TY - CHAP

T1 - Plant and vegetation diversity in European wood-pastures

AU - Garbarino, Matteo

AU - Bergmeier, Erwin

AU - Roellig, Marlene

AU - Sammul, Marek

PY - 2014/1/1

Y1 - 2014/1/1

N2 - Wood-pastures are open wooded landscapes created and maintained through traditional grazing and woodland management. They are characterised by complex mosaics of open grasslands, semi-open woodland and dense forest patches, and by gradual boundaries between forest patches and surrounding pastures (Bergmeier et al., 2010; Garbarino et al., 2011, 2013). Variation in land use and disturbance regime as well as in their abiotic environment make wood-pasture systems very diverse. Due to their spread across all European vegetation zones and elevations, the species composition and vegetation structure of European wood-pastures are extremely variable. This diversity is manifest at regional scale, depending on bioclimatic and socioeconomic differences, at landscape scale, with complex mosaics of dense and semi-open forests, grasslands and scrub, and at local scale with micro-habitat peculiarities contributing to these unique and extensive ecosystems. Wood-pastures are dynamic landscapes experiencing strong modifications and transitions due to the effects of change in land use and climate. Industrialisation caused a pronounced decline of silvopastoral systems in Europe, which are now largely confined to marginal and less productive sites. Land abandonment in marginal areas, chiefly since the second half of the 20th century, lead to a drastic decline of local livestock populations resulting in undergrazing, such as in many north Mediterranean countries (Papanastasis, 1998). Subsequently the area of dense forest and shrubland increased to the cost of semi-natural grasslands and wood-pastures. However, woodland devastation and overexploitation, such as in the hard post-war times, lead to stony pastures and erosional landscapes largely devoid of the woody vegetation. Overgrazing causes severe pressure to extant wood-pastures even today (Bauer and Bergmeier, 2011; Plieninger et al., 2011). Thus both land use intensification and extensification of wood-pasture may cause the segregation of its main components: grassland and woodland (Buttler et al., 2009). In this chapter, we summarise vegetation patterns, processes and underlying gradients in traditional European wood-pasture. We focus on species composition, forest and landscape structure and how wood-pasture dynamics are influenced by human activities.

AB - Wood-pastures are open wooded landscapes created and maintained through traditional grazing and woodland management. They are characterised by complex mosaics of open grasslands, semi-open woodland and dense forest patches, and by gradual boundaries between forest patches and surrounding pastures (Bergmeier et al., 2010; Garbarino et al., 2011, 2013). Variation in land use and disturbance regime as well as in their abiotic environment make wood-pasture systems very diverse. Due to their spread across all European vegetation zones and elevations, the species composition and vegetation structure of European wood-pastures are extremely variable. This diversity is manifest at regional scale, depending on bioclimatic and socioeconomic differences, at landscape scale, with complex mosaics of dense and semi-open forests, grasslands and scrub, and at local scale with micro-habitat peculiarities contributing to these unique and extensive ecosystems. Wood-pastures are dynamic landscapes experiencing strong modifications and transitions due to the effects of change in land use and climate. Industrialisation caused a pronounced decline of silvopastoral systems in Europe, which are now largely confined to marginal and less productive sites. Land abandonment in marginal areas, chiefly since the second half of the 20th century, lead to a drastic decline of local livestock populations resulting in undergrazing, such as in many north Mediterranean countries (Papanastasis, 1998). Subsequently the area of dense forest and shrubland increased to the cost of semi-natural grasslands and wood-pastures. However, woodland devastation and overexploitation, such as in the hard post-war times, lead to stony pastures and erosional landscapes largely devoid of the woody vegetation. Overgrazing causes severe pressure to extant wood-pastures even today (Bauer and Bergmeier, 2011; Plieninger et al., 2011). Thus both land use intensification and extensification of wood-pasture may cause the segregation of its main components: grassland and woodland (Buttler et al., 2009). In this chapter, we summarise vegetation patterns, processes and underlying gradients in traditional European wood-pasture. We focus on species composition, forest and landscape structure and how wood-pasture dynamics are influenced by human activities.

KW - Ecosystems Research

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85086977776&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.4324/9780203797082

DO - 10.4324/9780203797082

M3 - Chapter

AN - SCOPUS:85086977776

SN - 9780415869898

SP - 113

EP - 131

BT - European Wood-pastures in Transition

A2 - Hartel, Tibor

A2 - Plieninger, Tobias

PB - Taylor and Francis Inc.

ER -