript entitled "Linking plant phenology to conservation biology" to which we now incorporate the rather minor changes suggested by the reviewers. While responding to those very positive comments, we also indicate how we have incorporated the reviewers' remarks. UNIVERSIDADE ESTADUAL PAULISTAWe thank you and the reviewers again for all the suggestions that have improved our The MS is well written, integrates interesting different aspects of plant phenology and provide a guide to include phenology in prospective long-term studies and management plans. Therefore the study is of general interest for a wide audience, particularly for Biological Conservation readers.Next, I suggest some changes to improve the current version of the MS 1. Authors comment the effect of climate and land use change on Section 4. For example, they argue that edge effect "increase of flowering and fruiting activity" (Line #389) or fragmentation affect reproductive success. Yet, these are functional responses of plant populations to different types of disturbances/changes, but they do not necessary entail changes in phenology. Please, review the MS and make sure that you only include ...

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Section: Leafing and Herbivorymentioning

confidence: 99%

Linking plant phenology to conservation biology

Morellato

Alberton

Alvarado

et al. 2016

Biological Conservation

307

243

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“…Whilst this approach may not be as attractive in terms of agricultural productivity it may reflect more closely the pattern of meadow management prior to the introduction of AES. Farmers may have chosen to mow earlier or later depending on levels of spring growth, weather conditions or even availability of labour (Eriksson et al 2015). The use of a standardized cutting date applied to whole regions of northern England has been linked with a widespread increase in annual species such as Euphrasia species.…”

Section: Turnover In Target Meadow Speciesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long-term hay meadow management maintains the target community despite local-scale species turnover

2018

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Hay meadows, which are managed using a low-intensity regime, are characterized by highly diverse vegetation but have declined significantly since the mid twentieth century. Remaining species-rich meadows are often protected by statutory designations and conservation management agreements. However, long-term studies of change in the composition of meadow vegetation, and investigations of the success of conservation over the long-term are rare. Fourteen sites, which had a long history of being managed for field dried hay, were resurveyed after 25 years and redundancy analysis was undertaken to investigate changes in community composition. Investigations of the effect of soil conditions, site size and spatial distribution of the meadow sites were carried out. Although overall community composition had changed significantly, the suite of species representative of the meadow community had been maintained, and species usually associated with more intensively managed grasslands had declined. However, there were losses of particular species of conservation importance such as Alchemilla glabra and Conopodium majus, and losses and gains of species varied from site to site. There was a significant increase in the homogeneity of the meadow vegetation between the two survey years. Comparisons of indicators of soil conditions suggested that there had been no significant change for the community as a whole but analyses of the species showing the most change indicated a decrease in soil fertility. Low-intensity management has been successful in maintaining the meadow community but consideration of changes in key species and losses at the site level is needed. More research is needed to establish whether fragmentation is starting to have an impact on diversity.

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“…Thus, species richness will decline, although there may be a considerable time-lag in the extinction process, resulting in an extinction debt [33,50,85]. Secondly, the management guided by conservation goals deviates from the historical management, for example concerning grazing and mowing intensity and timing, and variability in management among years [86,87]. Although the long-term consequences of this conservation-driven management are not well known, it is probable that it will also in the long run reduce species richness.…”

Section: Effects Of Current Niche Construction On Remaining Old Cultumentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This holds also to some extent for their actual vegetation structure. The ecological effects of current conservation management are unavoidably different from what was achieved by the historical management [28,86,87,94]. These problems should not be understood as an excuse for downgrading the value of maintaining and restoring sites with a long history of grazing and mowing management, but only to stress the complexity of using "authenticity" as a valuation criterion for landscapes.…”

Section: New Landscapes Mimicking Features Of Old Cultural Landscapesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Historical and Current Niche Construction in an Anthropogenic Biome: Old Cultural Landscapes in Southern Scandinavia

Eriksson

2016

Land

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Conceptual advances in niche construction theory provide new perspectives and a tool-box for studies of human-environment interactions mediating what is termed anthropogenic biomes. This theory is useful also for studies on how anthropogenic biomes are perceived and valued. This paper addresses these topics using an example: "old cultural landscapes" in Scandinavia, i.e., landscapes formed by a long, dynamic and continuously changing history of management. Today, remnant habitats of this management history, such as wooded pastures and meadows, are the focus of conservation programs, due to their rich biodiversity and cultural and aesthetic values. After a review of historical niche construction processes, the paper examines current niche construction affecting these old cultural landscapes. Features produced by historical niche construction, e.g., landscape composition and species richness, are in the modern society reinterpreted to become values associated with beauty and heritage and species' intrinsic values. These non-utilitarian motivators now become drivers of new niche construction dynamics, manifested as conservation programs. The paper also examines the possibility to maintain and create new habitats, potentially associated with values emanating from historical landscapes, but in transformed and urbanized landscapes.

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Historic hay cutting dates from Sweden 1873–1951 and their implications for conservation management of species-rich meadows

Cited by 21 publications

References 32 publications

Linking plant phenology to conservation biology

Linking plant phenology to conservation biology

Long-term hay meadow management maintains the target community despite local-scale species turnover

Historical and Current Niche Construction in an Anthropogenic Biome: Old Cultural Landscapes in Southern Scandinavia

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