scholarly journals Managing biodiversity rich hay meadows in the EU: a comparison of Swedish and Romanian grasslands

2013 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 194-205 ◽  
Author(s):  
ANNA DAHLSTRÖM ◽  
ANA-MARIA IUGA ◽  
TOMMY LENNARTSSON
Keyword(s):  
Management Practices ◽  
Terrestrial Ecosystems ◽  
Grassland Management ◽  
Field Studies ◽  
Current Management ◽  
Eligibility Criteria ◽  
Hay Meadows ◽  
Natural Grasslands ◽  
Grassland Plants ◽  
The Eu

SUMMARYSemi-natural hay meadows are among the most biodiversity-rich terrestrial ecosystems, and are managed for conservation purposes in most of Europe, including Sweden. Romania has some of Europe's largest areas of grasslands still managed with traditional methods. Through interviews and field studies, current management practices were investigated in two Romanian villages, and compared with CAP-generated grassland management in Swedish hay meadows and historical Swedish management of grasslands. The study evaluated the effect of the eligibility criteria within both countries’ National Rural Development Programmes (NRDPs) on different ecologically important components of hay meadow management. The success of Swedish management was measured by assessing population trends for 25 grassland plant species. Current management proved to be considerably more diverse in Romania than in Sweden, but historical Swedish management was similar to management in Romania. Both countries’ NRDPs provide support for some management components, but create barriers against other components. The Romanian NRDP contained more barriers than the Swedish NRDP, yet Swedish management showed little success in preserving grassland plants. NRDPs should nourish the use of local and traditional knowledge in order to preserve biodiversity in semi-natural grasslands. There are major limitations in both countries’ NRDPs.

scholarly journals From Paris to Switzerland: Four Pathways to a Forest Reference Level

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Golo Stadelmann ◽  
Jeanne Portier ◽  
Markus Didion ◽  
Nele Rogiers ◽  
Esther Thürig
Keyword(s):  
Management Practices ◽  
Mineral Soil ◽  
Terrestrial Ecosystems ◽  
Forest Degradation ◽  
Carbon Accounting ◽  
Reference Level ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Carbon Sinks ◽  
Large Trees ◽  
The Eu

Introduction: Among terrestrial ecosystems, forests represent large carbon stocks threatened by changing climatic conditions, deforestation, overexploitation, and forest degradation. Close to nature forestry may help forests to continue to acting as carbon sinks by promoting their resilience against disturbances. The EU decided to carry out carbon accounting of emissions and removals from managed forests under the Paris Agreement (PA) by using a projected Forest Reference Level (FRL) based on the continuation of recent management practices.Methods: We developed four conceptual scenarios that could build the Swiss Forest Reference Level and performed simulations over 50 years using Swiss National Forest Inventory (NFI) data and the empirical forest model MASSIMO. To improve MASSIMO, we further developed a new tree species-specific model for small scale mortality that accounts for the Swiss NFI design. Then, using projected biomass and mortality from MASSIMO, carbon budgets of mineral soil, litter, and dead wood were estimated using the Yasso07 model.Results: The U-shaped mortality model performed well (AUC 0.7). Small as well as large trees had the highest mortality probabilities, reflecting both young trees dying due to self-thinning and old trees from age, pests or abiotic influences. All scenarios matched their given harvesting and growing stock targets, whereby the share of broadleaves increased in all regions of Switzerland. This resulted in decreasing biomass growth, possibly due to a species shift from typically fast growing and more shade tolerant conifers to broadleaves. The CO2-balance of the conceptual scenarios ranged from 1.06 to −3.3 Mt CO2 a–1 under Increased Harvesting and Recent Management Practices (RMP), respectively. Rotation periods are shortened under Increased Harvesting, which is an important climate adaptive management strategy, but forests were predicted to become a net carbon source. In contrast, RMP resulted in similar harvesting amounts and forests as carbon sinks, as reported in the past. Further, the RMP scenario does not involve political assumptions and reflects the idea of the CMP approach used by the EU member states, which makes it comparable to other countries. Therefore, we propose the scenario RMP as a suitable and ideal candidate for the Swiss FRL.

