Abstract
Wood-pastures are among the most valuable types of farmland for ecosystem services, including biodiversity, landscape, soil protection, water management and cultural values. This paper reviews the scientific literature regarding the dynamic role and importance of plant, fungal and ruminant communities in Mediterranean wood-pastures and assesses the favorable and unfavorable aspects of their occurrence through grazing management. The grasslands of the Mediterranean region play an important role both in forage material production and the conservation of biodiversity in plant communities and at the landscape level. These two management purposes are not conflicting but complementary when the management is based upon the knowledge of the effect of grazing on the ecology of these ecosystems. Conclusively, vascular plant, fungal and ruminant communities have a strong influence on ecosystem structure and functioning and they play a key role in many ecological services. Hence, integrated studies which combine multi-level ecological research are essential in order to identify regional and/or national needs in terms of biodiversity, genetic resources, sustainable rural development and conservation policies.
Highlights
The present study aimed to investigate the dynamic role of vascular plant, fungal and ruminant communities in Mediterranean wood-pastures, as well as the favorable and unfavorable factors that influence their occurrence through grazing management
In order to assess the diversity of fungi in Mediterranean wood-pastures, we need to design and develop appropriate management practices for their conservation, which are necessary to investigate topics such as: (i) the differences in the species richness and their population dynamics between grazed and ungrazed wood-pastures; (ii) the effect of grazing pressure in relation to the fungal community composition; (iii) the interrelationships between the different trophic levels; if the different fungal functional groups are represented in grazed and ungrazed wood-pastures; (iv) the indirect effects of grazing on fungal growth
The lack of prior research on the interactions among different trophic levels and environmental factors in Mediterranean wood-pastures highlights an important opportunity for future study of the biodiversity of those ecosystems and the exploitation of opportunities for the rural development of those ecosystems
Summary
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. They are categorized according to the different bioclimatic zones in Europe as boreal, nemoral, meridional, hemiboreal and submeridional [9] Because of their dynamic nature (spatial and temporal variations due to climatic events, traditional management, pests, herbivores, etc.), all of these different wood-pasture types exhibit exceptional ecological values; they provide an important habitat for a wide range of different organisms and are considered important for regional biodiversity; they pose important restoration possibilities for the maintenance and conservation of genetic resources [2,10]. The present study aimed to investigate the dynamic role of vascular plant, fungal and ruminant communities in Mediterranean wood-pastures, as well as the favorable and unfavorable factors that influence their occurrence through grazing management It highlights how grazing is linked with animal welfare and can improve the quality of livestock products.
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