Grasslands for biodiversity

supporting the protection of the biodiversity-rich grasslands and related management practices in the Alps and Carpathians

DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT:

Semi-natural grasslands are among the most species-rich habitats in Europe but have sharply declined in spatial extent and biodiversity in recent decades. Within Europe, the grasslands of the Alps and the Carpathians harbour extraordinary biodiversity, which varies significantly due to local environmental conditions and management intensities. This project supports the protection and expansion of species-rich grasslands in the Alps and the Carpathians based on their spatial patterns and information about their plant diversity and management. We combine in-situ vegetation monitoring data, information from farmers, and historical data, together with information from remote sensing sensors, to model the large-scale spatial patterns of grassland plant diversity and its drivers. Our findings will help decision makers and stakeholders to target diversity-friendly policies and resources allocated for the grassland management schemes.

We aim to answer the following research questions:(1) Who are the stakeholders that operate in grassland management and protection? (2) Where are species-rich grasslands located across the Alps and the Carpathians? (3) Which grassland management regimes effectively support grassland plant diversity, how do they vary across regions and what are their legacy effects? (4) Where can we potentially extend the conservation area network in the Alps and Carpathians to maintain the, so far unprotected, biodiversity-rich grasslands? (5) How can we optimize grassland management to support biodiversity in protected areas?

The National Museum of the Romanian Peasant contributes to the project by participating in its activities, mainly by carrying out anthropological research on the project in communities in the mountainous area of the Romanian Carpathians; as well as by contributing to the systematization of data, promoting the results of the project by participating to conferences and writing scientific articles; and contributing to the drafting of documents with public policy proposals supporting the extension of the protected areas network.

www.grass4b.com

PARTNERS CONSORTIUM:

Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL, Switzerland, coordinator of the project; Agroscope, Switzerland; Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany; European Academy of Bozen/Bolzano, Italy; Laimburg Research Centre, Italy; Jagiellonian University,Institute of Geography and Spatial Management, Poland; National Museum of the Romanian Peasant, Romania; Transilvania University of Brasov, Romania; West University of Timisoara, Romania; Institute of Ethnology and Social Anthropology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Slovakia; Institute of Geography, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Slovakia; Plant Science and Biodiversity Center, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Slovakia; Ukrainian Nature Conservation Group, Ukraine.

TEAM MEMBERS FROM THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE ROMANIAN PEASANT:

Dr. Anamaria Iuga

Dr. Habil. Corina Sîrbu

Dr. Bogdan Iancu

RESULTS:

Monika Janišová, Iveta Škodová, Martin Magnes, Anamaria Iuga, Alina-Sorina Biro, Cosmin Marius Ivașcu, Viktória Ďuricová, Oksana Y. Buzhdygan. 2025. “Role of livestock and traditional management practices in maintaining high nature value grasslands.” Biological Conservation, Volume 309, art. 111301, ISSN 0006-3207, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111301.

Abstract:

High Nature Value (HNV) grasslands face increasing threats from biodiversity loss and reduced habitat functionality, largely driven by the decline of traditional animal husbandry and grassland management practices. We studied the effects of traditional management on grassland plant communities in Ponoară village (Bihor County, Romania), where traditional farming systems are still maintained. We investigated the direct and indirect effects of traditional grazing and manuring on plant community composition and diversity, mediated by seed dispersal and altered soil properties. We combined vegetation surveys of grassland parcels with a seed content survey involving germinating seeds from farmyard manure and livestock feces collected from sampled parcels. Among the 220 vascular plant species recorded, 43 species (19 %) were dispersed via zoochory through feces and farmyard manure. Most seedlings germinated from cow feces, followed by cow manure and sheep feces. Mowing frequency, grazing, and cleaning (removal of shrubs, litter, moss, ant/mole hills) were key predictors of plant species richness. Manuring significantly influenced plant community composition. Seedling abundance germinated from livestock feces and manure explained ~20 % of the variance in species richness. Grazing intensity had a strong negative direct effect on richness, but also positive indirect effects mediated by increased soil humus content. In contrast, the indirect effects of manuring on plant communities were more strongly linked to seed dispersal than to soil modification. Our findings suggest that low-intensity grazing and organic manuring, when integrated with traditional practices in heterogeneous landscapes, can shape grassland composition without reducing species richness, while also enhancing seed-based regeneration.

This research is funded by BIODIVERSA+, The European Biodiversity Partnership under the 2021-2022 BiodivProject joint call for research proposals, co-funded by the European Comission (GA No. 101052342) and with the funding oranisations SNSF, DFG, NCN, PROV BZ, SAS and UEFISCDI).

This project was supported by a grant of the Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digitization, CNCS/CCCDI -UEFISCDI, project number COFUND-BIODIVERSA+-G4B-1, within PNCDI IV.