Exploring a grassland biodiversity hotspot in the Serbian Carpathians: Interdisciplinary perspectives and conservation implications

Kód výsledku v IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F67985939%3A_____%2F24%3A00600800" target="_blank" >RIV/67985939:_____/24:00600800 - isvavai.cz</a>

Výsledek na webu

<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2024.110822" target="_blank" >https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2024.110822</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2024.110822" target="_blank" >10.1016/j.biocon.2024.110822</a>

Jazyk výsledku

angličtina

Název v původním jazyce

Exploring a grassland biodiversity hotspot in the Serbian Carpathians: Interdisciplinary perspectives and conservation implications

Popis výsledku v původním jazyce

Land-use changes resulted in a decline of biodiversity in recent European agricultural landscapes. Nevertheless, regions practicing sustained low-input farming continue to harbor most of Europe's high-nature-value grasslands. The Serbian Carpathians represent one such relatively undiscovered region, boasting a well-preserved valuable bio-cultural heritage. Through novel interdisciplinary research that integrates botany, ecology, remote sensing, history, and ethnology, we explored two villages (Radenka, Suvi Do) with different ethnic backgrounds. Our primary objectives were to assess grassland plant diversity, correlate it with applied farming practices, and highlight the importance of interdisciplinary research in conservation of semi-natural grasslands. We focused on vascular plants, bryophytes, and lichens that occur within randomly selected nested plot series, covering seven different spatial scales. The semi-natural grasslands in both villages exhibited remarkable plant diversity compared to other temperate meso-xeric and mesic grasslands in Europe. Integral parts of the historic farming system, such as the ancient practice of spring and autumn grazing of hay meadows, are still preserved there. Similarly, the timing of mowing and grazing based on traditional feasts continues to be observed. However, comparison of management intensity over the last 36 years indicates gradual abandonment in all studied parcels, due to severe depopulation, decline in livestock numbers, and a shift from milk to meat production. We advocate encouraging traditional grassland management practices to maintain high plant diversity. Our study underscores the need for interdisciplinary research, integrating social sciences to comprehend human influences on seminatural grasslands, and remote sensing to assess temporal variations in management practices and their intensity.

Název v anglickém jazyce

Exploring a grassland biodiversity hotspot in the Serbian Carpathians: Interdisciplinary perspectives and conservation implications

Popis výsledku anglicky

Land-use changes resulted in a decline of biodiversity in recent European agricultural landscapes. Nevertheless, regions practicing sustained low-input farming continue to harbor most of Europe's high-nature-value grasslands. The Serbian Carpathians represent one such relatively undiscovered region, boasting a well-preserved valuable bio-cultural heritage. Through novel interdisciplinary research that integrates botany, ecology, remote sensing, history, and ethnology, we explored two villages (Radenka, Suvi Do) with different ethnic backgrounds. Our primary objectives were to assess grassland plant diversity, correlate it with applied farming practices, and highlight the importance of interdisciplinary research in conservation of semi-natural grasslands. We focused on vascular plants, bryophytes, and lichens that occur within randomly selected nested plot series, covering seven different spatial scales. The semi-natural grasslands in both villages exhibited remarkable plant diversity compared to other temperate meso-xeric and mesic grasslands in Europe. Integral parts of the historic farming system, such as the ancient practice of spring and autumn grazing of hay meadows, are still preserved there. Similarly, the timing of mowing and grazing based on traditional feasts continues to be observed. However, comparison of management intensity over the last 36 years indicates gradual abandonment in all studied parcels, due to severe depopulation, decline in livestock numbers, and a shift from milk to meat production. We advocate encouraging traditional grassland management practices to maintain high plant diversity. Our study underscores the need for interdisciplinary research, integrating social sciences to comprehend human influences on seminatural grasslands, and remote sensing to assess temporal variations in management practices and their intensity.

Druh

J_imp - Článek v periodiku v databázi Web of Science

CEP obor

—

OECD FORD obor

10611 - Plant sciences, botany

Projekt

—

Návaznosti

I - Institucionalni podpora na dlouhodoby koncepcni rozvoj vyzkumne organizace

Rok uplatnění

2024

Kód důvěrnosti údajů

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Název periodika

Biological Conservation

ISSN

0006-3207

e-ISSN

1873-2917

Svazek periodika

299

Číslo periodika v rámci svazku

November

Stát vydavatele periodika

NL - Nizozemsko

Počet stran výsledku

11

Strana od-do

110822

Kód UT WoS článku

001342527200001

EID výsledku v databázi Scopus

2-s2.0-85207145950