Grassland restoration

The Bengal Florican Houbaropsis bengalensis (Gmelin 1789) is a Critically Endangered species, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). It is listed under Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, and has been a priority species for conservation in the Wildlife Action Plan (2002-2016) prepared by the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF). A guideline document to frame state-specific Recovery Plans has also been developed by the MoEF for the Bengal Florican as well as for the other two resident bustard species (Great Indian Bustard Ardeotis nigriceps and Lesser Florican Sypheotides indicus) found in India. Deploying satellite transmitters on Bengal Floricans at Pilibhit (three birds) and Dudhwa (one bird) reserves has given us specific information about their post-breeding movements. The transmitter of one bird at Pilibhit stopped working after three months, but the transmitters on the other three birds has given and continue to give us insightful information for almost three years. We found that by July-August the birds moved out from their breeding sites (which happen to be inside Pilibhit and Dudhwa reserves), approximately 15-50 km, into floodplain-agriscape areas along rivers. These areas are characterised by a mosaic of unmanaged grasslands and relatively lower-intensity agriculture with low human population densities and minimum infrastructure, generally outside the territorial jurisdiction of the Forest Department. The birds spend about six to eight months in such areas showing a wide breadth of local movements, perhaps due to specific anthropogenic disturbance events (e.g. harvesting or sowing of crops, harrowing the field, burning crop stubble). Hence, for up to eight months in a year, birds are not in protected grasslands of PAs, and may thus potentially be more prone to the dangers of hunting and trapping. Therefore, for the protection of Bengal Florican, we must look at the larger landscape beyond officially protected areas and Reserved Forests (RFs). The Species Recovery Plan for the Bengal Florican in Uttar Pradesh may keep this larger heterogeneous landscape in mind and devise appropriate strategies based on recommendations of this report. We also conducted a pilot project to manipulate the vegetation structure at a grassland territory of a male bird in Dudhwa National Park to assess whether it stayed back inside the reserve if it were provided a mosaic of short and tall grass areas post the breeding season. Perhaps our experiment was done a little late and/or on a smaller scale, as the bird moved out of the reserve eventually, although it tended to use open patches created by vegetation trimming more than usual. We suggest that such experiments be repeated at more than one site and on a larger scale to assess the efficacy of such an interventionist approach. Since the results presented here are largely based on location data obtained from only three tagged birds, we recommend that more birds of both sexes be tagged in Uttar Pradesh, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh to fully understand the landscape level ecological requirements of the Bengal Florican. At present, much of the grassland management is done keeping in mind the requirements of large mega-vertebrates such as the Rhino, Swamp Deer, Asian Elephant, Tiger and Wild Buffalo. Sometimes grassland areas are burnt during the breeding season of the Bengal Florican and other grassland avian species. We strongly recommend long-term studies on the impact of annual grassland burning at Dudhwa, Manas, Kaziranga, D’Ering, Orang and other reserves/areas on flora and fauna in order to help devise scientific grassland management protocols that take care of the needs of all grassland-dependent species, especially that of grassland obligatory avian species.

Sown biodiverse permanent pastures rich in legumes (SBPPRL) were developed in Portugal in the 1960`s and 1970’s as a strategy to increase grassland productivity by sowing mixtures of up to 20 species/cultivars of legumes and grasses. Compared to semi-natural pastures, the resulting engineered system provides higher yields of better quality pasture, significantly increasing sustainable stocking rates, with multiple environmental co-benefits. Here, we propose a conceptual framework for the sustainability assessment of SBPPRL and apply it with existing data. Our objective is to inquire if this system is an example of sustainable intensification of livestock production, i.e. an economic and ecological win-win solution that can answer many of the causes for ecosystem degradation in semi-arid and sub-humid climate zones, such as in the Mediterranean basin. We build on experimental results from previous studies, which suggest that SBPPRL replenish soil organic matter pools and improve soil structure. The high increase in stable soil organic matter acts as a carbon sink, turning the system into an optimum tool for climate change mitigation and adaptation. Portugal made use of this fact by supporting the expansion of SBPPRL areas and abating the corresponding carbon from Kyoto Protocol emissions calculations. We resorted to the literature to evaluate other environmental effects due to the absence of data specifically for SBPPRL. Surface water runoff decreases and pirophyte shrub vegetation is eliminated or much reduced. Nitrogen accumulates in stable forms in the soil after being fixed by Rhizobium/legume symbiotic associations. Legumes depend on phosphorus fertilization; as such the nitrogen cycle in SBPPRL relies on a potentially non-renewable resource (required during the first years after installation of the pasture), which may be a potential limiting factor in the future. The effects on wild biodiversity are unclear. The methodology laid out in this article provides an innovative framework to assess these effects as additional experimental data becomes available.

