Conservation of pollinators in traditional agricultural landscapes – New challenges in Transylvania (Romania) posed by EU accession and recommendations for future research

Farmland biodiversity is strongly declining in most of Western Europe, but still survives in traditional low intensity agricultural landscapes in Central and Eastern Europe. Accession to the EU however intensifies agriculture, which leads to the vanishing of traditional farming. Our aim was to describe the pollinator assemblages of the last remnants of these landscapes, thus set the baseline of sustainable farming for pollination, and to highlight potential measures of conservation. In these traditional farmlands in the Transylvanian Basin, Romania (EU accession in 2007), we studied the major pollinator groups-wild bees, hoverflies and butterflies. Landscape scale effects of semi-natural habitats, land cover diversity, the effects of heterogeneity and woody vegetation cover and on-site flower resources were tested on pollinator communities in traditionally managed arable fields and grasslands. Our results showed: (i) semi-natural habitats at the landscape scale have a positive effect on most pollinators, especially in the case of low heterogeneity of the direct vicinity of the studied sites; (ii) both arable fields and grasslands hold abundant flower resources, thus both land use types are important in sustaining pollinator communities; (iii) thus, pollinator conservation can rely even on arable fields under traditional management regime. This has an indirect message that the tiny flower margins around large intensive fields in west Europe can be insufficient conservation measures to restore pollinator communities at the landscape scale, as this is still far the baseline of necessary flower resources. This hypothesis needs further study, which includes more traditional landscapes providing baseline, and exploration of other factors behind the lower than baseline level biodiversity values of fields under agri-environmental schemes (AES)

Impacts of vehicle emissions on vegetation

A system has been constructed which provides stable, realistic urban atmospheres with pollutant mixtures at concentrations and proportions relevant to those found at roadsides in urban areas. This system has been used in conjunction with a range of field sites to assess the impacts of urban pollution mixtures on a broad range of plant species of contrasting morphological and functional types. Impacts of pollution treatments have been assessed in terms of visible injury symptoms, growth, rates of stomatal conductance, senescence, and leaf surface characteristics. Our data clearly demonstrate that levels of pollutant mixtures typical of urban areas do have species-specific, direct effects on plant growth and may make plants susceptible to other environmental stresses

Vegetarians: Uninvited, uncomfortable or special guests at the table of the alternative food economy?

This article explores whether vegetarianism is congruent with the alternative food economy. Although it has been largely neglected by scholars concerned with agro-food system alternatives, there are good reasons to undertake an exploration of vegetarianism in this context, not least because of the ethical relationships that it seeks to create within the food system. Drawing on recent work by Hilary Tovey in which she applies Eyerman and Jamison's cognitive approach to social movements, the article conceptualises vegetarianism as a social movement with the potential to effect change within the food system and, ultimately (perhaps), bring about rural development benefits. The article identifies and discusses a number of tensions and contradictions within the cognitive praxis of the vegetarian movement, and between the movement's cognitive praxis and external institutions, raising questions about the congruence between vegetarianism and the alternative food economy. It also makes some suggestions about the ways in which the vegetarian movement might reclaim a place at the table of the alternative food economy and in the process make a contribution to rural development. By way of conclusion, the article identifies a number of areas for possible future empirical research, as well as suggesting that the extension of an invitation to vegetarians to sit at the table of the alternative food economy has provided an interesting opportunity to reflect upon the menu on offer. © 2006 The Authors. Journal Compilation 2006 European Society for Rural Sociology

Towards sustainable land use: identifying and managing the conflicts between human activities and biodiversity conservation in Europe

Conflicts between biodiversity conservation and human activities are becoming increasingly apparent in all European landscapes. The intensification of agricultural and silvicultural practices, land abandonment and other land uses such as recreation and hunting are all potential threats to biodiversity that can lead to conflicts between stakeholder livelihoods and biodiversity conservation. To address the global decline in biodiversity there is, therefore, a need to identify the drivers responsible for conflicts between human activities and the conservation of European biodiversity and to promote the management of these conflicts. Here, the drivers of biodiversity conflicts are analysed in a European context for five habitat types: agricultural landscapes, forests, grasslands, uplands and freshwater habitats. A multi- disciplinary approach to conflict management is described, with active stakeholder involvement at every stage of conflict identification and management as well as a range of other approaches including stakeholder dialogue and education, consumer education, improvement of political and legislative frameworks, financial incentives, and planning infrastructur

