Török et al. (2014) PLoS ONE

Török P, Valkó O, Deák B, Kelemen A, Tóthmérész B (2014) Traditional Cattle Grazing in a Mosaic Alkali Landscape: Effects on Grassland Biodiversity along a Moisture Gradient. PLoS ONE 9(5): e97095. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0097095


Abstract
Extensively managed pastures are of crucial importance in sustaining biodiversity both in local- and landscape-level. Thus, re-introduction of traditional grazing management is a crucial issue in grassland conservation actions worldwide. Traditional grazing with robust cattle breeds in low stocking rates is considered to be especially useful to mimic natural grazing regimes, but well documented case-studies are surprisingly rare on this topic. Our goal was to evaluate the effectiveness of traditional Hungarian Grey cattle grazing as a conservation action in a mosaic alkali landscape. We asked the following questions: (i) How does cattle grazing affect species composition and diversity of the grasslands? (ii) What are the effects of grazing on short-lived and perennial noxious species? (iii) Are there distinct effects of grazing in dry-, mesophilous- and wet grassland types? Vegetation of fenced and grazed plots in a 200-ha sized habitat complex (secondary dry grasslands and pristine mesophilous- and wet alkali grasslands) was sampled from 2006–2009 in East-Hungary. We found higher diversity scores in grazed plots compared to fenced ones in mesophilous- and wet grasslands. Higher cover of noxious species was typical in fenced plots compared to their grazed counterparts in the last year in every studied grassland type. We found an increasing effect of grazing from the dry- towards the wet grassland types. The year-to-year differences also followed similar pattern: the site-dependent effects were the lowest in the dry grassland and an increasing effect was detected along the moisture gradient. We found that extensive Hungarian Grey cattle grazing is an effective tool to suppress noxious species and to create a mosaic vegetation structure, which enables to maintain high species richness in the landscape. Hungarian Grey cattle can feed in open habitats along long moisture gradient, thus in highly mosaic landscapes this breed can be the most suitable livestock type.

Keywords

Biodiversity, Cattle, Conservation science, Ecosystems, Grasslands, Grazing, Shannon index, Species diversity

Valkó et al. (2013) Basic and Applied Ecology

Orsolya Valkó, Péter Török, Balázs Deák, Béla Tóthmérész (2013): Prospects and limitations of prescribed burning as a management tool in European grasslands. Basic and Applied Ecology, in press. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.baae.2013.11.002


Abstract
Grassland managers and scientists are increasingly interested in cost-effective alternative ways of grassland biodiversity conservation. Prescribed burning is a promising management tool which should be integrated in the planning of management efforts. In addition, small-scale prescribed burning is an effective fire suppression strategy to decrease the serious negative impacts of uncontrolled burnings on ecosystems and human life. Prescribed burning forms an integral part of the North-American grassland management practice, while in Europe it is rarely applied, despite the fact that uncontrolled burning occurs frequently in some regions. Our goal was to evaluate the use of prescribed burning as a promising but neglected management tool in European grasslands. We found that European studies on prescribed burning of grasslands are scarce and we conclude that annual burning is usually not an appropriate option for the conservation of species-rich grasslands. We reviewed burning studies from North-America to identify findings which might be adapted to the European grassland conservation strategy. In North-America, contrary to Europe, the application of burning is fine tuned in terms of frequency and timing, and usually combined with other restoration measures (grazing or seed sowing). Thus, we conclude that with the application of carefully designed prescribed burning, multiple conservation goals, e.g. invasion control and enhancing landscape-level heterogeneity, can be linked with an effective fire suppression strategy. We emphasize that for the application of prescribed burning in Europe, the general findings of carefully designed case studies should be combined with the practical knowledge of conservation managers concerning the local application circumstances to reach specific management objectives.


Keywords
Biomass, Ecosystem services, Fire, Grazing, Mowing, Prairie

Házi et al. (2012) Applied Ecology and Environmental Research

Házi, J., Penszka, K., Bartha, S., Hufnagel, L., Tóth, A., Gyuricza, Cs., Szentes, Sz. (2012): Cut mowing and grazing effects with grey cattle on plant species composition in case of Pannon wet grasslands. Applied Ecology and Environmental Research 10(3): 223-231.


Abstract
Examined area can be found at Balaton Uplands National Park (Hungary). 5 sample areas were examined in Badacsonytördemic: 1: 32 hectare under-grazed pasture, 2: 38 hectare overgrazed pasture, 3: 34 hectare hayfield, 4: trampled area, 5: beaten track. Livestock population was 118 in the monitored pastures. Sampling was executed along five 52m long circular transects, within 5cm × 5cm interlocking quadrates. Based on the data we can state that the curve of the drinking area was the highest of speciesarea examinations however weed appeared because of degradation which provided more species. According to species-area examinations overgrazed areas were richer in species then other examined areas. Based on diversity data drinking area considered degraded, while meadow and overgrazed areas was considered as proper state. Diversity of meadow was larger, but dominance of economically useful species was smaller. The amount of less valuable species – Carex hirta – increased.



Keywords
grazing, pasture, hayfield, species composition, nature conservation

Pal et al. (2013) Folia Geobotanica

Robert W. Pal, Sándor Csete, Zoltán Botta-Dukát, Gyula Pinke (2013): Composition and Diversity of Lawn Flora in Differently Managed Village Yards – A Case Study from Southwestern Hungary. Folia Geobotanica, DOI 10.1007/s12224-012-9142-0

Abstract
Traditionally managed village yards have been disappearing from the Central-European countryside. Their lawn flora is likely to provide a unique habitat for many plants that are adapted to this environment. Composition of lawn flora was investigated in differently managed village yards (i.e., regularly mown and regularly trampled yards, poultry yards, paved yards) in southwestern Hungary. The main goal of the study was to detect the impacts of these different management regimes on the composition and diversity of the vegetation. In total, 240 1-m2 plots were sampled in 60 yards ranging from 80 m2 to 5,000 m2 in size. In the redundancy analysis, eight significant variables (degree of southness, slope, age, total size of yards; mowing, trampling and grazing regime; and the number of dogs) explained 16 % of the total variation in species data. The most diverse flora across yards was detected in the paved ones, and their stands also proved to be the most compositionally distinctive. In contrast, presence of domestic animals can contribute to local species loss as well as to a decrease in within-yard-type variability. These results highlight the importance of certain anthropogenic disturbances in maintaining high plant diversity, but also underline the crucial role of small-scale land management practices in rural environments.


Keywords
Anthropogenic disturbance, Grazing, Mowing, Ruderal vegetation, Trampling