Permanent grasslands in Europe: Land use change and intensification decrease their multifunctionality

Schils, R.L.M.; Bufe, Conny; Rhymer, Caroline M.; Francksen, Richard M.; Klaus, Valentin H.; Abdalla, Mohamed; Milazzo, Filippo; Lellei‐Kovács, Eszter; Berge, Hein ten; Bertora, Chiara; Chodkiewicz, A.; Dămătîrcă, Claudia; Feigenwinter, Iris; Fernández‐Rebollo, Pilar; Ghiasi, Shiva; Hejduk, Stanislav; Hiron, Matthew; Janicka, Maria; Pellaton, Raoul; Smith, Kurt J.; Thorman, R. E.; Vanwalleghem, Tom; Williams, John H.; Zavattaro, Laura; Kampen, J.; Derkx, M.P.M.; Smith, Pete; Whittingham, Mark J.; Buchmann, Nina; Price, Jonathan

doi:10.1016/j.agee.2022.107891

Cited by 123 publications

(107 citation statements)

References 60 publications

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“…In the V4 countries different, in some cases, opposite trends and processes influence the area of grasslands. Meanwhile at the EU level, the Corine data showed growth of pastures and natural grasslands until 2018, several studies draw the attention on the constant decrease of permanent grassland (Schils, 2022). Our analysis based on Corine data revealed the shrinkage of natural grassland in the V4 countries, while the area of pastures increased.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 72%

Spatial Trends of Grassland Changes Based on Hungarian Local Studies After 1990 with a Macro-Regional Perspective

Kovács

Iváncsics

Boromisza

et al. 2022

European Countryside

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Grasslands contribute to the ecological diversity of our cultural landscapes. In the last centuries, the most important trend was a constant loss of this valuable asset due to urbanization and the intensification of cultivation. Studies focusing on grasslands are not so abundant, and especially analyses on the spatial trends of grasslands in Eastern-Central Europe are scarce. Focusing on Hungarian local studies, we analyze our results from a macro-regional perspective, with a draft study of the V4 countries (Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland). The authors employed GIS and statistical methods to analyze data to explore trends of changes of grasslands in V4 countries, Hungary, and in three micro-regions of different landscape character. These include an open landscape, partly intensively cultivated (micro-region of Csorna), and two more diverse landscapes with different proportion of forests (micro-regions of Gönc and Veszprém). Our results show that very complex, sometimes opposite processes influence the area of grasslands. In spite of the fact that an increase in the area of grasslands is witnessed at both the national and the international level in absolute values, recently, unfavorable processes have started, and there are certain landscapes where grasslands are threatened especially natural grassland by forestation and grasslands where soil conditions are suitable for crop production. Our results showed that despite the different landscape conditions, the majority of grassland has been turned into arable land and into shrubs and forest area. The loss of pastures due to urban sprawl is a dominant process just around the built-up area of city of Veszprém in the most urbanized study area.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 72%

Spatial Trends of Grassland Changes Based on Hungarian Local Studies After 1990 with a Macro-Regional Perspective

Kovács

Iváncsics

Boromisza

et al. 2022

European Countryside

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“…CES are generally not as well understood as most other ecosystem services (Chan et al 2012 ; Schils et al 2022 ), which is even more true for the various threats that imperil the continued supply of CES in permanent grasslands. In this systematic review, we provide an overview of such threats that have been described in the literature.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Natural afforestation was perceived as a threat to landscape aesthetics and recreation due to hindered views and reduced accessibility (see also Nassauer 1995 ). However, experts and foreign tourists considered forested areas closer to their natural state and an ‘ideal landscape’ with limited to no human impact (see also Schils et al 2022 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As part of the SUPER-G project (developing SUstainable PERmanent Grassland systems and policies; https://www.super-g.eu ), the Scopus and CAB abstract databases were searched on 5 November 2019 for grassland CES in Europe (for a detailed description of the search, selection method and extraction, see Schils et al 2022 ; with key points mentioned below). Basic search criteria were publication after 1980 in the English language.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Literature on CES is still not abundant compared to provisioning or regulating ecosystem services (Hirons et al 2016 ; Zhao et al 2020 ; Schils et al 2022 ). Although CES are increasingly identified as essential services (Daniel et al 2012 ; Milcu et al 2013 ), they are still underrepresented in global initiatives such as the Sustainable Development Goals or the Aichi Targets (Daniel et al 2012 ; Hirons et al 2016 ; Geijzendorffer et al 2017 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Cultural ecosystem services in European grasslands: A systematic review of threats

Pellaton

Lellei‐Kovács

Báldi

2022

Ambio

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The degradation of ecosystems threatens the provision of ecosystem services and limits human well-being. This systematic literature review evaluates the threats surrounding cultural ecosystem services (CES), namely recreation and landscape aesthetics in European permanent grasslands. We identified underlying causes, direct threats, consequences and suggested solutions for threat mitigation. The most common threats were land-use and management change processes, followed by social attitude, industrial developments and natural threats. However, recreational activities also created negative feedback, affecting the ecosystem, biodiversity and CES, most frequently in the form of various touristic activities. Suggested solutions were most commonly socio-economic and institutional measures to enhance rural communities, as well as improving communication with relevant stakeholders. CES play a crucial role in reconnecting people with nature, and their consequent acknowledgement and incorporation into future ecosystem service frameworks and agri-environmental policy developments are key elements in supporting future sustainable grassland management.

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An Adapted Indicator Framework for Evaluating the Potential Contribution of Bioeconomy Approaches to Agricultural Systems Resilience

Lewandowski,

von Cossel,

Winkler

et al. 2024

Advanced Sustainable Systems

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This study reviews a variety of “bioeconomy approaches” (BAs) to assess their potential contribution to resilience in agricultural systems, focusing on benefits that can improve multi‐functionality regarding private and public goods. It is based on Meuwissen et al.'s framework to assess the resilience of farming systems. Drawing on literature and expert knowledge, this indicator framework is adapted to develop a new framework which is then applied to seven contrasting BAs (miscanthus, perennial flowering wild plant mixtures, permanent grassland, nutrient recycling, agrivoltaics, urban agriculture, and microalgae). The major outcomes are: 1) the extended indicator framework can help evaluate BAs for their potential to foster resilience in future agricultural systems, 2) all BAs are characterized by their ability to provide multiple private and public goods simultaneously, 3) the strongest contribution of BAs to public goods is their function in maintaining the good condition of natural resources and resource‐use efficiency, 4) all BAs can enhance resilience in agricultural systems by contributing diversity, multifunctionality, environmental sustainability, and autonomy, 5) the mitigation of potential drawbacks of BAs implementation requires ex‐ante assessment, favorable BAs combinations, and stakeholder involvement, 6) context‐specific analysis of each BAs is required to assess their qualitative and quantitative contribution to resilience.

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Permanent grasslands in Europe: Land use change and intensification decrease their multifunctionality

Cited by 123 publications

References 60 publications

Spatial Trends of Grassland Changes Based on Hungarian Local Studies After 1990 with a Macro-Regional Perspective

Spatial Trends of Grassland Changes Based on Hungarian Local Studies After 1990 with a Macro-Regional Perspective

Cultural ecosystem services in European grasslands: A systematic review of threats

An Adapted Indicator Framework for Evaluating the Potential Contribution of Bioeconomy Approaches to Agricultural Systems Resilience

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