Pasture landscape

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Heck cattle in the NSG Stilleking grazing project near Lüdenscheid

Pasture landscape , also known as a semi-open landscape, pasture project or "wild pasture" , is a model and a coordinated care concept in nature conservation and landscape management. Through extensive, often year-round grazing with robust grazing cattle or grazing wild animals, occasionally also with specially backbred domestic animals, a species-rich grassland or grassland with interspersed, individually growing (solitary) trees or small groups of trees should be maintained or recreated. Pasture landscapes used to develop by themselves in the context of pre-industrial, extensive land use and were preserved through this use. In Europe, this type of land use is now unprofitable due to the low yields. It is maintained within the framework of grazing projects, as a maintenance measure for nature conservation, to preserve the landscape and to promote endangered species, funded with public funds.

Pasture landscapes exist almost worldwide under certain climatic and pedological conditions. This article only deals with the situation in Europe.

Definition, distribution in Europe

Semi-open pasture landscapes are characterized by grazed grassland in which woody plants (trees and bushes) are loosely interspersed. They mostly emerged from forests through forest pasture . In the landscape they resemble the savannahs of the tropics. For climatic reasons, completely tree-free landscapes such as the Eurasian steppe are not included . According to an estimate in 2015, half-open pastures (“wood pastures”) within the European Union take up 203,000 square kilometers, and thus around 4.7 percent of the total area. These are divided into 109,000 square kilometers of open pastureland with scattered woodland, 85,000 square kilometers of open forest and 9,000 square kilometers of grazed areas with cultivated woodlands, such as orchards with fruit trees, cork oak groves of the Iberian peninsula (Spanish dehesas , Portuguese called montados with olive trees ) or olive groves . The main focus of their occurrence is in the Mediterranean region of southern Europe and in Eastern Europe. In Central Europe they occur mainly as alpine pastures in the mountains. The following estimates are made for the countries of Central Europe: Germany about 5591 square kilometers, Austria about 1350 square kilometers (each about 1.6 percent of the country's area), the Netherlands about 271 square kilometers (about 0.8 percent of the country's area). They reach shares of over 10 percent of the country's area in Portugal, Spain, Greece and Bulgaria.

Both the landscape and the vegetation of the European pasture landscapes are primarily dependent on climatic factors. In the boreal and hemiboreal zone of Northern Europe, oak-dominated coppice -like forms known as Kratt occur, in Scandinavia they are called Lövängar . In Central Europe, the Hudewald , called Weidfeld in the Black Forest , was formed in the common land (or Mark) used by cooperatives . Grazed limestone grasslands form juniper heaths through sprinkled thorn bushes . Park landscapes divided by hedges and rows of trees are typical in Atlantic Western Europe . In a list by Erwin Bergmeier and colleagues, 15 types are distinguished in Europe.

structure

Cattle also bite trees

The structure of the pasture landscape is primarily shaped by the grazing factor itself. In historical pastures more previously common forms of forest use were as pollarding to feed extraction (Laubheu) or sods or spreading rake for the production of bedding added; these have left their traces in historical landscapes, but are no longer practiced in today's projects. When grazing, the most important factor is the browsing of the young tree growth. As a result, if grazing for a longer period of time, the old trees remain standing, but no longer have any offspring, so that the original Hutewald is lost. According to analyzes in north-west Germany, which can, however, be transferred to other landscape areas, young trees with intensive pasture only appear in the protection of reinforced, thorny or poisonous shrub species. Above all, thorny species such as sloe , hawthorn and dog rose form impenetrable bushes for grazing cattle, which act as regeneration complexes in which established tree seedlings are protected from browsing. The old trees then shade the thorn bushes, so that a solitary tree results. In larger bushes formed by several shrubs or by root brood (especially sloe), sometimes smaller groves can develop. The role of the demanding hedge shrub species is assumed on poor sandy soils by other shrubs such as juniper or broom . With moderate grazing, Atlantic deciduous forests instead form an impenetrable second floor of holly . In historical times man tried to imitate these processes, also artificially to establish tree masters in the protection of thorn trees in order to gain construction timber and mast trees for the acorn mast . Since individual hat trees can be hundreds of years old, there are still trees in the landscape today that bear traces of the old forms of use. With a few exceptions, modern pasture projects do not begin in closed high forests, but in landscapes that are already partially open, so that the processes run faster. The park-like structure of the pasture landscape is partly the result of direct intervention by the farmer, but partly also spontaneously, due to quasi-natural processes that are not controlled in detail.

