Good Pastures, Good Meadows: Mountain Farmers’ Assessment, Perceptions on Ecosystem Services, and Proposals for Biodiversity Management

An ongoing decrease in habitat and species diversity is occurring in many areas across Europe, including in grasslands in mountain areas, calling for adapted biodiversity management and measures. In this context, we carried out 79 interviews with grassland farmers in five alpine mountain regions in Germany, France, Austria, Italy, and Switzerland. We analyzed farmers’ perceptions about the functions and services of their grasslands, how they qualify “good” grasslands, which grassland management practices have changed over the last 10 years, and proposals to increase species diversity on the farm. They related them primarily to cultural ecosystem services, secondly to provisioning services, and thirdly to regulating and supporting services. Good pastures or meadows were mostly related to composition, quality of forage and productivity, structural criteria, and certain characteristics of soils and topography. The measures for increasing biodiversity that were most frequently proposed were upgrading of forest edges, planting hedges or fruit trees, less or late grassland cutting, reduction or omission of fertilization, and more general extensification of farm productions. Factors hindering the implementation of these measures were mainly increased workload, insufficient time, and a lack of financial means or support to cover additional costs for biodiversity management. These factors have to be taken specifically into account for future policies for enhanced biodiversity management of grasslands, also beyond mountainous areas. Overall, we found that farmers have good but varying knowledge about biodiversity management of their grasslands, but also different perspectives on how to improve it. Here, local initiatives that bring together farmers and flora or fauna specialists to exchange knowledge could be designed and used in participatory pilot schemes to enhance the implementation of improved biodiversity management.

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A systematic review of European farmer and non-farmer attitudes towards landscapes, ecosystem services, and agricultural management practices: Implications for permanent grassland management

10.1101/2020.06.12.148585 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Sophie J. Tindale ◽

John Elliott ◽

Marjolein Elings ◽

Rosa Gallardo-Cobos ◽

Erik Hunter ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Ecosystem Services ◽

Management Practices ◽

Agricultural Land ◽

Grassland Management ◽

Decision Makers ◽

Sources Of Information ◽

Permanent Grassland ◽

Perceptions And Attitudes ◽

Stakeholder Attitudes

AbstractPermanent grassland (PG) is an important agricultural land use for the delivery of multiple ecosystem services (ES), including carbon sequestration, water quality protection, food production, habitat provision, and cultural activities. However, PG environments are threatened by sub-optimal management, cultivation, and abandonment that are influenced by context, land manager’s attitudes and societal demand for ES. Therefore, the perceptions and attitudes of key decision-makers (farmers) and other stakeholders (non-farmers, including citizens and consumers of the products of permanent grasslands, and ES) need to be understood to ensure the sustainability of PGs and the ES they provide. A systematic review of the literature identified 135 scholarly articles. Application of thematic analysis, allowed the organization, and synthesis of current research related to (different) stakeholder attitudes, and how these influence PG management and the delivery of ES. The results suggest that different stakeholders hold different views towards permanent grassland, with farmers in particular having to balance economic with other (potentially conflicting) drivers. The types of knowledge held by different groups of stakeholders, access to sources of information, as well as the influence of knowledge on behaviour; and environmental values (for example in relation to aesthetics or conservation of biodiversity) explained why certain motivations for attitudes and behaviours are held. A major gap, however, was identified in relation to PG as opposed to other types of landscape.

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Tree species diversity and composition relationship to biomass, understory community, and crown architecture in intensively managed plantations of the coastal Pacific Northwest, USA

Canadian Journal of Forest Research ◽

10.1139/cjfr-2019-0236 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 50 (1) ◽

pp. 1-12

Author(s):

Austin Himes ◽

Klaus Puettmann

Keyword(s):

