Vegetation history, recent dynamics and future prospects of a Hungarian sandy forest-steppe reserve: forest-grassland relations, tree species composition and size-class distribution

Pannonian forest-steppes host a high number of endemic species and contribute to landscape-scale heterogeneity. Alterations in the proportion of forests and grasslands due to changes in land-use practice and climatic parameters can have serious nature conservation consequences. Hypotheses about forest-steppe dynamics have rarely been verified by detailed analyses, especially for the sandy forest-steppes. We integrated historical analysis, aerial photo interpretation and field investigation to determine how vegetation of a sandy forest-steppe has changed, how current dynamical processes operate and how native and exotic tree species regenerate under present conditions. The vegetation of the study area before the onset of major anthropogenic environmental transformations in the Carpathian Basin may have been a mosaic of forested and unforested patches. However, there is strong evidence that after heavy deforestation, the region was almost completely treeless between the 15th and the 19th centuries. Forest cover was able to recover by the 1800s but the lack of forested areas in the region for centuries explains why forest patches are still poor in species. Grasslands, which existed continuously, are more diverse, supporting several rare and endemic species. From 1953 till 2013, 72.45% of the area proved to be stable, but 27.55% showed clear dynamical character, changing either from forest to grassland, or vice versa. Thus, cyclic dynamics can occur in sandy forest-steppes. We found that forest patches of different size, differently exposed edges and grasslands provide different habitats for the tree species. Exotic species were present in large numbers, probably due to the small size of the reserve and the lack of a buffer zone

Changing year-round habitat use of extensively grazing cattle, sheep and pigs in East-Central Europe between 1940 and 2014: Consequences for conservation and policy

Abstract Many habitats in Europe have been managed by grazing for thousands of years. However, extensive grazing systems are becoming increasingly rare in the region, and there is a lack of understanding of the functioning of these systems. We carried out 147 structured interviews in 38 landscapes throughout the Carpathian Basin, with 3–5 informants/landscape. The number of actively grazing cattle, sheep and pigs, their year-round habitat use and the proportion of herds actively tended were documented for four characteristic historical periods (before, during and after socialist cooperatives and after EU Accession). The numbers of grazing cattle and sheep had decreased substantially by 2010 (by 71% and 49%, respectively), while pig grazing almost disappeared by the 1970s. Cattle primarily grazed habitats with taller vegetation. Sheep grazed dry pastures and stubbles, while pigs were driven into marshes and forests. In general, the importance of dry and wet grasslands increased, while the significance of marshes, stubble fields, vegetation along linear elements, second growth on hay meadows, wood-pastures and forests decreased over time. Approximately half of the grazed habitats were not typical pasture grasslands, and functioned as supplementary pastures during droughts, autumn and winter. The number of habitat types grazed per month per site dropped, and herding decreased substantially, in particular in the case of cattle and pigs. Contributing factors of the economic and social changes of the examined period included the collapse of the communist-era legal framework, the intensification of livestock husbandry, EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) regulations, and the rise of a nature conservation ethic. We conclude that agricultural policies should take into account the full spectrum of habitat types necessary for the effective operation of extensive grazing systems. We argue that conservation-oriented extensive grazing should use the traditional wisdom of herders but adapted to the present situations