Foraging ecology and reproductive biology of the Stonechat Saxicola torquata : comparison between a revitalized, intensively cultivated and a historical, traditionally cultivated agro-ecosystem

An effective strategy to reintegrate biodiversity within otherwise intensively cultivated agroecosystems is to create set-aside and wildflower areas. It remains largely unknown, however, whether the ecological performance of an agroecosystem revitalized in this manner is comparable—from a species’ population biology perspective—to traditionally exploited farmland. To address this question we compared, during two successive years, the trophic ecology and breeding performance of an insectivorous, indicator passerine (the Stonechat Saxicola torquata) in a revitalized intensively cultivated farmland (RIC) and a traditional, extensively cultivated farmland (TEC) in southern Switzerland. The chicks' diet and prey abundance did not differ between the RIC and TEC, with orthopterans, caterpillars (Lepidoptera) and coleopterans predominating (approx. 80% of diet biomass). Although Stonechat pairs initiated more broods in TEC than in the RIC, reproductive success (number of fledglings/territory × year) did not differ significantly between the TEC and RIC. The chicks’ condition (body mass) was slightly better in TEC than in RIC, while no such effect could be shown for chick constitution (tarsus length) in either year. The inter-site (RIC vs. TEC) variation fell well within the inter-annual variation of breeding parameters, indicating that environmental stochasticity could be a greater determinant of reproductive output and young quality than agroecosystem type. Although in need of replication, these results suggest that incentives for setting aside farmland and creating wildflower areas within agroecosystems may not only enhance plant and invertebrate diversity, as has been demonstrated earlier, but can also support functioning populations of vertebrates situated at higher trophic levels along the food chain

Alterations of steppe-like grasslands in Eastern Europe : a threat to regional biodiversity hotspots

Recent changes in agriculture (intensification or abandonment) have resulted in a critical reduction of steppe-like grasslands in Eastern Europe. These grasslands harbor an extraordinarily high diversity of plants and invertebrates, including endemics, and are considered refugia for numerous threatened open-land species. We examined species richness, and abundance, proportion of open-land, endemic and threatened vascular plants, gastropods, and diurnal and nocturnal Lepidoptera in six different vegetation types all originating from steppe-like grasslands in Transylvania, Romania. Vegetation types included extensively grazed pastures (initial stage), three seral stages of succession (early stage of abandoned grassland, abandoned grassland with shrubs, and mature forest), and two human-made grassland alterations, namely abandoned vineyards and Pinus plantations. A total of 852 species (291 vascular plants, 24 gastropods, 129 diurnal and 408 nocturnal Lepidoptera) were found in the 22 study sites. The four taxonomic groups differed in their response to the abandonment of steppe-like grassland, except that species richness of plants and diurnal Lepidoptera were positively correlated. The complementarity of species composition increased with successional age in all taxonomic groups examined. The number of characteristic open-land species decreased with successional age in plants and gastropods. All investigated vegetation types harbored threatened (red-listed) species. Endemic species were found in all vegetation types except mature forests and Pinus plantations. All Transylvanian endemics and the majority of threatened species found were open-land species. Extensively cultivated vineyards, which have been abandoned for two to three decades, also maintained high plant and invertebrate diversities, comparable to those of the corresponding stages of grassland succession. In contrast, Pinus plantations (a recent grassland alteration) have changed habitat quality and will have a devastating effect on the unique, indigenous diversity of these steppe-like grasslands as soon as the canopy closes. To prevent losses of characteristic species, we suggest a rotational grassland management program that maintains different seral stages. Succession to mature forest and additional Pinus plantations should be prevented