3 research outputs found
New vineyard cultivation practices create patchy ground vegetation, favouring Woodlarks
Intensive agriculture, in which detrimental farming practices lessen food abundance and/or reduce food accessibility for many animal species, has led to a widespread collapse of farmland biodiversity. Vineyards in central and southern Europe are intensively cultivated; though they may still harbour several rare plant and animal species, they remain little studied. Over the past decades, there has been a considerable reduction in the application of insecticides in wine production, with a progressive shift to biological control (integrated production) and, to a lesser extent, organic production. Spraying of herbicides has also diminished, which has led to more vegetation cover on the ground, although most vineyards remain bare, especially in southern Europe. The effects of these potentially positive environmental trends upon biodiversity remain mostly unknown as regards vertebrates. The Woodlark (Lullula arborea) is an endangered, short-distance migratory bird that forages and breeds on the ground. In southern Switzerland (Valais), it occurs mostly in vineyards. We used radiotracking and mixed effects logistic regression models to assess Woodlark response to modern vineyard farming practices, study factors driving foraging micro-habitat selection, and determine optimal habitat profile to inform management. The presence of ground vegetation cover was the main factor dictating the selection of foraging locations, with an optimum around 55% at the foraging patch scale. These conditions are met in integrated production vineyards, but only when grass is tolerated on part of the ground surface, which is the case on ca. 5% of the total Valais vineyard area. In contrast, conventionally managed vineyards covering a parts per thousand yen95% of the vineyard area are too bare because of systematic application of herbicides all over the ground, whilst the rare organic vineyards usually have a too-dense sward. The optimal mosaic with ca. 50% ground vegetation cover is currently achieved in integrated production vineyards where herbicide is applied every second row. In organic production, ca. 50% ground vegetation cover should be promoted, which requires regular mechanical removal of ground vegetation. These measures are likely to benefit general biodiversity in vineyards
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Patterns and dynamics of vegetation recovery following grazing cessation in the California golden trout habitat
In 1978, the Golden Trout Wilderness area was established to protect the California golden trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss aguabonita)—a vulnerable subspecies of the rainbow trout that is endemic to California—and its habitat, which is currently restricted to a few streams within high-elevation meadows in the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range. Because of the deleterious effects of livestock grazing on riparian vegetation in the golden trout habitat (occurring since the 1800s), meadow restoration activities were initiated in 1991, including cattle exclusion. There has been renewed discussion about re-opening these public lands to livestock grazing, and impact assessment studies are needed to inform decision makers about the potential consequences. Thus, we estimated the recovery potential of the golden trout habitat by measuring the height of riparian vegetation within areas that have been grazed vs. closed to grazing (“rested”) since 1991. We found that cattle exclusion is effective at favoring riparian vegetation growth, but that vegetation recovery from grazing could take several decades in these sensitive habitats as some “rested” areas have yet to recover to full vegetation height, even after 25 yr of rest
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Patterns and dynamics of vegetation recovery following grazing cessation in the California golden trout habitat
In 1978, the Golden Trout Wilderness area was established to protect the California golden trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss aguabonita)—a vulnerable subspecies of the rainbow trout that is endemic to California—and its habitat, which is currently restricted to a few streams within high-elevation meadows in the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range. Because of the deleterious effects of livestock grazing on riparian vegetation in the golden trout habitat (occurring since the 1800s), meadow restoration activities were initiated in 1991, including cattle exclusion. There has been renewed discussion about re-opening these public lands to livestock grazing, and impact assessment studies are needed to inform decision makers about the potential consequences. Thus, we estimated the recovery potential of the golden trout habitat by measuring the height of riparian vegetation within areas that have been grazed vs. closed to grazing (“rested”) since 1991. We found that cattle exclusion is effective at favoring riparian vegetation growth, but that vegetation recovery from grazing could take several decades in these sensitive habitats as some “rested” areas have yet to recover to full vegetation height, even after 25 yr of rest