scholarly journals Effects of Management Practices on Soil Properties and Plant Nutrition in Hay Meadows in Picos de Europa

Environments ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 38
Author(s):  
Judith Álvarez ◽  
Elías Afif ◽  
Tomás E. Díaz ◽  
Laura García ◽  
Jose A. Oliveira
Keyword(s):  
Soil Properties ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Chemical Properties ◽  
Clay Content ◽  
Exchange Capacity ◽  
Nutrient Concentrations ◽  
Mean Values ◽  
Hay Meadows ◽  
Natural Grasslands ◽  
Chemical Properties Of Soils

Fertilization and mowing affects the physico-chemical properties of soils, as well as the characteristics of the plants growing on them. Changes in the management techniques are causing semi-natural grasslands to disappear all over Europe. These grasslands host a great amount of diversity, thus their conservation is a top priority. This work studies whether the kind of management has an influence on the soil properties and the foliar content in macronutrients in 25 hay meadows located in Picos de Europa (10 in Asturias, 10 in Castilla y León and 5 in Cantabria). Soils at a 0–20 cm depth showed a high content of organic matter and a low C/N ratio. Effective cation exchange capacity was adequate for a texture, which varied from sandy clay loam to loam, with an average clay content of 17%. Mean values of foliar nutrient concentrations showed a deficiency in K. In this study, management practices were shown to affect some properties of the soils, namely pH, sand percentage and exchangeable K and Ca, to different extents. The highest values of pH and exchangeable Ca were significantly correlated with the least intensive management.

Road Salt Application in Highland Creek Watershed, Toronto, Ontario - Chloride Mass Balance

2010 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
pp. 451-461 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nandana Perera ◽  
Bahram Gharabaghi ◽  
Peter Noehammer ◽  
Bruce Kilgour
Keyword(s):  
Mass Balance ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Chloride Concentration ◽  
Aquatic Organisms ◽  
Terrestrial Ecosystems ◽  
Road Salt ◽  
Winter Period ◽  
Chloride Mass Balance ◽  
Creek Watershed ◽  
Chloride Concentrations

Abstract Occurrence of increasing chloride concentrations in urban streams of cold climates, mainly due to road salt application, has raised concerns on its adverse effects on aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Therefore, there is a need for a better understanding of processes associated with road salt application and subsequent discharge into the environment in order to develop management practices to minimize detrimental effects of chlorides. The chloride mass analysis for the Highland Creek watershed based on four years of hourly monitoring data indicates that approximately 60% of the chlorides applied on the watershed enter streams prior to subsequent salting period, 85% of which occurs during the period between November and March. Contribution of private de-icing operations on chloride mass input within Highland Creek watershed was estimated to be approximately 38%, indicating its significance in overall chloride mass balance. Salt application rates, as well as chloride output in the streams, vary spatially based on land use, influencing chloride concentrations in surface waters. The estimated groundwater chloride concentration of 275 mg/L indicates that some aquatic organisms in Highland Creek would potentially be at risk even outside the winter period under dry weather flow conditions.

scholarly journals Simplicity or complexity? Important aspects of high nature value grassland management in nature conservation

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Róbert Kun ◽  
Dániel Babai ◽  
András István Csathó ◽  
Csaba Vadász ◽  
Nikoletta Kálmán ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Nature Conservation ◽  
Plant Diversity ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Grassland Management ◽  
Plant Functional Types ◽  
Higher Plant ◽  
Temporal Complexity ◽  
Functional Types ◽  
Management Factors ◽  
Spatio Temporal