Ecological importance

Due to their diverse structure, pasture landscapes are characterized by small-scale, changing site conditions and thus often particularly high numbers of species. The communities of the forests and the open country mix, but there are also their own species. In the flora , light-loving species protected from grazing by ingredients or thorns are particularly typical, for example peonies , germer and hellebore species and diptams , most of which are more southerly distributed. Many types of heat-loving (thermophilic) forests are actually adapted to hat forests and disappear due to lack of light when grazing ceases and the population becomes denser and darker as a result. Many bird species prefer semi-open pastureland, species such as the Spanish imperial eagle and red headed shrike are almost completely dependent on them. Short-grass grazed areas with interspersed woody plants are the preferred hunting habitat of many owl species such as the scops owl and little owl and also many insectivorous species such as hoopoe and redstart .

In pasture landscapes there are often single, broad-crowned trees that can reach a much higher age than in the commercial forest, which is characterized by regular rotation times. As a result, species adapted to old and dead wood , including many so-called “primeval forest relics”, are even more common here than in the forest; this is especially true for heat-loving species. The interspersed trees are a key resource for many animals; they do not occur in closed forests or in tree-free grassland. In the faeces of grazing animals live specially adapted, kotfressende (coprophagous) beetle species, especially from the family of scarab beetles . Plant-sucking insects such as the cicadas also have particularly high numbers of species. For zoological species protection, pasture landscapes are generally considered to be of higher value due to the higher structural diversity and the less harsh maintenance interventions compared to maintenance by mowing .

Megaherbivores

Heck cattle between Koniks in the wilderness development area Oostvaardersplassen

According to the controversial, megaherbivore hypothesis, it is not closed forests but semi-open pastures that are the original nature of Central Europe. The theory states that species such as aurochs , bison , elk and wild horse would have thinned the forest through biting branches and young growth and peeling off the bark, so that even in the primeval landscape it had more of the character of a Hudewald, or even an open park landscape, would have. According to the hypothesis, humans with their grazing cattle would only have taken the place of the wild herbivores, which they would have driven back as hunters through heavy hunting. For many supporters of the hypothesis, semi-open pasture landscapes have a very special meaning because only they, and not closed climax primeval forests, would represent the actual primeval landscape of Central Europe. In addition to the species mentioned, the original vegetation and flora of Central Europe, especially tree species with their long generation times, may have been influenced by species such as mammoth or forest elephant that were extinct in the Pleistocene or exterminated by human hunters . According to the Dutch ecologist and nature conservationist Frans WM Vera, the hypothesis also explains the frequent occurrence of light-loving forest woody species such as the Central European oak species and hedge shrubs such as the hazel in pollen diagrams: These are adapted to thinned, grazed forests, which is the reason for their current decline in closed permanent forests be. The propagation of English oaks and sessile oaks in open areas and under thorn bushes also seems to be particularly successful, due to the jay's preference, which is mainly responsible for their spread, for short lawns, shrubs, thickets and transition zones between forest and meadow to hide the acorns .

