Predictors of conservation value of Turkish cemeteries: A case study using orchids

Löki, Viktor; Molnár, V Attila; Süveges, Kristóf; Heimeier, Helmut; Takács, Attila; Nagy, Tímea; Fekete, Réka; Lovas‐Kiss, Ádám; Kreutz, Karel; Sramkó, Gábor; Tökölyi, Jácint

doi:10.1016/j.landurbplan.2019.02.016

Cited by 23 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 46 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…The expansion of agricultural fields and the exponential spread of urban infrastructure (such as roads, canals and settlements) has led to the irreversible loss of many grassland habitats (Deák et al 2016;Lindborg et al 2014). As a result, in intensively managed landscapes elements of grassland biodiversity have often been able to survive in small fragments that were not suitable for agriculture or for infrastructural developments (Bhagwat and Rutte 2006;Deák et al 2020;Löki et al 2019;Molnár et al 2017). These fragments often harbour populations of grassland specialist plants, act as an integral element of the semi-natural habitat network, and have a considerable role in maintaining landscape-scale diversity.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…old recovered grasslands preserving a considerable proportion of the habitat specific species pool), often exist as habitat islands, such as rocky outcrops, midfield islets, ancient burial mounds and cemeteries. Grassland fragments can also be found on linear landscape elements such as road verges, field margins and river embankments (Bátori et al 2016;Dembicz et al 2018;Löki et al 2019). A common attribute of these fragmented habitats is the presence of an unfriendly matrix around them, which is generally represented by agricultural fields or urban areas.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Fragmented dry grasslands preserve unique components of plant species and phylogenetic diversity in agricultural landscapes

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In intensively used landscapes biodiversity is often restricted to fragmented habitats. Exploring the biodiversity potential of habitat fragments is essential in order to reveal their complementary role in maintaining landscape-scale biodiversity. We investigated the conservation potential of dry grassland fragments in the Great Hungarian Plain, i.e. patch-like habitats on ancient burial mounds and linear-shaped habitats in verges, and compared them to continuous grasslands. We focused on plant taxonomic diversity, species richness of specialists, generalists and weeds, and the phylogenetic diversity conserved in the habitats. Verges meshing the landscape are characterised by a small core area and high level of disturbance. Their species pool was more similar to grasslands than mounds due to the lack of dispersal limitations. They held high species richness of weeds and generalists and only few specialists. Verges preserved only a small proportion of the evolutionary history of specialists, which were evenly distributed between the clades. Isolated mounds are characterised by a small area, a high level of environmental heterogeneity, and a low level of disturbance. Steep slopes of species accumulation curves suggest that high environmental heterogeneity likely contributes to the high species richness of specialists on mounds. Mounds preserved the same amount of phylogenetic diversity represented by the branch-lengths as grasslands. Abundance-weighted evolutionary distinctiveness of specialists was more clustered in these habitats due to the special habitat conditions. For the protection of specialists in transformed landscapes it is essential to focus efforts on preserving both patch-like and linear grassland fragments containing additional components of biodiversity.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fragmented dry grasslands preserve unique components of plant species and phylogenetic diversity in agricultural landscapes

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The small-scale mosaic of different habitat types and small structures, such as old walls, groups of trees, meadows, and water areas, make them a diverse environment for a wide range of species [7,8]. Their value as a biodiversity island within the transformed landscapes of cities is high [2,3,[9][10][11][12]. This is amplified by the often-old age of cemeteries compared to the surrounding built-up areas [3,7].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

To Care or Not to Care? Which Factors Influence the Distribution of Early-Flowering Geophytes at the Vienna Central Cemetery (Austria)