AbstractLocal, adaptive traditional grassland management systems have played a fundamental role in the creation, maintenance and conservation of high nature value (HNV) grasslands. The state of diverse HNV grasslands has deteriorated across Europe in conjunction with changes in various management factors, such as management type and management intensity. To conserve the species-rich vegetation of HNV grasslands and to avoid undesirable shifts in plant functional type dominance, it is important to explore the effects of management factors crucial for nature conservation and to adapt them to local circumstances. In our study, we focus on three of the main factors in the management of valuable meadow steppes in the Great Hungarian Plain region (Central Hungary). We studied management types (mowing, grazing and combined), different levels of herbage removal intensity (low, medium, high) and spatio-temporal complexity (low, medium and high) of grassland management. Altogether 172 plots (1 m × 1 m) were designated in 17 sites. Plant diversity indexes and plant functional types were calculated according to the presence and percentage cover of plant species in the plots. Regarding plant diversity and the dominance of plant functional types, herbage removal intensity and spatio-temporal complexity of management had, for the most part, stronger effects than the type of management. Higher spatio-temporal complexity of management resulted in higher plant diversity, while higher intensity of management led to significantly lower diversity. Proper application of type, intensity and spatio-temporal complexity of management practices (separately and in combination) proved to be determining factors in the long-term maintenance and conservation of diversity and species composition of HNV grasslands.

Urinary Stone Disease in Pregnancy: Current Management Practices in a Large National Cohort

Urology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 142 ◽  
pp. 60-64
Author(s):  
Kyle Spradling ◽  
Ericka M. Sohlberg ◽  
Shufeng Li ◽  
Chiyuan Amy Zhang ◽  
William D. Brubaker ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Management Practices ◽  
Urinary Stone ◽  
Stone Disease ◽  
Current Management ◽  
Urinary Stone Disease ◽  
National Cohort ◽  
In Pregnancy

Stormwater management in a catchbasin perspective - best practices or sustainable strategies?

2002 ◽  
Vol 46 (6-7) ◽  
pp. 159-166 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Bäckström ◽  
P.-A. Malmqvist ◽  
M. Viklander
Keyword(s):  
Best Management Practices ◽  
Stormwater Management ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Pollutant Removal ◽  
Best Management ◽  
Environmental Objectives ◽  
Important Pathway ◽  
Pollutant Sources ◽  
Pollutant Source ◽  
The Eu

A strategy for sustainable stormwater management is needed. This study has focused on the relative importance of stormwater as a pollutant source in a catchbasin, if Best Management Practices (BMPs) result in pollutant removal or pollutant redistribution, and methods for screening of stormwater strategies. Stormwater is most likely an important pathway for pollutants in a catchbasin perspective. True pollutant removal can only be achieved if the pollutant sources are eliminated. Until that is reached, we should have the best possible control of the pollutant fluxes in the watershed. This study indicates that the search for a sustainable stormwater strategy could be easier to handle if different “screens” could be used. The Swedish environmental objectives, which try to encapsulate all aspects of sustainability, may be used as a foundation for a “sustainability screen”. By using this screen, the “unsustainable” features of different stormwater strategies could be pointed out. A “standards and legislation screen” will be based on the EU Water Framework Directive. As this study has shown, it is doubtful whether the conventional BMPs, such as stormwater ponds and infiltration facilities, produce a sufficient pollutant control.

scholarly journals Prediction of leaching and groundwater contamination by pesticides

2006 ◽  
Vol 78 (5) ◽  
pp. 1081-1090 ◽  
Author(s):  
Werner Kördel ◽  
Michael Klein
Keyword(s):  
Maximum Concentration ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Preferential Flow ◽  
Soil Depth ◽  
Sandy Soils ◽  
Field Studies ◽  
Macropore Flow ◽  
Eu Directive ◽  
Present Information ◽  
Silty Soils

