Local and landscape responses of biodiversity in calcareous grasslands

Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

Authors

  • Jacqueline Loos
  • Jochen Krauss
  • Ashley Lyons
  • Stephanie Föst
  • Constanze Ohlendorf
  • Severin Racky
  • Marina Röder
  • Lennart Hudel
  • Volker Herfert
  • Teja Tscharntke

Across Europe, calcareous grasslands become increasingly fragmented and their quality deteriorates through abandonment and land use intensification, both affecting biodiversity. Here, we investigated local and landscape effects on diversity patterns of several taxonomic groups in a landscape of highly fragmented calcareous grassland remnants. We surveyed 31 grassland fragments near Göttingen, Germany, in spring and summer 2017 for vascular plants, butterflies and birds, with sampling effort adapted to fragment area. Through regression modelling, we tested relationships between species richness and fragment size (from 314 to 51,395 m 2), successional stage, habitat connectivity and the per cent cover of arable land in the landscape at several radii. We detected 283 plant species, 53 butterfly species and 70 bird species. Of these, 59 plant species, 19 butterfly species and 9 bird species were grassland specialists. Larger fragments supported twice the species richness of plants than small ones, and hosted more species of butterflies, but not of birds. Larger grassland fragments contained more grassland specialist plants, but not butterfly or bird specialists. Increasing amounts of arable land in the landscape from 20 to 90% was related to the loss of a third of species of plants, and less so, of butterflies, but not of birds. Per cent cover of arable land negatively correlated to richness of grassland specialist plants and butterflies, but positively to grassland specialist birds. We found no effect by successional stages and habitat connectivity. Our multi-taxa approach highlights the need for conservation management at the local scale, complemented by measures at the landscape scale.

Original languageEnglish
JournalBiodiversity and Conservation
Volume30
Issue number8-9
Pages (from-to)2415-2432
Number of pages18
ISSN0960-3115
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 07.2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
We are grateful towards Bertram Preuschhoff and Sebastian Barthold of the nature conservation agencies Göttingen and Northeim for information and permits; towards the land managers of the calcareous grassland fragments for their support and towards Ingolf Steffan-Dewenter and Erwin Bergmeier for discussions. JL was partly funded through a Robert-Bosch Junior Professorship for Research into the Sustainable Use of Natural Resources; AL was funded through a Stapledon Travel Fellowship. We thank two anonymous reviewers for their constructive feedback on an earlier version of the manuscript.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, The Author(s).

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