Wet grasslands and biodiversity: a case study from Greece
Wet grasslands host a rich biodiversity. Μany of the Natura 2000 areas in Greece include or consist of wet grasslands habitats. One of these areas is the “Epanomi Lagoon”, North Greece – Thessaloniki, which is designated as a Special Areas of Conservation (SAC) and Special Protection Area under the Bird and Habitats Directives (Natura 2000 EU Protected Area Network). The Hellenic Ornithological Society (HOS)/ BirdLife Greece has been monitoring Epanomi’s biodiversity status (particularly birds) since the 1980s, and since 2008, intense and methodical bird monitoring has being carried out by volunteers. The monitoring protocol registers birds’ presence and behavior, habitat threats and human activities. The scope of this paper is to publish the most recent methodical monitoring results of HOS regarding the biodiversity status of typical Greek wet grasslands and to connect these results to current human activities. The protected area covers nine wet grasslands habitat types hosting almost 120 different bird species. The wet grasslands host 20 different species of waders. It seems that the core factors for high biodiversity in such types of protected areas are the presence of water and habitat heterogeneity. Human activities that could have negative effects on biodiversity were illegal waste disposal and traffic. HOS has proposed several versions of a management plan since 1998, in which key issues have been water presence and sustainable human activities.
Effect of regional conditions on post-fire vegetation restoration rate in Mediterranean rangeland ecosystems
After fire in natural ecosystems begins the secondary procession, which in certain time restores the vegetation to the succession stage, as it was before the fire occurred. This natural restoration of vegetation depends mainly on the type of vegetation, the climatic and soil conditions and fire intensity. The restoration rate is the main factor for their evolution. The purpose of this research was to evaluate the rate of restoration of vegetation on rangeland ecosystems after fire and to study the probability of reducing the time of grazing forbiddance. The research was conducted in burned forest areas of the prefecture Lakonia and Ileia 3 years after the fire of year 2007. In this area two ecotopes were selected: 1) shrubland and 2) Allepo pine woodland, in which the following parameters were measured: a) the soil cover with vegetation, b) participation of species in the composition of vegetation, c) the total annual production, d) the total height of the dominant shrubs e) the amount and the height of seedlings of Pinus halepensis. Our results indicated, that three years after the fire all the ecotopes had soil cover with vegetation greater than 75%, which means that the restoration of vegetation has created foliage cover able to protect the soil from erosion. Furthermore the restoration rate of vegetation in both shrublands and Aleppo pine woodlands has created a dynamic development process such as to ensure their stability.
Some Vegetation Characteristics of an Upland Rangelandin Eastern Anatolia
The objective of the study was to provide information on the current situation of upland rangelands in eastern Anatolia. For this purpose, a transhumant area was selected and sampled in the years of 2000 and 2001, in Erzurum province. Two distinct range sites were determined in the experimental area, a dry site and a subirrigated one. Grasses were the dominant family in both sites but the dominant species were different. Sheep fescue was the dominant species in the dry site and matgrass in the subirrigated. Canopy coverage was over 40% in both sites. The range condition class for the dry and the subirrigated site was fair and poor, respectively. The carrying capacity in the dry and subirrigated site was 2.2 and 2.0, respectively, for the 2.5 months of the upland period. Although botanical composition and range condition of the sites was undesirable, these sites can be classified as healthy in the rangeland condition classes due to enough density and diversity. The result of the experiment indicates that it is essential to develop new management strategies in order to maintain or improve the current conditions of the upland rangelands in the area. It can be proposed that at least 2 ha of rangeland area should be allocated per animal unit during the upland period.
Litter and green biomass in a traditionally managed alkali landscape in Hungary (Hortobágy)
The study of biomass and its effect on species richness in grasslands and wetlands improves our understanding on vegetation dynamics. We provided detailed analysis of the aboveground biomass (total biomass, green biomass and litter) in an alkali landscape along a long productivity gradient. In the lowland area of Hungary (Hortobágy Puszta) we selected alkali (i-v) and loess grasslands (vi-viii) and wetlands (ix-xiii) for our study. The studied association types were the following: (i) Puccinellia open alkali grasslands, (ii) Artemisia and (iii) Achillea short alkali grasslands, (iv) Juncus short alkali grasslands, (v) Alopecurus alkali meadows, (vi) Festuca loess grasslands, (vii) Bromus loess grasslands, (vii) Stipa loess grasslands, (ix) Bolboschoenus alkali marshes, (x) Typha latifolia marshes, (xi) Carex vesicaria marshes, (xii) Typha angustifolia marshes and (xiii) Reeds (Phragmites australis). In grasslands, the lowest total biomass (sampled at the peak of biomass production) scores were found in open alkali grasslands (a mean of 113 g/m2), while the highest ones in Alopecurus alkali meadows (a mean of 2,316 g/m2). In wetlands higher scores were typical, ranging from a mean of 990 g/m2 (detected in Bolboschoenus alkali marshes) to 3,052 g/m2 (detected in Reeds). In grasslands, the highest amount of litter was detected in Alopecurus alkali meadows (as much as 1,856 g/m2) while in wetlands the highest amount of litter was found in Reeds (as much as 1,268 g/m2). Species richness was the highest at medium total biomass scores both in grasslands and wetlands. Our results suggest that litter is one of the major factors controlling species richness in highly productive grasslands and wetlands.
Effects of several plant species on the spatial distribution of the European hare (Lepus europaeus) at the microhabitat scale
The influence of three shrubby species (kermes oak – Quercus coccifera, Spanish broom – Spartium junceum and yellow kidney vetch – Anthyllis hermanniae) and three herbaceous (brusch grass – Chrysopogon gryllus, pineleaf pink – Dianthus pinifolius and common chicory – Cichorium intybus) on the European hare’s (Lepus europaeus) use of space at the microhabitat scale was investigated in a Mediterranean rangeland in northern Greece. The number of hares’ pellets in 0.5 m radius plots around and in 2 m distance from 10 individuals of each plant species was counted. In addition, the number of twigs (shrubs) and shoots (herbs) per individual bitten by the hare was also counted. Surprisingly, Spanish broom (Spartium junceum), a shrubby species which is rarely consumed and it is considered as nonpreferred for most of the herbivores, was the most often visited and browsed by the hare in relation to all the other plant species studied. These Spanish broom – hare interactions are innovative, and open new ways for a holistic rangeland management based on the regulation of hare’s use of space at the microhabitat scale, through the spatially distribution of specific plant species that provide food and shelter against predators. The evaluation of the hare’s grazing intensity and use of space could be based on the number of twigs/shoots bitten by this herbivore, which is a less laborious and time-consuming parameter to estimate in relation to the pellet-count one.
