Wooded Grasslands as Part of the European Agricultural Heritage

Abstract

Wooded grasslands have always played an important role in rural life with changing issues: They are of high importance for questions of biodiversity, soil, and water resources and in preserving agricultural heritage, but their maintenance is labor intensive. Abandoned wooded grasslands undergo succession, and food production alone does not support their survival. They require special attention and at the beginning a well-established subsidy system can help to contribute to their survival. Their sustainable use in the present-day landscapes can only be conceivable in complexity where food production, reintroduction of their cultural values, biodiversity and landscape protection, and ecotourism are playing an important role. This chapter gives an overview on the recent situation of wooded grasslands and their historical development, based on the work done by the Institute for Research on European Agricultural Landscapes (www.​eucalandnetwork.​eu). National pictures, definitions, history (including local names), threats, potentials, cultural values, spatial distributions, subtypes, and available databases have been collected, described, and analyzed. The main results of this survey are as follows: (1) Wooded grasslands are known to the public but mainly to local communities where they occur; (2) Many subtypes of wooded grasslands exist in various European countries; (3) Wooded grasslands underwent tremendous changes during the past centuries and lost their importance for various reasons; (4) There are many local and regional projects focusing on wooded grasslands, often as “lighthouse” projects to valorise cultural achievements

Grazing improves habitat suitability for many ground foraging birds in Mediterranean wooded grasslands

“…Wooded grasslands, characterized by a usually well-developed herb layer associated with tree cover of variable composition and density, cover vast areas in the Western Palearctic and often host a rich biodiversity (Plieninger et al, 2015;Centeri et al, 2016). Grazing may have been of great importance shaping Palearctic ecosystems (e.g.…”

“…From Iberia to the Balkans, Southern Europe hosts important areas of different types of wooded grasslands (Plieninger et al, 2015;Centeri et al, 2016), some of which are also present in the North African Maghreb. They all harbor rich resident bird assemblages (e.g.…”

Past, Present and Future of Hay-making Structures in Europe

“…In the past, hay meadows existed all over Europe, even in the floodplains of rivers and streams and on less fertile soils. Non-manured or fertilized hay meadows are considered as a cultural landscape feature of special value in terms of biological diversity [15,16]. However, the number and area covered by such hay meadows decreased dramatically over the course of the last century [17,18] and this trend continues today -the average land cover of grassland within European Union countries decreased from 22.3% in 2009 to 20.5% in 2015 [19].…”

Hedgerows and Enclosures in Rural Areas: Traditional vs. Modern Land Use in Mediterranean Mountains

“…At present, this terrain has been reoriented towards extensive livestock farming systems that can be adapted to integrated sustainable production [2,3]. Despite its characteristics, potential and its relative extension in the south of the European continent, this type of Mediterranean field enclosure goes unnoticed in the many classifications of available of Wooded grasslands [4,5]. Within this type of landscape are included some of the most interesting agroforestry areas in the continental Mediterranean mountains: field enclosures.…”