Although the hypothesis is particularly popular with nature conservation practitioners who oversee pasture projects, it is scientifically controversial. Experiments such as fencing off small areas (exclosures) have shown that wild grazing animals can indeed have a strong influence on vegetation, and in some circumstances can actually turn closed forests into open parklands; the density of the grazers could also be estimated historically by an indirect method, the very resistant spores of the dung-dwelling fungus Sporormiella ( Pleosporales ). Some clues and indicators, such as the analysis of the remains of the beetle fauna by forest versus open land species, however, point to a fairly closed and dark jungle in the late Holocene (from 6000 BC), but there also seem to have been open areas in the early Holocene (9000–6000 BC) these even seem to be dominant. In general, there appears to have been both open pasture landscapes and closed forests throughout the Holocene.

Proponents of the mega herbivore hypothesis therefore consider pasture landscapes to be the actual primeval or wild landscape in Central Europe as well. They therefore use the term “ wilderness development area ” to characterize their project areas.

Grazing animals

Grazing animals for the maintenance of semi-open pastureland are selected on the one hand according to the intended impact on the vegetation and landscape structure, on the other hand the creation of habitats for wild animals or pet breeds that have become rare is an essential project goal in many projects. In individual cases, such as the wild cattle or their breeding of images, this aspect is in the foreground of the projects, the landscape is more of the secondary aspect here. Grazing animals for grazing projects should be wild animals or robust breeds of domestic animals that can live all year round and even under extreme weather conditions with minimal supervision. In the balance sheet of the projects, economic aspects, such as the marketing of the meat produced, often play an important role.

Horses

Icelandic horses in De Meinweg National Park in the Netherlands

Since the European wild horse or tarpan ( Equus ferus ) has become extinct, robust domesticated horse breeds are used for grazing projects. Horses eat roughage with a special specialization in grasses, with high-crowned (" hypsodont ") teeth. Unlike the so-called selectors like the deer, they hardly eat any buds or leaves from woody plants. However, they are known for peeling the bark on older trees and thus damaging or killing them. Horse breeds that are widely used in grazing projects and where particularly good conservation of wild horse characteristics is assumed are, for example, the Polish Koniks , the Portuguese Sorraias , the English Exmoor pony . However, numerous other robust horse breeds such as Haflinger, Icelandic and Shetland ponies are used in grazing projects. Some robust horse breeds are still kept very extensively in the region and are often referred to as “wild horses” in public, even if the morphological similarity to the European wild horses is less. These include Camargue horses , Posavina horses , Pottok ponies , Giara horses and a whole range of others. One attempt at breeding back by crossing different robust breeds is the rear horse . The Przewalski horse , which, contrary to what has long been assumed, is not a real wild animal, is also used in grazing projects, but according to genetic analyzes it is not particularly closely related to the former European wild horses.

Bovine

Since the European wild cattle, the aurochs , have also become extinct, robust breeds are also used here instead, especially old land breeds. Alternatively, however, attempts are also made to breed a robust breed that is as similar as possible to the aurochs, e.g. B. Heck cattle and Taurus cattle . These are the result of cross-breeding with different v. a. Primitive races from southern Europe such as Sayaguesa , Tudanca , Pajuna , Maremmana Primitivo and Boškarin .

