Importance of traditional landscapes in Slovenia for conservation of endangered butterfly

Sara Zupan,Jure Jugovic,Elena Bužan,Valentina Brečko Grubar

doi:10.1515/geo-2020-0179

Abstract

Abstract Maintenance of traditional cultural landscapes largely depends on traditional agricultural practices, which are nowadays in decline as a result of increasingly intensive and mechanised land use. Losing traditional practices may result in impoverishing of picturesque mosaic landscape and biodiversity. This research focuses on land-use changes in two time periods (2002–2008; 2013–2016) and effects of changes reflecting on populations of critically endangered butterfly. False Ringlet, Coenonympha oedippus (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae), is a habitat specialist, which in Slovenia inhabits two geographically distinct contrasting habitats – dry meadows in south-western and wetlands in central Slovenia. We compared nine environmental parameters to assess environmental differences, which shape species habitat; seven parameters significantly differ among the four geographical regions and five among the two habitat types. Four parameters significantly differ (i.e. at least in two regions) when tested for homogeneity, while in dry habitat type all (except slope) were significant and none in wet habitat. Changes in land use in two studied periods lit up two processes: transformation of meadows into agricultural land and overgrowing of the meadows, both processes affecting species severely. We believe that maintaining of traditional landscapes in future could serve as a good conservation practice for this endangered species.

Highlights

Landscape diversity consisted of heterogeneous landscape structure largely depends on traditional practices and knowledge related to land use which could be recognised as a contribution to cultural diversity
Within the complex of Trnovski gozd – Banjšice, all known habitat patches lay above 400 m a.s.l., followed by Goriška brda where majority of habitat patches are lower than 400 m a.s.l
Dynamics of change in vegetation cover and occupancy The variety of habitats in Slovenia suitable for through time differentiated among geographical regions Coenonympha oedippus is unique, same as the diversity

Summary

Introduction

Landscape diversity consisted of heterogeneous landscape structure largely depends on traditional practices and knowledge related to land use which could be recognised as a contribution to cultural diversity. Landscapes are less diverse and less coherent than the traditional ones and main changes occurring can be divided in four groups [4]: (i) increased intensification for the agricultural production, (ii) urban sprawl, (iii) specific tourist and recreational forms of land use and (iv) extensification of land use and land abandonment. All these changes result in sharp gradients in land use, which negatively influence biodiversity [4,5]

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion