Landscape history and soil properties affect grassland decline and plant species richness in rural landscapes

Biological Conservation

Volumn 142, Issue 11, 2009, Pages 2752-2758

  Cousins, Sara A O ^a  

^a STOCKHOLM UNIVERSITY   (Sweden)

Author keywords

Cadastral maps; Fragmentation; Land use change; South eastern Sweden; Species diversity; Time

Indexed keywords

AERIAL PHOTOGRAPH; AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY; CADASTRE; CLAY SOIL; GRASSLAND; HABITAT FRAGMENTATION; HABITAT LOSS; LAND USE CHANGE; LANDSCAPE HISTORY; RURAL LANDSCAPE; SOIL FERTILITY; SOIL PROPERTY; SPECIES DIVERSITY; SPECIES OCCURRENCE; SPECIES RICHNESS;

EURASIA; EUROPE; NORTHERN EUROPE; SCANDINAVIA; SWEDEN;

EID: 69249216332     PISSN: 00063207     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/j.biocon.2009.07.001     Document Type: Article

References (62)

1. Adriaens D., Honnay O., and Hermy M. No evidence of a plant extinction debt in highly fragmented calcareous grasslands in Belgium. Biological Conservation 133 (2006) 212-224
2. Andrén H. Effects of habitat fragmentation on birds and mammals in landscapes with different proportions of suitable habitat - a review. Oikos 71 (1994) 355-366
3. Betts M.G., Forbes G.J., and Diamond A.W. Thresholds in songbird occurrence in relation to landscape structure. Conservation Biology 21 (2007) 1046-1058
4. Bruun H.H. Patterns of species richness in dry grassland patches in an agricultural landscape. Ecography 23 (2000) 641-650
5. Cousins S.A.O. Analysis of land-cover transitions based on 17th and 18th century cadastral maps and aerial photographs. Landscape Ecology 16 (2001) 41-54
6. Cousins S.A.O. Extinction debt in fragmented grasslands: paid or not?. Journal of Vegetation Science 20 (2009) 3-7
7. Cousins S.A.O., and Aggemyr E. The influence of field shape, area and surrounding landscape on plant species richness in grazed ex-fields. Biological Conservation 141 (2008) 126-135
8. Cousins S.A.O., and Eriksson O. The influence of management history and habitat on plant species richness in a rural hemiboreal landscape, Sweden. Landscape Ecology 17 (2002) 517-529
9. Cousins S.A.O., and Eriksson O. After the hotspots are gone: land use history and grassland plant species diversity in a strongly transformed agricultural landscape. Journal of Vegetation Science 11 (2008) 365-374
10. Cousins S.A.O., Lavorel S., and Davies I. Modelling the effects of landscape pattern and grazing regimes on the persistence of plant species with high conservation value in grasslands in south-eastern Sweden. Landscape Ecology 18 (2003) 315-332
11. Cousins S.A.O., Ohlson H., and Eriksson O. Effects of historical and present fragmentation on plant species diversity in semi-natural grasslands in Swedish rural landscapes. Landscape Ecology 22 (2007) 723-730
12. Couvreur M., Christiaen B., Verheyen K., and Hermy M. Large herbivores as mobile links between isolated nature reserves through adhesive seed dispersal. Applied Vegetation Science 7 (2004) 229-236
13. Cramer V.A., Hobbs R.J., and Standish R.J. What's new about old fields? Land abandonment and ecosystem assembly. Trends in Ecology & Evolution 23 (2008) 104-112
14. Critchley C.N.R., Burke M.J.W., and Stevens D.P. Conservation of lowland semi-natural grasslands in the UK: a review of botanical monitoring results from agri-environment schemes. Biological Conservation 115 (2004) 263-278
15. Dahlström A., Cousins S.A.O., and Eriksson O. The history (1620-2003) of land use, people and livestock, and the relationship to present plant species diversity in a rural landscape in Sweden. Environment and History 12 (2006) 191-212
16. de Blois S., Domon G., and Bouchard A. Landscape issues in plant ecology. Ecography 25 (2002) 244-256
17. Debinski D.M., and Holt R.D. A survey and overview of habitat fragmentation experiments. Conservation Biology 14 (2000) 342-355
18. EEA, 2007. Europe's Environment - The Fourth Assessment. European Environment Agency, Copenhagen.
19. Eriksson O. Regional dynamics of plants: a review of evidence for remnant, source-sink and metapopulations. Oikos 77 (1996) 248-258