2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Cemeteries not only serve as burial sites but also as a habitat for many animal and plant species, as the specific management of cemeteries creates conditions that hardly exist anywhere else. So-called stinzen plants are those plant species that show a connection to old garden cultures and need precisely these conditions. Many stinzen plants are early-flowering geophytes. We examined which factors influence the distribution and abundance (=cover values) of early-flowering geophytes at the largest cemetery in Austria, the Zentralfriedhof in Vienna, and tried to identify such stinzen populations. In spring 2020, we performed two vegetation surveys in 143 plots and recorded the occurrence and abundance (in %) of early-flowering geophytes. Then, we collected four variables for each plot: (1) cemetery type (architectural cemetery, park cemetery, and memorial), (2) care intensity, (3) type of use (path between graves, abandoned graves, free space between road and grave, and open meadow area with adjacent graves), and (4) distance to the next path. We recorded a total of nine different early-flowering geophyte species. All nine species were found on plots with very low care intensity. Only two species were found on paths between graves. Six species are listed as threatened on Vienna’s Red Data List. Two species, Eranthis hyemalis and Galanthus nivalis, are ornamental plants. Plots in the park cemetery have significantly lower average cover values of early-flowering geophytes than plots in the other two cemetery types. This can be explained by high maintenance measures and increased visitor pressure due to its location. Additionally, the data revealed that high care intensity seems to harm early-flowering geophytes. This study showed that cemeteries are refugia for protected species in urban areas and should, therefore, be considered in urban nature conservations.

show abstract

“…Many of SNFs, such as verges, field margins and midfield islets are physically inappropriate for agricultural utilisation (Lindborg et al 2014;Jakobsson et al 2018;Fekete et al 2019). Other types of SNFs have religious or cultural importance, which prevented their agricultural utilisation (Dudley et al 2009;Molnár V. et al 2017;Löki et al 2019). Amongst them, ancient burial mounds (also called kurgans) of the Eurasian steppe and forest steppe regions are of particular importance (Sudnik-Wójcikowska et al 2011;Bede et al 2015;Bede and Csathó 2019;Deák et al 2016aDeák et al , 2019Dembicz et al 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Legacies of past land use challenge grassland recovery – An example from dry grasslands on ancient burial mounds

Deák¹,

Valkó²,

Tóth³

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Due to large-scale agricultural intensification, grasslands are often restricted to habitat islands in human-transformed landscapes. There are approximately half a million ancient burial mounds built by nomadic steppic tribes in the Eurasian steppe and forest steppe zones, which act as habitat islands for dry grassland vegetation. Land use intensification, such as arable farming and afforestation by non-native woody species are amongst the major threats for Eurasian dry grasslands, including grasslands on mounds. After the launch of the Good Agricultural and Environmental Condition framework of the European Union, in Hungary there is a tendency for ceasing crop production and cutting non-native woody plantations, in order to conserve these unique landmarks and restore the historical grassland vegetation on the mounds. In this study, restoration prospects of dry grassland habitats were studied on kurgans formerly covered by croplands and Robinia pseudoacacia plantations. Soil and vegetation characteristics were studied in thespontaneously recovering grasslands. The following questions were addressed: 1; How does site history affect the spontaneous grassland recovery? 2; Do residual soil nutrients play a role in grassland recovery? In former croplands, excess phosphorus, while in former Robinia plantations, excess nitrogen was present in the soil even four years after the land use change and grassland vegetation was in an early or mid-successional stage both on the mounds. The results showed that, without proper management measures, recovery of grassland vegetation is slow on mounds formerly used as cropland or black locust plantation. However, restoration efforts, focused on the restoration of mounds formerly covered by croplands, can be more effective compared to the restoration of mounds formerly covered by forest plantations.

show abstract

Predictors of conservation value of Turkish cemeteries: A case study using orchids

Cited by 23 publications

References 46 publications

Fragmented dry grasslands preserve unique components of plant species and phylogenetic diversity in agricultural landscapes

Fragmented dry grasslands preserve unique components of plant species and phylogenetic diversity in agricultural landscapes

To Care or Not to Care? Which Factors Influence the Distribution of Early-Flowering Geophytes at the Vienna Central Cemetery (Austria)

Legacies of past land use challenge grassland recovery – An example from dry grasslands on ancient burial mounds

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About