Herein, we describe how pesticide leaching is assessed in Europe in order to fulfill EU Directive 91/414. The assessment schemes were developed to protect groundwater from unacceptable effects caused by pesticide use. They presently focus on chromatographic flow processes, which are dominant in sandy soils. Nevertheless, important regions in Europe are characterized by structured soils where transport through macropores is most relevant.Comparison of parallel field studies with isoproturon performed in sandy and silty soils showed that maximum concentration in the structured soil at a soil depth of 1 m may exceed respective concentrations in sandy soils by a factor of 60. Similar results were obtained by lysimeter studies using silty soil cores with maximum concentration of 40 μg/l at the soil bottom. These results demonstrate that preferential flow is more the rule than the exception in well-structured fine-textured soils, and pesticide losses via macropore flow may exceed losses via matrix transport considerably. All present information available for macropore flow suggest the need for greater regional assessments. Other recommendations include analysis of the influence of different soil management practices on the formation of macropores.

Biological invasions: are they dependent on disturbance?

1997 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 131-144 ◽  
Author(s):  
J D Lozon ◽  
H J MacIsaac
Keyword(s):  
Exotic Species ◽  
Human Activities ◽  
Water Discharge ◽  
A Priori ◽  
Terrestrial Ecosystems ◽  
Field Studies ◽  
Soil Disturbance ◽  
Exotic Animals ◽  
Introduced Plants ◽  
Disturbed Habitats

We utilize literature surveys to examine the relationship between establishment of exotic species and human or natural disturbances of ecosystems. Of the 133 papers published in 10 ecological journals between 1993 and 1995, 63 reported on field studies involving 299 and 103 successful, nonredundant plant and animal introductions, respectively. Invasions of terrestrial ecosystems dominated (>>97%) the surveyed literature. Disturbance was associated with establishment of exotic species in 56% of these studies, though its importance differed among papers describing plants (68%) and animals (28%). Plants species (86%) were significantly more dependent on disturbance for establishment than were animals (12%). However, animals and plants that were dependent on disturbance for establishment were almost equally dependent (58 versus 68%) on it for range expansion. In a second survey, 402 plant and 103 animal taxa were identified that explicitly linked establishment of exotic species to disturbance. Human activities were attributed with establishment of species in 97 and 57% of these cases, respectively. Common mechanisms associated with establishment of exotic animals included ballast water discharge, intentional releases, and residential development. Establishment of exotic plants was associated with animal activities (e.g., grazing, seed introduction), soil disturbance, forestry, fire, agriculture, and human activities. In contrast to invasions theory, our survey indicates that the association between establishment and spread of exotic species and disturbance ought not be assumed a priori. Some animals repeatedly invade new habitats once geographic barriers are circumvented, indicating that communities may be more receptive to exotic species than previously acknowledged. By contrast, introduced plants established most often in disturbed habitats.

Organic agriculture in Argentina's Pampas. A case study on Pampa Orgánica Norte farmers

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Silvina M. Cabrini ◽  
Luciana Elustondo
Keyword(s):  
Management Practices ◽  
Active Role ◽  
Organic Production ◽  
Organic Certification ◽  
Technology Generation ◽  
Natural Grasslands ◽  
Organic Farmers ◽  
Sheep Production ◽  
Certified Organic

Abstract Faced with a society that demands the reduction of negative environmental impacts of agriculture while producing high-value, healthy food for local and export markets, Argentina is currently in a debate on the alternative paths toward sustainability in agricultural production. Argentina is ranked second in the world in terms of land under organic certification. Extensive sheep production in Patagonia natural grasslands accounts for most of this area and harvested organic area remains a very small fraction of total harvested land (0.6%). This paper aims to contribute to the discussion of opportunities and limitations in organic farming as an ecological intensification alternative for Argentina's Pampas. A case study was conducted on Pampa Orgánica Norte. This is a group of nine organic farmers that manages field crops and livestock-certified organic production. Farmers interviewed in this study considered different criteria including economic and environmental attributes when choosing to produce organically. However, the main drivers for conversion to organic production are related to environmental factors, in particular ecosystem protection. The main limitations in organic production are related to crop management practices, primarily weed control. To achieve the goal of increasing organic production a more active role of the public sector in technology generation and transfer was demanded by farmers.

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