20. Eriksson O., Cousins S.A.O., and Bruun H.H. Land-use history and fragmentation of traditionally managed grasslands in Scandinavia. Journal of Vegetation Science 13 (2002) 743-748
21. Eriksson O., and Ehrlén J. Seed and microsite limitation of recruitment in plant-populations. Oecologia 91 (1992) 360-364
22. Eriksson A., and Eriksson O. Seedling recruitment in semi-natural pastures: the effects of disturbance, seed size, phenology and seed bank. Nordic Journal of Botany 17 (1997) 469-482
23. Eriksson A., Eriksson O., and Berglund H. Species abundance patterns of plants in Swedish semi-natural pastures. Ecography 18 (1995) 310-317
24. Foley J.A., DeFries R., Asner G.P., Barford C., Bonan G., Carpenter S.R., Chapin F.S., Coe M.T., Daily G.C., Gibbs H.K., Helkowski J.H., Holloway T., Howard E.A., Kucharik C.J., Monfreda C., Patz J.A., Prentice I.C., Ramankutty N., and Snyder P.K. Global consequences of land use. Science 309 (2005) 570-574
25. Foster B.L., and Gross K.L. Species richness in a successional grassland: effects of nitrogen enrichment and plant litter. Ecology 79 (1998) 2593-2602
26. Fuller R.M. The changing extent and conservation interest of lowland grasslands in England and Wales: a review of grassland surveys 1930-1984. Biological Conservation 40 (1987) 281-300
27. Grace J.B. The factors controlling species density in herbaceous plant communities: an assessment. Perspectives in Plant Ecology Evolution and Systematics 2 (1999) 1-28
28. Gustavsson E., Lennartsson T., and Emanuelsson M. Land use more than 200 years ago explains current grassland plant diversity in a Swedish agricultural landscape. Biological Conservation 138 (2007) 47-59
29. Hanski I., and Ovaskainen O. Extinction debt at extinction threshold. Conservation Biology 16 (2002) 666-673
30. Hansson M., and Fogelfors H. Management of a semi-natural grassland; results from a 15-year-old experiment in southern Sweden. Journal of Vegetation Science 11 (2000) 31-38
31. Helm A., Hanski I., and Pärtel M. Slow response of plant species richness to habitat loss and fragmentation. Ecology Letters 9 (2006) 72-77
32. Hirst R.A., Pywell R.F., and Putwain P.D. Assessing habitat disturbance using an historical perspective: the case of Salisbury Plain military training area. Journal of Environmental Management 60 (2000) 181-193
33. Hodkinson D.J., and Thompson K. Plant dispersal: the role of man. Journal of Applied Ecology 34 (1997) 1484-1496
34. Kiviniemi K., and Eriksson O. Size-related deterioration of semi-natural grassland fragments in Sweden. Diversity and Distributions 8 (2002) 21-29
35. Kull K., and Zobel M. High species richness in an Estonian wooded meadow. Journal of Vegetation Science 2 (1991) 715-718
36. Leiva M.J., Chapin F.S., and Ales R.F. Differences in species composition and diversity among Mediterranean grasslands with different history - the case of California and Spain. Ecography 20 (1997) 97-106
37. Lindborg R., and Eriksson O. Historical landscape connectivity affects present plant species diversity. Ecology 85 (2004) 1840-1845
38. Lunt I.D., Jones N., Spooner P.G., and Petrow M. Effects of European colonization on indigenous ecosystems: post-settlement changes in tree stand structures in Eucalyptus-Callitris woodlands in central New South Wales, Australia. Journal of Biogeography 33 (2006) 1102-1115
39. MacArthur R.H., and Wilson E.O. The Theory of Island Biogeography (1967), Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey
40. McIntyre S., and Hobbs R. A framework for conceptualizing human effects on landscapes and its relevance to management and research models. Conservation Biology 13 (1999) 1282-1292
41. Milchunas D.G., Lauenroth W.K., and Chapman P.L. Plant competition, abiotic, and long-term and short-term effects of large herbivores on demography of opportunistic species in a semiarid grassland. Oecologia 92 (1992) 520-531
42. Motzkin G., Eberhardt R., Hall B., Foster D.R., Harrod J., and MacDonald D. Vegetation variation across Cape Cod, Massachusetts: environmental and historical determinants. Journal of Biogeography 29 (2002) 1439-1454
