Post Hoc Assessment of Stand Structure Across European Wood-Pastures: Implications for Land Use Policy

Publikation: Beiträge in ZeitschriftenZeitschriftenaufsätzeForschungbegutachtet

Authors

Europe's woodland and savanna rangelands, often part of silvopastoral systems known as wood-pastures, are deteriorating because of abandonment that leads to return to a forested state or lack of tree regeneration from overgrazing or tree and shrub removal. Despite numerous local studies, there has been no broader survey of the stand structure of European wood-pastures showing which systems are at risk of losing their semiopen character. This overview aims to 1) show some of the differences and similarities in wood-pastures from landscapes across Europe and 2) identify which of these wood-pastures are at risk of losing their semiopen character. We collated a dataset of 13 693 trees from 390 plots in wood-pastures from eight different European regions (western Estonia, eastern Greece, northern Germany, Hungary, northern Italy, southern Portugal, central Romania, and southern Sweden), including tree diameters at breast height, tree density, management type, and tree species composition. On the basis of their structural characteristics, we classified wood-pastures using principal component analysis (PCA) and cluster analysis. The PCA showed a gradient from dense wood-pastures with high levels of regeneration (e.g., in Estonia) to sparse wood-pastures with large trees but a lack of regeneration (e.g., in Romania). Along this gradient, we identified three main groups of wood-pastures: 1) sparse wood-pastures with mostly big trees; 2) dense wood-pastures composed of small trees, and 3) wood-pastures containing a wide range of tree ages. Our results show a large structural gradient in European wood-pastures, as well as regeneration problems varying in their severity, highlighting the importance of social-ecological context for wood-pasture conditions. To maintain the ecological and cultural integrity of European wood-pastures, we suggest 1) more comprehensively considering them in European policies such as the Common Agricultural Policy and EU Habitats Directive, while 2) taking into account their structural characteristics and social-ecological backgrounds.

OriginalspracheEnglisch
ZeitschriftRangeland Ecology and Management
Jahrgang71
Ausgabenummer5
Seiten (von - bis)526-535
Anzahl der Seiten10
ISSN1550-7424
DOIs
PublikationsstatusErschienen - 09.2018

Bibliographische Notiz

Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 The Society for Range Management

DOI

Zuletzt angesehen

Publikationen

  1. Schulinspektion in Hamburg
  2. A grassroots initiative to disseminate solar energy technologies in Ethiopia
  3. Stability of pollination services decreases with isolation from natural areas despite honey bee visits
  4. Ästhetik der Reorganisation. Zur Einleitung
  5. Fusionsprotein und dessen Verwendungen
  6. Aneignung – diskursive Erweiterungen und Reflexionen
  7. Wirtschaftsinformatik
  8. Öffentlichkeiten
  9. Editorial:
  10. The Curator as Arts Administrator ?
  11. Geplagter Hiob
  12. Islam and Patriarchy
  13. Individuelle Beteiligung am Unterrichtsgespräch in Grundschulklassen
  14. Gene tests and employees in an international comparison.
  15. In a no-win situation
  16. Andocken
  17. Gesundheitsförderung und Prävention im Setting Schule
  18. Does online availability increase citations?
  19. Response to comment on "Screening criteria for long-range transport potential of organic substances in water"
  20. Reversible formation of alcohol solvates and their potential use for heat storage
  21. »ein Gespräch, an dem wir würgen«. Celan und Heidegger
  22. Öffentliche Beschaffung nachhaltig gestalten
  23. Open to Offers, but Resisting Requests
  24. European COMPARative Effectiveness research on blended Depression treatment versus treatment-as-usual (E-COMPARED): Study protocol for a randomized controlled, non-inferiority trial in eight European countries
  25. I am medial!
  26. Mindset-Oriented Negotiation Training (MONT)
  27. Life expectancy, family constellation and stress in giant mole-rats (Fukomys mechowii)
  28. A Leverage Points Perspective on Sustainability
  29. Hybrid Regionalism in Africa Towards a Theory of African Union Interventions
  30. "Wie getrennt zusammenleben?
  31. Mental contrasting and energization transfer to low-expectancy tasks
  32. Mexican school students’ perceptions of inclusion
  33. Umweltgerichte in China
  34. § 846 Mitverschulden des Verletzten
  35. Games People (Don’t) Play
  36. Zwischen Methodenpluralismus und Datenhandel
  37. Das Bildungssystem in den 1990er Jahren. Am Beginn einer Zeitenwende
  38. Nachhaltigkeitskompetenzen in Unternehmen und Organisationen
  39. A guide to the Harry Potter novels
  40. Sustainability Accounting and Reporting
  41. Prioritize grassland restoration to bend the curve of biodiversity loss
  42. Organisation fur wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung (OECD)
  43. The impact of chief executive officer narcissism on environmental, social, and governance reporting
  44. Basic financial accounting terminology