Restoring intensive agricultural fields to species-rich semi-natural grassland could have profound effects on biodiversity and ecosystem services. However, only a minority of European agri-environment scheme funding is currently devoted to such measures (< 1% in the UK) and too few studies compare biodiversity on restored habitats with that on appropriate control and reference sites. As a result, there is a lack of advice for land managers on how to implement habitat restoration to maximise conservation outcomes, especially for insects. We present a landscape-scale field study in which we tested whether the abundance and species-occurrence of moths (Lepidoptera) differed between arable fields, fields restored to species-rich grassland, and semi-natural calcareous grassland (CG). We also tested whether moths were affected by the frequency of CG indicator wildflowers, age of restoration and habitat connectivity of restored grassland. We found that the abundance of CG-associated moths on restored grassland was almost eight times that on arable fields, and abundance and species-occurrence did not differ significantly from that on semi-natural CG. The only group of moths that was more abundant on CG than restored grassland was associated with late successional stage habitats (e.g. woodland), which shows that trees and shrubs are key features maintaining insect biodiversity on CG. CG moths were more abundant on restored grassland sites where CG indicator wildflowers had established, suggesting that active enhancement of the plant community can increase the abundance of target insect groups. Restoring arable fields to species-rich grassland benefits moths over short timescales (as little as 3 years) and at great distances from semi-natural CG (up to 7 km). It should play a pivotal role in future agri-environment schemes aiming to increase insect biodiversity.

Palaearctic grasslands encompass a diverse variety of habitats, many of high nature value and vulnerability. The main challenges are climate-change, land-use change, agricultural intensification and abandonment. Many measures are in place to address these challenges, through restoration and appropriate management, though more work is necessary. We present eight studies from China/Germany, Greece, Kazakhstan, Russia and Ukraine. The papers cover a wide range of grassland and steppe habitats and cover vegetation ecology, syntaxonomy and zoology. We also conducted a systematic search on steppe and grassland diversity. The greatest number of studies was from China, followed by Germany and England. We conclude that the amount of research being carried out on Eurasian grasslands is inadequate considering their high levels of biodiversity and vulnerability. We hope to encourage readers to address current major challenges, such as how to manage grasslands for the benefit of diverse taxa, to...

The northern Aplomado Falcon (Falco femoralis septentrionalis) inhabited the inland and coastal grasslands of Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona until about 1930, when records of aplomados in the United States decreased. In 1986, the species was classified as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. Among other recovery efforts, 102 birds were released from 2006 through 2011, in its former range in New Mexico at the Armendaris Ranch in the south–central portion of the state. To promote their survival, an extended supplemental feeding program was conducted. From 2006 through 2008, supplemental food was provided daily, whereas from 2009 through 2011 food was provided every other day. Providing food once daily corresponded with an increase in the known survival of the aplomados, where known survival was obtained from the recorded observations of falcons at feedings, and the establishment of nearby nesting pairs. Unfortunately, this increase in known short-term survival and reproduction did not seem to lead to long-term survival or retention. This may be attributable to a lack of available prey throughout the Chihuahuan Desert as a result of ongoing drought, significant brush encroachment caused by historic overgrazing by cattle, the eradication of prairie dogs, and decreased summer and increased winter precipitation, as well as a possible increase in predation influenced by brush encroachment and the fact that the Armendaris Ranch sits at the northernmost edge of the aplomados’ historical range. If the reintroduction on the Armendaris Ranch, and other areas with similar levels of prey, is to continue, our research supports the incorporation of an extended daily supplemental feeding program and efforts to improve access to prey, possibly by removing brush and restoring grasslands.

1. Agri-environment scheme (AES) interventions are a major avenue for habitat creation and restoration across Europe. To maximize benefits for biodiversity, AES interventions are sometimes spatially targeted relative to existing semi-natural habitat (SNH). However, the evidence base for effective spatial targeting is deficient; studies until now have collated data across several taxa and regions, resulting in non-specific advice that is only useful at the regional scale. 2. We present a field study using macro-moths (Lepidoptera) to test (i) the impact of creating grassland habitat on arable field margins, (ii) how the impact of this type of AES intervention varies according to species specialism and (iii) the potential impact of spatially targeting AES interventions for proximity to semi-natural chalk grassland (CG). We surveyed macro-moths on arable fields with and without AES interventions across a range of levels of connectivity to CG. We also surveyed macro-moths on CG habitat. 3. Macro-moth abundance was highest on CG and lowest on arable field centres. The benefits of AES interventions were largest for grassland-associated macro-moths: abundance was $ 1Á4 times higher on AES margins than on control margins for this group. 4. Chalk grassland-associated macro-moths only benefited from AES interventions that were close (<1 km) to large areas (>10 ha) of CG habitat. We estimate that clustering AES interventions around CG could lead to a $ 17% increase in CG macro-moth abundance on arable margins across our sampled region, leading to an overall increase of 2Á6% within the sampled region. 5. Synthesis and applications. We provide evidence that for conservation of species associated with a specific type of semi-natural habitat (SNH), agri-environment scheme (AES) interventions are most effectively positioned close to that habitat. Our study on macro-moths in arable fields with and without AES interventions across a range of levels of connectivity to chalk grassland represents a template for the production of tailored spatial targeting advice. We show that optimal positioning of AES habitat creation depends on the extent of SNH in the surrounding landscape as well as the ecology and life history of species being conserved.

