Conservation, biodiversity and governance of semi-natural grasslands in Southern Transylvania (Romania)

Abstract

Semi-natural grasslands are species-rich habitats of major importance for many taxonomic groups and as a provider of ecosystem services, yet are becoming increasingly rare and thus a conservation priority in Europe. The loss of these habitats is mainly linked to the processes of agricultural intensification and abandonment, and geographically highly variable in Europe. This thesis focuses on the region of Southern Transylvania in Romania, in which almost all grassland is semi-natural, but under increasing threat from changes in farming practices. It considers the conservation of these grasslands at different spatial scales and from multiple perspectives, addressing both the ecological and the social contexts in which management takes place. Conservation measures are generally applied at the field scale, yet grassland plants and animals frequently interact with populations in surrounding habitats. Chapter 2 therefore investigates the effects of ecological processes at local (plot) and landscape (2 km radius) scales on grassland plants and Orthoptera (grasshoppers, crickets and bush-crickets). The results show that the effects of landscape factors on species richness are similarly strong and significant as those of local factors. However, the two taxonomic groups reacted to different landscape factors: plant species richness increased with landscape heterogeneity, and Orthoptera with proportion of grassland habitat. This suggests that conservation measures for such extensive grasslands must also consider the landscape scale in order to provide effective protection, but no single landscape composition will benefit all groups. Support for small-scale, low-intensity farming practices that retains a variety of landscapes types is therefore likely to provide the greatest overall benefit for grassland diversity. Alongside design, the success of conservation measures such as agri-environment schemes depends on the ability and willingness of land managers to apply them. In the study area, effective cooperation between land managers is crucial for sustainable management, as most of the grazed grassland in the study area is common land, i.e., most members of the local community have rights to use it. However, the analysis in Chapter 3 finds that this system is now moving increasingly towards a division of the pasture into sole-use parcels rather than used in common, driven mainly by the area-based subsidies available through the EU Common Agricultural Policy. This de facto privatisation of the commons is currently negatively affecting equality of access for users, and is a potential threat to the low-intensity use of the pastures. Chapter 4 therefore investigates the opportunity to target farmer associations as a means to maintain the common use of the pastures whilst adapting to the current situation. These could exploit the subsidies available to provide good management for the common grasslands, as well as information and services for farmers, but are currently in need of more training and support. At the European level, research and policy needs to better acknowledge the diversity of ecological and the human contexts in which conservation in agricultural habitats such as semi-natural grassland takes place. Chapter 5 argues that there are significant differences in farmland conservation between countries in the east and those in the west of Europe that are insufficiently recognised. Whilst most research and policy takes a western perspective, Eastern Europe contains large areas of species rich farmland that may require different conservation approaches, due to the differences e.g. in farm structures, in attitudes towards conservation, and in levels of biodiversity. Publication of data from less well-studied areas of Europe should be encouraged, especially through pan-European studies, as well as more evidence-based management and conservation education in order to improve its effectiveness. The widespread semi-natural grasslands in Southern Transylvania offer an important opportunity to study, and conserve, species-rich ecosystems in low-intensity farmed landscapes. Although seemingly “traditional”, change is constant in these landscapes, and these man-made habitats need to adapt to meet the needs of the human population. By understanding the drivers of grassland diversity, as well as the drivers of the management systems that maintain it, this thesis aims to demonstrate ways in which development and biodiversity goals can be integrated, such as more evidence-based and efficient use of conservation schemes, as well as better cooperation between small-scale farmers to exploit marketing opportunities and subsidies for low-intensity farming. This is relevant to many areas of Eastern Europe, where widespread low-intensity farming as well as communal land management provides an opportunity to maintain species rich farmland into the future.