The impact of forest encroachment after agricultural land abandonment on passerine bird communities: The case of Greece

Zakkak, Sylvia; Kakalis, E.; Radović, Andreja; Halley, John M.; Kati, Vassiliki

doi:10.1016/j.jnc.2013.11.001

Cited by 41 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…In the case of Greece, it was verified that the forest encroachment gradient was significantly correlated with the period of abandonment, when the grazing effect was considered (Zakkak, Kakalis et al., ). For the other Balkan countries of our study, the period since abandonment was too short to allow for a significant increasing pattern in woody species richness to occur.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Vegetation patterns along agricultural land abandonment in the Balkans

Zakkak

Radović

Panitsa

et al. 2018

J Vegetation Science

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Question What are the woody vegetation encroachment patterns after agricultural land abandonment? Focusing on two parameters, woody plant species richness and vertical vegetation heterogeneity (number of different vegetation strata and their relative cover) we investigated: (a) the effect of forest encroachment following land abandonment; (b) the comparative importance of forest encroachment vis‐a‐vis topographic and climatic parameters, and finally; (c) the ecological importance of eight land‐cover types encountered in abandoned agricultural landscapes. Location The Balkan Peninsula (Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece). Methods We set up a standard methodology for 1 × 1 km site selection (70 sites) and data collection within 497 plots, along a well‐defined forest encroachment gradient that reflects land abandonment in terms of woody vegetation cover. Results The pattern that emerged was neither clear nor common for the Balkan region, regarding the effect of forest encroachment on the woody plant species richness in young forests, formed from 20 to 50 years after land abandonment. However, at national level, species diversity was significantly affected by elevation (Bulgaria and Croatia) and temperature (Croatia), with lower and cooler areas being richer. Elevation was of great importance in determining vertical vegetation heterogeneity. Woodlots, broad‐leaved forests, hedges and shrublands held the highest woody species richness in comparison to the more open land‐cover types, and vertical vegetation heterogeneity was higher in open forests and woodlots. Conclusions We expect the expansion of broad‐leaved forests following land abandonment to enhance woody species richness. However, other land‐cover types that were found to be important for woody plants should be maintained. As woody plants play a key role in supporting overall biodiversity, by providing suitable habitat for many species, we consider the preservation of a mosaic of patches of different land‐cover types essential for the conservation of both plant and animal species diversity. Young forests should be preserved at intermediate stages of succession, through intermediate disturbance activities, including medium intensity grazing and the enhancement of wild ungulates.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Species that inhabit open landscapes are negatively affected (e.g. Moreira & Russo, ; Nikolov, ; Sirami, Brotons, Burfield, Fonderflick, & Martin, ; Zakkak, Chatzaki, Karamalis, & Kati, ; Zakkak, Kakalis, Radović, Halley, & Kati, ; Zografou, Sfenthourakis, Pullin, & Kati, ), but forest‐dwelling species are favoured (Regos et al., ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vegetation patterns along agricultural land abandonment in the Balkans

Zakkak

Radović

Panitsa

et al. 2018

J Vegetation Science

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“…In GAMs, predictor variables are specified as non-parametric smooth functions (Hastie and Tibshirani 1986). GAMs were applied with R programming language (R Core Team 2017) and more specific with the R package mgcv (Wood 2012).…”

Section: Data Analysis Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Systematic Raptor Monitoring as conservation tool: 12 year results in the light of landscape changes in Dadia-Lefkimi-Soufli National Park

Poirazidis¹

2017

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Dadia-Lefkimi-Soufli National Park forms part of the Natura 2000 network in a region of Greece and represents one of the most diverse landscapes for raptors (birds of prey) breeding in Europe. It is adjacent to Bulgaria and Turkey and is a renowned biodiversity hotspot. WWF Greece established a Systematic Raptor Monitoring scheme in this area in 2001.This study summarises the results of the first 12 years of monitoring in the National Park. Overall, 25 to 27 raptor species were recorded by pooling data, of which20 species reproduced in the National Park. Raptors with continuous presence in the National Park exhibited stable, species-specific inter-annual variation. An average of 348±15.4 raptor territories were distributed throughout the National Park for all species. The Common buzzard (Buteo buteo) and the Shorttoed eagle (Circaetus gallicus) were the most common species year-round, followed by the Lesser-spotted eagle (Clanga pomarina) and Booted eagle (Aquila pennata). The Long-legged buzzard (Buteo rufinus), Honey buzzard (Pernis apivorus) and Egyptian vulture (Neophron percnopterus) exhibited a noticeable drop in population numbers over the study period. A significant new entry was the re-appearance of the Whitetailed eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla), which was recorded breeding again in the region after a 21-year absence. Species trends, along with their ecological traits, are discussed with respect to landscape changes in Dadia NP and minimum viable population and territory thresholds are proposed to outline essential conservation issues. Although a multi-year balance of the total number of occupied territories for all species was recorded, the number of common species increased compared to specialist species which had smaller, de- RESEARCH ARTICLE Launched to accelerate biodiversity conservation A peer-reviewed open-access journalKonstantinos Poirazidis / Nature Conservation 22: 17-50 (2017) 18 clining populations. The abandoning of traditional livestock farming, which induces an increase in closedcanopy forest coverage, might have led to the decline of the Lesser-spotted eagle, Long-legged buzzard and Honey buzzard numbers. Additional pressure is added from specialist forest dwelling raptors which are favoured by this change in habitat. The results of this study are expected to provide useful insights to facilitate conservation and management decisions about raptors and their habitat in this region.

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“…One aim of elucidating the relationships between land use and water quality is to use the information to assess and understand the water quality of rivers suffering from diffuse pollution, and improve the science and policy of land use management (Abler et al, 2002;Mouri et al, 2011a). Most existing studies have considered only horizontal land-use change on a macro-scale (Sui and Zeng, 2001;Mouri et al, 2010aMouri et al, , 2012Kukkonen and Kä yhkö , 2014;Munteanu et al, 2014;Zakkak et al, 2014), whereas little attention has been given to the details of land use change. Several international projects have been established to restore degraded forest systems, and they have set goals, such as restoring 15% of the degraded ecosystems before 2020 (CBD, 2010;Stanturf et al, 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of land cover relocation incorporating the effects of human activity in typical urban and rural catchments for the design of management policies

Mouri

2015

Environmental Science & Policy

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The impact of forest encroachment after agricultural land abandonment on passerine bird communities: The case of Greece

Cited by 41 publications

References 46 publications

Vegetation patterns along agricultural land abandonment in the Balkans

Vegetation patterns along agricultural land abandonment in the Balkans

Systematic Raptor Monitoring as conservation tool: 12 year results in the light of landscape changes in Dadia-Lefkimi-Soufli National Park

Assessment of land cover relocation incorporating the effects of human activity in typical urban and rural catchments for the design of management policies

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