The effects of historical land use on plant diversity in semi-natural grasslands
During the last two centuries, large-scale administrational and technological reforms have drastically changed the agricultural landscape in Sweden. The meadows and semi-natural grasslands that once played a central role in the agricultural landscape have been reduced with up to 95%. This has entai...
| Autor principal: | |
|---|---|
| Formato: | H2 |
| Lenguaje: | Inglés sueco |
| Publicado: |
SLU/Dept. of Ecology
2022
|
| Materias: |
| _version_ | 1855572932407853056 |
|---|---|
| author | Kumlander, Elisabeth |
| author_browse | Kumlander, Elisabeth |
| author_facet | Kumlander, Elisabeth |
| author_sort | Kumlander, Elisabeth |
| collection | Epsilon Archive for Student Projects |
| description | During the last two centuries, large-scale administrational and technological reforms have drastically changed the agricultural landscape in Sweden. The meadows and semi-natural grasslands that once played a central role in the agricultural landscape have been reduced with up to 95%.
This has entailed large losses of habitat for vascular plants that rely on traditional management practises, and a decrease in the overall plant species richness of managed landscapes. Yet, traces of historical land use, so-called legacy effects, often remain and influence the present-day distribution of plants. How such historical land use affects the species richness we have today and how these changes in land use affect the diversity of vascular plants are investigated here. In this study, I inventoried a total of 97 different grassland and afforested grassland plots in two locations and related the plant species richness and specialist plant occurrence to historical land uses with the help of historical land-use maps obtained from a project by Cousins (2009). The results indicate that legacy effects of historical land use influence present-day plant communities but that these vary across the different locations, probably due to site-specific effects. The results seem to be contradictory to each other in the two locations that were included. |
| format | H2 |
| id | RepoSLU17660 |
| institution | Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences |
| language | Inglés swe |
| publishDate | 2022 |
| publishDateSort | 2022 |
| publisher | SLU/Dept. of Ecology |
| publisherStr | SLU/Dept. of Ecology |
| record_format | eprints |
| spelling | RepoSLU176602022-04-09T01:00:52Z The effects of historical land use on plant diversity in semi-natural grasslands Kumlander, Elisabeth semi-natural grasslands biodiversity plant species land-use sequences During the last two centuries, large-scale administrational and technological reforms have drastically changed the agricultural landscape in Sweden. The meadows and semi-natural grasslands that once played a central role in the agricultural landscape have been reduced with up to 95%. This has entailed large losses of habitat for vascular plants that rely on traditional management practises, and a decrease in the overall plant species richness of managed landscapes. Yet, traces of historical land use, so-called legacy effects, often remain and influence the present-day distribution of plants. How such historical land use affects the species richness we have today and how these changes in land use affect the diversity of vascular plants are investigated here. In this study, I inventoried a total of 97 different grassland and afforested grassland plots in two locations and related the plant species richness and specialist plant occurrence to historical land uses with the help of historical land-use maps obtained from a project by Cousins (2009). The results indicate that legacy effects of historical land use influence present-day plant communities but that these vary across the different locations, probably due to site-specific effects. The results seem to be contradictory to each other in the two locations that were included. Under de senaste två århundradena har storskaliga administrativa och tekniska reformer drastiskt förändrat jordbrukslandskapet i Sverige. De ängar och naturbetesmarker som en gång spelade en central roll i livsmedelsproduktion systemet är idag reducerade med upp till 95%. Detta har inneburit stora förluster av livsmiljöer för kärlväxter som är beroende av traditionella skötselmetoder, vilket har resulterat i en minskning av den totala växt/artrikedomen i landskapet. Ändå finns ofta spår av historisk markanvändning, så kallade arvseffekter, kvar och påverkar den nuvarande utbredningen av växter. Hur den historiska markanvändningen påverkar artrikedomen vi har idag och hur förändringarna i markanvändningen påverkar mångfalden av kärlväxter undersöks här. Det gjordes en inventering av två landskap med totalt 97 olika platser. Artrikedomen och förekomsten av specialistarter relaterades till historiska markanvändningskartor som erhölls från ett projekt av Cousins (2009). Resultaten tyder på att arvseffekter av historisk markanvändning påverkar dagens växtsamhällen men att dessa varierar mellan olika platser, troligen på grund av platsspecifika effekter. I denna avhandling visade sig resultaten vara motsägande i de två platserna som ingick i studien. SLU/Dept. of Ecology 2022 H2 eng swe https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/17660/ |
| spellingShingle | semi-natural grasslands biodiversity plant species land-use sequences Kumlander, Elisabeth The effects of historical land use on plant diversity in semi-natural grasslands |
| title | The effects of historical land use on plant diversity in semi-natural grasslands |
| title_full | The effects of historical land use on plant diversity in semi-natural grasslands |
| title_fullStr | The effects of historical land use on plant diversity in semi-natural grasslands |
| title_full_unstemmed | The effects of historical land use on plant diversity in semi-natural grasslands |
| title_short | The effects of historical land use on plant diversity in semi-natural grasslands |
| title_sort | effects of historical land use on plant diversity in semi-natural grasslands |
| topic | semi-natural grasslands biodiversity plant species land-use sequences |