Transition from traditional to modern forest management shaped the spatial extent of cattle pasturing in Białowieża Primeval Forest in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries

Abstract

Pasturing of livestock in forests has had profound consequences for Europe’s landscapes. In Białowieża Primeval Forest (BPF), cattle pasturing was a part of traditional forest use that ceased only in the second half of the twentieth century. We collected information on the institutional changes governing forest cattle pasturing and the changes in spatial extent of cattle presence in BPF in last two centuries and information on cattle numbers and their impact on forest regeneration. The spatial extent of cattle pasturing was highly variable, with the distribution of grazing areas frequently changing. Forest near villages (constituting less than 10 % of the area) was most often used for cattle grazing during continued longer time periods. Historical data showed that cattle have had a clear impact on forest regeneration. However, the frequent changes that occurred in the extent of cattle grazing indicate that their impact occurred locally, was smaller in other less intensively used areas, and in the forest as a whole.

What is biological cultural heritage and why should we care about it? An example from Swedish rural landscapes and forests

“…Samojlik et al 2016). There is no inherent conflict between preserving relatively untouched forests and those with remaining traces of pre-industrial forest management.…”

Seeing the oakscape beyond the forest: a landscape approach to the oak regeneration in Europe

“…Involving multiple forms of woodland use, such as coppicing with standards, hay and leaf forage making, litter raking, producing charcoal and potash, bee and game keeping. Such woodmanship entailed various anthropogenic activities that favoured opportunistic oak over the more shade-tolerant tree species (e.g., Vera 2000; Bobiec 2012; Samojlik et al 2016). This should substantially change the perception of oaks from forest stress-tolerant competitors to 'opportunistic colonisers' in mesic deciduous and mixed forest habitats.…”

“…In particular, woods bordering on agricultural land have usually been playing the role of 'commons' exposed to various types of human pressures (Rackham 2006;Samojlik et al 2016). Such encroachment of agriculture into forests is responsible for development and sustenance of wide ecotone zones fostering oak regeneration and recruitment (Table 3).…”

“…The multiple use of land sustained the complex and dynamic spatial fabric of the wooded component in a dynamically open matrix, allowing migration of species and gene flow throughout landscapes and larger spatial units (Vera 2000;Bruun and Fritzbøger 2002). One of the major features of historical landscapes were open woodlands and savannah-type communities sustained by intricate systems of woodmanship and silvopastoralism (Vera 2000;Rackham 2006;Samojlik et al 2016). Unlike modern forests delineated by a sharp edge line, silvopastoral woods have a wide interface with treeless communities, permeable to migrating species contributing to conspicuously high biodiversity (Garbarino and Bergmeier 2014;Plieninger et al 2015).…”

“…Although the change in the use of land was triggered by the agricultural and industrial revolutions in late 1600s to early 1700s, its visual and ecological effects became apparent only in the last century (e.g., Rackham 2006;Samojlik et al 2016), which coincides with the dawn of ecological studies, including the interest for oak regeneration. Perhaps the most quoted topical publication from this period is A.S. Watt's 'On the causes of failure of natural regeneration in British oakwoods' referring to the regeneration of Quercus robur and Q. petraea (Watt 1919).…”