Other grazing animals

In addition to horses and cattle, many other herbivores are also used for grazing projects. In Central Europe these are, for example, red deer , fallow deer , water buffalo , bison , goat , sheep , donkey and elk , the choice often depends on the desired end result (different species have different effects on the vegetation due to different preferences and grazing intensities), but also others Aspects such as climate and terrain conditions. Sheep, goats and donkeys are mostly used for smaller areas near settlements, but also heaths, while red deer and fallow deer, bison and elk are used together with cattle and horses if a dynamic landscape is to develop over longer periods of time. The water buffalo, originally from Asia, is used in particular in swampy terrain.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Tobias Plieninger, Tibor Hartel, Berta Martín-López, Guy Beaufoy, Erwin Bergmeier, Keith Kirby, María Jesús Montero , Gerardo Moreno, Elisa Oteros-Rozas, Jan Van Uytvanck (2015): Wood-pastures of Europe: Geographic coverage, social –Ecological values, conservation management, and policy implications. Biological Conservation 190: 70-79. doi: 10.1016 / j.biocon.2015.05.014
  2. ^ A b Erwin Bergmeier, Jörg Petermann, Eckhard Schröder (2010): Geobotanical survey of wood-pasture habitats in Europe: diversity, threats and conservation. Biodiversity and Conservation 19: 2995-3014. doi: 10.1007 / s10531-010-9872-3
  3. ↑ Richard Pott & Joachim Hüppe: The Hudelandschaften Northwest Germany. published by the Westphalian Museum for Natural History and the Regional Association of Westphalia-Lippe, Münster 1991. ISBN 3 924590 27 3 .
  4. ^ Adrian D. Manning, Joern Fischer, David B. Lindenmayer (2006): Scattered trees are keystone structures - Implications for conservation. Biological Conservation 132: 311-321. doi: 10.1016 / j.biocon.2006.04.023
  5. ↑ Herbert Nickel, Edgar Reisinger, René Sollmann, Christoph Unger (2016): Exceptional successes in zoological species protection through extensive year-round grazing with cattle and horses Results of two pilot studies on cicadas in Thuringia, with further results on birds, reptiles and amphibians. Landscape conservation and nature conservation in Thuringia 53 (1): 5–20.
  6. ↑ Peter Fick, Uwe Riecken, Eckhard Schröder: Pasture Landscapes and Nature Conservation - New strategies for the preservation of open landscapes in Europe. In: Bernd Redecker, Werner Härdtle, Peter Finck, Uwe Riecken, Eckhard Schröder (editors): Pasture Landscapes and Nature Conservation. Springer-Verlag, Berlin and Heidelberg 2002. ISBN 978-3-642-62747-7
  7. ^ Frans WM Vera, Elisabeth S. Bakker, Han Olff: Large herbivores: missing partners of western European light-demanding tree and shrub species? In K. Danell, P. Duncan, R. Bergström, J. Pastor (editors): Large Herbivore Ecology, Ecosystem Dynamics and Conservation. Cambridge University Press, 2006.
  8. ↑ FWM Vera: Grazing Ecology and Forest History . 1st edition. CABI Publishing, Wallingford / New York 2002, ISBN 0-85199-442-3 .
  9. ↑ Elisabeth S. Bakker, Jacquelyn L. Gill, Christopher N. Johnson, Frans WM Vera, Christopher J. Sandom, Gregory P. Asner, Jens-Christian Svenning (2016): Combining paleo-data and modern exclosure experiments to assess the impact of megafauna extinctions on woody vegetation. PNAS Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 113 (4): 847-855. doi: 10.1073 / pnas.1502545112
  10. ↑ Nicki J. Whitehouse, David Smith (2009): How fragmented was the British Holocene wildwood? Perspectives on the `` Vera '' grazing debate from the fossil beetle record. Quaternary Science Reviews 29 (3-4): 539-553. doi: 10.1016 / j.quascirev.2009.10.010
  11. ↑ M. Bunzel-Drüke, C. Böhm, P. Finck, G. Kämmer, R. Luick, E. Reisinger, U. Riecken, J. Riedl, M. Scharf, O. Zimball: Wilde Weiden. Practical guide for year-round grazing in nature conservation and landscape development. published by the Working Group on Biological Environmental Protection V., Bad Sassendorf-Lohne, 2008. ISBN 978-3-00-024385-1
  12. ↑ Waltraud Kugler, Elli Broxham: The ecological value of wild livestock populations in Europe. Recording, situation and establishment of a network for the management of wild and semi-wild livestock populations. Project report, Save Foundation, St.Gallen 2014.
  13. ^ David E. MacHugh, Greger Larson, Ludovic Orlando (2017): Taming the Past: Ancient DNA and the Study of Animal Domestication. Annual Review of Animal Biosciences 5: 6.1-6.23. doi: 10.1146 / annurev-animal-022516-022747

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