Ecosystem Services ◽

Species Diversity ◽

Species Composition ◽

Pacific Northwest ◽

Tree Species ◽

Management Practices ◽

Tree Species Composition ◽

Crown Length ◽

Management Interventions ◽

Intensively Managed

Trends in land cover and the demand for ecosystem services suggest that plantation forests will be expected to provide a larger quantity and diversity of ecosystem services. We identified three measures indicative of diverse ecosystem services (aboveground biomass, understory biodiversity, and crown length) and compared their relationships to tree species composition in intensively managed forest plantations of the Coast Range mountains of the Pacific Northwest, United States. This study was conducted in stands of western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla (Raf.) Sarg.), Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco), and red alder (Alnus rubra Bong.), as well as in mixtures of the three species that were 35–39 years old. In this operational setting, we did not observe the positive relationship between species diversity and productivity observed in other studies, which we attributed to management practices that minimize interspecific interaction during most of the rotation. Crown length and understory species diversity were greater in mixtures of tree species than in (monospecific) monocultures. When multiple ecosystem components were considered simultaneously, mixtures of tree species outperformed monocultures. The observed relationships of the three responses to tree species composition and diversity are likely explained by differences in tree phenology, shade tolerance, disease susceptibility, and management interventions. Based on the results, management that is solely fixated on wood production homogeneously throughout the plantation may miss opportunities to provide other ecosystem services.

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Faculty Opinions recommendation of Ecosystem services of the soil food web after long-term application of agricultural management practices.

Faculty Opinions – Post-Publication Peer Review of the Biomedical Literature ◽

10.3410/f.729912969.793540698 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Paul Kardol

Keyword(s):

Ecosystem Services ◽

Food Web ◽

Management Practices ◽

Agricultural Management ◽

Soil Food Web

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The invasive aphid Pterochloroides persicae (Cholodkovsky, 1899) (Hemiptera: Aphidoidea: Lachninae) recorded on important fruit trees in Kashmir Valley, India

Journal of Threatened Taxa ◽

10.11609/jott.2968.10.5.11672-11678 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 10 (5) ◽

pp. 11672 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Govindasamy Mahendiran ◽

Shahid Ali Akbar ◽

Mudasir Ahmad Dar

Keyword(s):

Management Practices ◽

Fruit Trees ◽

Kashmir Valley ◽

Central Institute ◽

Rational Management ◽

First Time

Pterochloroides persicae (Cholodkovsky, 1899) is reported here for the first time from the Kashmir Valley. The aphid is seen to infest almond, peach, plum orchards in the region. Monitoring of the pest was carried out in the peach and almond fields of the Central Institute of Temperate Horticulture (CITH) during the years 2014–2016. Seasonality and bio-rational management practices of the pest are discussed.

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Effect of Forest Management Operations on Aggregate-Associated SOC Dynamics Using a 137Cs Tracing Method

Forests ◽

10.3390/f12070859 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (7) ◽

pp. 859

Author(s):

Geng Guo ◽

Xiao Li ◽

Xi Zhu ◽

Yanyin Xu ◽

Qiao Dai ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Forest Management ◽

Soil Erosion ◽

Management Practices ◽

Negative Impact ◽

Dynamic Change ◽

Aggregate Size ◽

Nutrient Loss ◽

Vegetation Coverage ◽

Forest Conversion ◽

Mountain Areas

Although forest conversions have long been a focus in carbon (C) research, the relationship between soil erosion and the dynamic change of soil organic carbon (SOC) has not been well-quantified. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of converting CBF (coniferous and broad-leaved mixed forests) to economic forests, including CF (chestnut forest), HF (hawthorn forest), and AF (apple forest), on the soil structure and nutrient loss in the Huaibei Rocky Mountain Areas, China. A 137Cs tracer method was used to provide soil erosion data in order to quantify the loss of aggregate-associated SOC. The results showed that forest management operations caused macro-aggregates to decrease by 1.69% in CF, 4.52% in AF, and 3.87% in HF. Therefore, the stability of aggregates was reduced. The SOC contents in each aggregate size decreased significantly after forest conversion, with the largest decreases occurring in AF. We quantified the loss of 0.15, 0.38, and 0.31 Mg hm−2 of aggregate-associated SOC after conversion from CBF to CF, AF, and HF, respectively. These results suggest that forest management operations have a negative impact on soil quality and fertility. CF has better vegetation coverage and less human interference, making it more prominent among the three economic forests species. Therefore, when developing forest management operations, judicious selection of tree varieties and appropriate management practices are extremely critical. In addition, measures should be taken to increase surface cover to reduce soil erosion and achieve sustainable development of economic forests.

