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Forskningsartikel2017Vetenskapligt granskadÖppen tillgång

The biodiversity cost of reducing management intensity in species-rich grasslands: Mowing annually vs. every third year

Milberg, Per; Talle, Malin; Fogelfors, Hakan; Westerberg, Lars

Sammanfattning

Mowing is an important management method for species-rich semi-natural grasslands in Europe. Since mowing is costly, it is important to find a balance between mowing frequency and conservation benefits. We compared vegetation data from eleven field trials situated in southern Sweden that involved two mowing regimes, annually and every third year, as well as a no-management control. After approximately 14 years, mowing every third year showed (i) a drop in species richness and Shannon and GiniSimpson diversity indices, (ii) an increase in woody species, and (iii) increases in tall-grown species. However, there were no apparent changes in (iv) species that were indicative of poor management, nor (v) those indicating good management. For one of the trials, data after 38 years were also evaluated. Compared with annual mowing, there were strong negative changes in the number of species in the untreated control, while the results were conflicting for mowing every third year. In conclusion, the expected loss of conservation values from reduced mowing intensity was 5060% of the loss after abandonment. The outcomes, however, varied among the eleven sites. (C) 2017 Gesellschaft fur Okologie. Published by Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

Nyckelord

Cutting; Indicators; Meta-analysis; Mowing; Odds ratio; Response ratio; Semi-natural grassland; Sweden

Publicerad i

Basic and Applied Ecology
2017, Volym: 22, sidor: 61-74
Utgivare: ELSEVIER GMBH, URBAN & FISCHER VERLAG

      Globala målen

      SDG15 Skydda, återställa och främja ett hållbart nyttjande av landbaserade ekosystem, hållbart bruka skogar, bekämpa ökenspridning, hejda och vrida tillbaka markförstöringen samt hejda förlusten av biologisk mångfald

      UKÄ forskningsämne

      Ekologi

      More information

      Correction in: Basic and Applied Ecology, 2017, Volume: 22, 61-74, DOI: doi.org/10.1016/j.baae.2018.02.005

      Publikationens identifierare

      DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.baae.2017.07.004

      Permanent länk till denna sida (URI)

      https://res.slu.se/id/publ/93125