43. Öster M. Low congruence between the diversity of Waxcap (Hygrocybe spp.) fungi and vascular plants in semi-natural grasslands. Basic and Applied Ecology 9 (2008) 514-522
44. Öster M., Ask K., Römermann C., Tackenberg O., and Eriksson O. Plant colonization of ex-arable fields from adjacent species-rich grasslands: the importance of dispersal vs. recruitment ability. Agriculture Ecosystems & Environment 130 (2009) 93-99
45. Öster M., Cousins S.A.O., and Eriksson O. Size and heterogeneity rather than landscape context determine plant species richness in semi-natural grasslands. Journal of Vegetation Science 18 (2007) 859-868
46. Ozinga W.A., Hennekens S.M., Schaminee J.H.J., Smits N.A.C., Bekker R.M., Romermann C., Klimes L., Bakker J.P., and van Groenendael J.M. Local above-ground persistence of vascular plants: life-history trade-offs and environmental constraints. Journal of Vegetation Science 18 (2007) 489-497
47. Ozinga W.A., Römermann C., Bekker R.M., Prinzing A., Tamis W.L.M., Schaminee J.H.J., Hennekens S.M., Thompson K., Poschlod P., Kleyer M., Bakker J.P., and van Groenendael J.M. Dispersal failure contributes to plant losses in NW Europe. Ecology Letters 12 (2009) 66-74
48. Peterken G.F., and Game M. Historical factors affecting the number and distribution of vascular plant species in the woodlands of central Lincolnshire. Journal of Ecology 72 (1984) 155-182
49. Pykälä J. Plant species responses to cattle grazing in mesic semi-natural grassland. Agriculture Ecosystems & Environment 108 (2005) 109-117
50. Pärtel M., Helm A., Reitalu T., Liira J., and Zobel M. Grassland diversity related to the Late Iron Age human population density. Journal of Ecology 95 (2007) 574-582
51. Pärtel M., Mandla R., and Zobel M. Landscape history of a calcareous (alvar) grassland in Hanila, western Estonia, during the last three hundred years. Landscape Ecology 14 (1999) 187-196
52. Pärtel M., and Zobel M. Small-scale plant species richness in calcareous grasslands determined by the species pool, community age and shoot density. Ecography 22 (1999) 153-159
53. R-project, 2006. R - A Language and Environment, version 2.4.0. .
54. Sala O.E., Chapin F.S., Armesto J.J., Berlow E., Bloomfield J., Dirzo R., Huber-Sanwald E., Huenneke L.F., Jackson R.B., Kinzig A., Leemans R., Lodge D.M., Mooney H.A., Oesterheld M., Poff N.L., Sykes M.T., Walker B.H., Walker M., and Wall D.H. Global biodiversity scenarios for the year 2100. Science 287 (2000) 1770-1774
55. Söderström B., Svensson B., Vessby K., and Glimskär A. Plants, insects and birds in semi-natural pastures in relation to local habitat and landscape factors. Biodiversity and Conservation 10 (2001) 1839-1863
56. Tilman D., May R.M., Lehman C.L., and Nowak M.A. Habitat destruction and the extinction debt. Nature 371 (1994) 65-66
57. Turnbull L.A., Crawley M.J., and Rees M. Are plant populations seed-limited? A review of seed sowing experiments. Oikos 88 (2000) 225-238
58. Walker K.J., Stevens P.A., Stevens D.P., Mountford J.O., Manchester S.J., and Pywell R.F. The restoration and re-creation of species-rich lowland grassland on land formerly managed for intensive agriculture in the UK. Biological Conservation 119 (2004) 1-18
59. WallisDeVries M.F., Poschlod P., and Willems J.H. Challenges for the conservation of calcareous grasslands in northwestern Europe: integrating the requirements of flora and fauna. Biological Conservation 104 (2002) 265-273
60. Wells T.C.E., Sheail J., Ball D.F., and Ward L.K. Ecological-studies on Porton Ranges - relationship between vegetation, soils and land-use history. Journal of Ecology 64 (1976) 589-626
61. Vickery J.A., Tallowin J.R., Feber R.E., Asteraki E.J., Atkinson P.W., Fuller R.J., and Brown V.K. The management of lowland neutral grasslands in Britain: effects of agricultural practices on birds and their food resources. Journal of Applied Ecology 38 (2001) 647-664
62. Widgren M. Settlement and Farming Systems in the Early Iron Age - A Study of Fossil Agrarian Landscapes in Östergötland, Sweden (1983), Almquist & Wiksell, Stockholm