Themeda triandra Forssk. is a common perennial grass in southern African grasslands that tolerates low nutrient soils. Establishment of the species into degraded or transformed areas is difficult, but there have been some advances with clonal propagation using tillers. To generate propagules (tillers), tiller production of plants must be maximised. This research focused on the growth response of T. triandra to fertilisation with nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) each at three levels in a fully factorial pot experiment. Fertilisation increased growth. The number of tillers and aerial shoot mass were controlled by an N × P interaction, and total mass and root mass were controlled by N and by P, with N having a larger effect. Mass per tiller was not related to treatment. Shoot:root ratio and root mass per tiller were controlled by N. Potassium had no effect on any response. For maximum tiller production of T. triandra, plants should be fertilised with high levels of N and P.

Aims: We studied the syntaxonomic position, biodiversity, ecological features, nature conservation value and current status of dry grasslands investigated by Josias Braun-Blanquet more than 60 years ago. Study area: Inner-alpine valleys of Austria. Methods: We sampled 67 plots of 10 m2, following the standardized EDGG methodology. We subjected our plots to an unsupervised classification with the modified TWINSPAN algorithm and interpreted the branches of the dendrogram syntaxonomically. Biodiversity, structural and ecological characteristics of the resulting vegetation units at association and order level were compared by ANOVAs. Results: All the examined grasslands belong to the class Festuco-Brometea. From ten distinguished clusters, we could assign four clusters to validly published associations, while the remaining six clusters were named tentatively. We classified them into three orders: Stipo-Festucetalia pallentis (Armerio elongatae-Potentilletum arenariae, Phleo phleoidis-Pu...

Urban regions often contain remnants of ecologically valuable habitats. Whilst meadow habitats have been recognized as ecologically important and much studied, little attention has been given to meadow assemblages of urban locations. We studied the effects of meadow type, urbanization level, and management on vascular plant species richness, field layer diversity and soil chemistry in 18 grassland sites in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area (60°E, 25°N), on the southern coast of Finland during the summer of 2007. We recorded a total of 252 species, though the average number of species per m2 was only 12.6. The negative effects of urbanization on forbs seemed to result in particular from increased soil nitrate (NO 3 - -N) concentration. The highest NO 3 - -N and Fe concentrations and ratios of total inorganic nitrogen (Ntot) to phosphorus (P) and potassium (K), were recorded from the soils of urban rocky meadows. Management by mowing decreased soil NO 3 - -N and Fe concentrations, ratios of Ntot:P and Ntot:K, and increased species richness and diversity. Elevated NOx deposition is considered as a major driver of urbanization effects on vegetation, though changes in soil pH and metal concentrations, such as zinc (Zn), may also negatively affect the frequency of both forbs and grasses. This study shows that regular management by mowing and removal of hay mitigates these effects. We also recommend increasing the provision of dry meadows and maintaining more areas of supplementary semi-natural grassland habitats in urban green space as concrete measures for the conservation of dry meadow assemblages and urban biodiversity.

Urban regions often contain remnants of ecologically valuable habitats. Whilst meadow habitats have been recognized as ecologically important and much studied, little attention has been given to meadow assemblages of urban locations. We studied the effects of meadow type, urbanization level, and management on vascular plant species richness, field layer diversity and soil chemistry in 18 grassland sites in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area (60°E, 25°N), on the southern coast of Finland during the summer of 2007. We recorded a total of 252 species, though the average number of species per m2 was only 12.6. The negative effects of urbanization on forbs seemed to result in particular from increased soil nitrate (NO 3- -N) concentration. The highest NO 3- -N and Fe concentrations and ratios of total inorganic nitrogen (Ntot) to phosphorus (P) and potassium (K), were recorded from the soils of urban rocky meadows. Management by mowing decreased soil NO 3- -N and Fe concentrations, ratios of Ntot:P and Ntot:K, and increased species richness and diversity. Elevated NOx deposition is considered as a major driver of urbanization effects on vegetation, though changes in soil pH and metal concentrations, such as zinc (Zn), may also negatively affect the frequency of both forbs and grasses. This study shows that regular management by mowing and removal of hay mitigates these effects. We also recommend increasing the provision of dry meadows and maintaining more areas of supplementary semi-natural grassland habitats in urban green space as concrete measures for the conservation of dry meadow assemblages and urban biodiversity.