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The Influence of Land Use Change on Key Ecosystem Services and Their Relationships in a Mountain Region from Past to Future (1995–2050)

Forests ◽

10.3390/f12050616 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (5) ◽

pp. 616

Author(s):

Jie Gao ◽

Xuguang Tang ◽

Shiqiu Lin ◽

Hongyan Bian

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Ecosystem Services ◽

Land Use Change ◽

Sustainable Land Use ◽

Mountain Region ◽

Water Yield ◽

Mountain Regions ◽

Mountain Areas ◽

The Government ◽

Steep Slopes

The ecosystem services (ESs) provided by mountain regions can bring about benefits to people living in and around the mountains. Ecosystems in mountain areas are fragile and sensitive to anthropogenic disturbance. Understanding the effect of land use change on ESs and their relationships can lead to sustainable land use management in mountain regions with complex topography. Chongqing, as a typical mountain region, was selected as the site of this research. The long-term impacts of land use change on four key ESs (i.e., water yield (WY), soil conservation (SC), carbon storage (CS), and habitat quality (HQ)) and their relationships were assessed from the past to the future (at five-year intervals, 1995–2050). Three future scenarios were constructed to represent the ecological restoration policy and different socioeconomic developments. From 1995 to 2015, WY and SC experienced overall increases. CS and HQ increased slightly at first and then decreased significantly. A scenario analysis suggested that, if the urban area continues to increase at low altitudes, by 2050, CS and HQ are predicted to decrease moderately. However, great improvements in SC, HQ, and CS are expected to be achieved by the middle of the century if the government continues to make efforts towards vegetation restoration on the steep slopes.

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

Biodiversity and Conservation ◽

10.1007/s10531-021-02262-z ◽

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.

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Fruit Tree-Based Agroforestry Systems for Smallholder Farmers in Northwest Vietnam—A Quantitative and Qualitative Assessment

Land ◽

10.3390/land9110451 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 9 (11) ◽

pp. 451

Author(s):

Van Hung Do ◽

Nguyen La ◽

Rachmat Mulia ◽

Göran Bergkvist ◽

A. Sigrun Dahlin ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Management Practices ◽

Smallholder Farmers ◽

Knowledge Exchange ◽

Fruit Trees ◽

Agroforestry Systems ◽

Fruit Tree ◽

Rapid Expansion ◽

Qualitative Assessment ◽

Forage Grass ◽

High Investment

Rapid expansion of unsustainable farming practices in upland areas of Southeast Asia threatens food security and the environment. This study assessed alternative agroforestry systems for sustainable land management and livelihood improvement in northwest Vietnam. The performance of fruit tree-based agroforestry was compared with that of sole cropping, and farmers’ perspectives on agroforestry were documented. After seven years, longan (Dimocarpus longan Lour.)-maize-forage grass and son tra (Docynia indica (Wall.) Decne)-forage grass systems had generated 2.4- and 3.5-fold higher average annual income than sole maize and sole son tra, respectively. Sole longan gave no net profit, due to high investment costs. After some years, competition developed between the crop, grass, and tree components, e.g., for nitrogen, and the farmers interviewed reported a need to adapt management practices to optimise spacing and pruning. They also reported that agroforestry enhanced ecosystem services by controlling surface runoff and erosion, increasing soil fertility and improving resilience to extreme weather. Thus, agroforestry practices with fruit trees can be more profitable than sole-crop cultivation within a few years. Integration of seasonal and fast-growing perennial plants (e.g., grass) is essential to ensure quick returns. Wider adoption needs initial incentives or loans, knowledge exchange, and market links.

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