Origin and history of grasslands in <scp>C</scp>entral <scp>E</scp>urope – a review

Hejcman, Michal; Hejcmanová, Pavla; Pavlů, V.; Beneš, Jaromír

doi:10.1111/gfs.12066

Cited by 213 publications

(164 citation statements)

References 80 publications

(102 reference statements)

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“…Influence of altitude on biodiversity is of common nature and concerned different groups of organisms (Sergio and Pedrini, 2007). Grasslands as semi-natural communities arose in the place of forest and are dependent on mowing or grazing to stop the succession process (Szydłowska, 2010;Hejcman et al, 2013;Tälle et al, 2015). For their existence, apart from suitable soil and climate conditions, diaspores of grassland species must appear.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Influence of Past Land-Use and Environmental Factors on Grassland Species Diversity

Zarzycki¹

2017

Appl. Ecol. Env. Res.

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Zarzycki -Bedla: The influence of past land-use and environmental factors on grassland species diversity -267 - Abstract. Mountain grasslands are among the most species-rich plant communities in Europe. This is due to the large variability of abiotic conditions and ways of management. However, a significant change in the rural economy has taken place in recent decades. Some grasslands have become forested, while others have been overgrown as a result of succession. Fodder for domestic animals is produced on grasslands created on former arable land. The aim of this study was to estimate the effect of topographic factors (altitude, slope, exposure) and land use (grassland, arable land) in the mid-nineteenth century and the 1930s on the present biodiversity of mountain grasslands. The study was carried out in the basin of the Łomniczanka and Wierchomlanka Rivers in the Beskid Sądecki (Polish Carpathians). A total of 73 phytosociological relevés in an altitude gradient ranging from 660 to 1,060 m a.s.l were made. Past land use was determined on the basis of archival cadastral and topographic maps. The altitude above sea level was the main factor influencing the botanical composition of vegetation. No difference was observed in species composition depending on past land use. The results show the crucial role of altitude in determining the species composition of mountain meadows.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Influence of Past Land-Use and Environmental Factors on Grassland Species Diversity

Zarzycki¹

2017

Appl. Ecol. Env. Res.

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“…It is one of the earliest observations in the history of grassland management that nutrients such as N, P and K are most important for productivity and species assembly on grassland (Hejcman et al 2013). From functional ecology research, we understand that soil nutrients represent a filter which affect the ecological niche dimension and modify the set of species (Harpole and Tilman 2007).…”

Section: Grass Strategies Along Nutrient Gradientsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Grass strategies and grassland community responses to environmental drivers: a review

Pontes

Maire

Schellberg

et al. 2015

Agron. Sustain. Dev.

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Grassland covers about one quarter of the Earth's land area and is currently estimated to contribute to the livelihoods of over 800 million people. Grassland provides ecosystem goods and services, mainly through the provisioning of milk and meat. Therefore, the proper use of grasslands will be essential for feeding the nine billion people that will inhabit planet Earth by 2050. In the context of a changing climate, we should better understand the interactions of environment, management and grass crop at individual, community and ecosystem levels. Functional ecology focuses on the roles and functions that species play in the community or ecosystem in which they occur. Functional ecology thus aims to understand how plant species adapt to environmental conditions and how management can alter this adaptation. Here, we review the latest advances in plant functional traits research and on species strategies to the main environmental factors occurring in grassland ecosystems: nutrient availability, grazing, cutting and shading. Functional ecology also provides a framework to better understand how species strategies interact with the species composition at the community level. Therefore, the literature on community assembling theories in relation to ecosystem processes most relevant to grassland management and services is also reviewed. Finally, future research questions and some new orientations for grassland experts are offered in order to meet the challenge of maintaining productivity and preservation of these semi-natural environments in the face of global change.

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“…Grasslands are vital elements of the European landscape [3,4], they have traditionally been managed by grazing and mowing for centuries [5][6][7]. Grasslands also deliver essential ecosystem services such as erosion protection, groundwater recharge, carbon sequestration, and recreation [8].…”

Section: Conservation Of Grasslandsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Categorizing Grassland Vegetation with Full-Waveform Airborne Laser Scanning: A Feasibility Study for Detecting Natura 2000 Habitat Types

Zlinszky

Schroiff²,

Kania³

et al. 2014

Remote Sensing

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There is increasing demand for reliable, high-resolution vegetation maps covering large areas. Airborne laser scanning data is available for large areas with high resolution and supports automatic processing, therefore, it is well suited for habitat mapping. Lowland hay meadows are widespread habitat types in European grasslands, and also have one of the highest species richness. The objective of this study was to test the applicability of airborne laser scanning for vegetation mapping of different grasslands, including the Natura 2000 habitat type lowland hay meadows. Full waveform leaf-on and leaf-off point clouds were collected from a Natura 2000 site in Sopron, Hungary, covering OPEN ACCESS Remote Sens. 2014, 6 8057 several grasslands. The LIDAR data were processed to a set of rasters representing point attributes including reflectance, echo width, vegetation height, canopy openness, and surface roughness measures, and these were fused to a multi-band pseudo-image. Random forest machine learning was used for classifying this dataset. Habitat type, dominant plant species and other features of interest were noted in a set of 140 field plots. Two sets of categories were used: five classes focusing on meadow identification and the location of lowland hay meadows, and 10 classes, including eight different grassland vegetation categories. For five classes, an overall accuracy of 75% was reached, for 10 classes, this was 68%. The method delivers unprecedented fine resolution vegetation maps for management and ecological research. We conclude that high-resolution full-waveform LIDAR data can be used to detect grassland vegetation classes relevant for Natura 2000.

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Origin and history of grasslands in Central Europe – a review

Cited by 213 publications

References 80 publications

The Influence of Past Land-Use and Environmental Factors on Grassland Species Diversity

The Influence of Past Land-Use and Environmental Factors on Grassland Species Diversity

Grass strategies and grassland community responses to environmental drivers: a review

Categorizing Grassland Vegetation with Full-Waveform Airborne Laser Scanning: A Feasibility Study for Detecting Natura 2000 Habitat Types

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