Intensified grazing affects endemic plant and gastropod diversity in alpine grasslands of the Southern Carpathian mountains (Romania) |
| |
Authors: | Bruno Baur Cristina Cremene Gheorghe Groza Anatoli A Schileyko Anette Baur Andreas Erhardt |
| |
Institution: | 1. Section of Conservation Biology, Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Basel, St. Johanns-Vorstadt 10, CH-4056, Basel, Switzerland 2. Faculty of Biology and Geology, Babes-Bolyai University, Str. Clinicilor 5–7, 400006, Cluj-Napoca, Romania 3. Department of Botany, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, Calea Manastur 3–5, 400372, Cluj-Napoca, Romania 4. A. N. Severtzov Institute of Problems of Evolution and Ecology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Leninski Prospect 33, 119017, Moscow, Russia
|
| |
Abstract: | Alpine grasslands in the Southern Carpathian Mts, Romania, harbour an extraordinarily high diversity of plants and invertebrates,
including Carpathic endemics. In the past decades, intensive sheep grazing has caused a dramatic decrease in biodiversity
and even led to eroded soils at many places in the Carpathians. Because of limited food resources, sheep are increasingly
forced to graze on steep slopes, which were formerly not grazed by livestock and are considered as local biodiversity hotspots.
We examined species richness, abundance and number of endemic vascular plants and terrestrial gastropods on steep slopes that
were either grazed by sheep or ungrazed by livestock in two areas of the Southern Carpathians. On calcareous soils in the
Bucegi Mts, a total of 177 vascular plant and 19 gastropod species were recorded. Twelve plant species (6.8%) and three gastropod
species (15.8%) were endemic to the Carpathians. Grazed sites had lower plant and gastropod species richness than ungrazed
sites. Furthermore, grazed sites harboured fewer gastropod species endemic to the Carpathians than ungrazed sites. On acid
soils in the Fagaras Mts, a total of 96 vascular plant and nine gastropod species were found. In this mountain area, however,
grazed and ungrazed sites did not differ in species richness, abundance and number of endemic plant and gastropod species.
Our findings confirm the high biodiversity of grasslands on steep slopes in the Southern Carpathian Mts and caution against
increasing grazing pressure in these refuges for relic plants and gastropods as well as for other invertebrates. |
| |
Keywords: | Alpine grassland biodiversity Bucegi Mts Gastropoda grazing Fagaras Mts vascular plants |
本文献已被 SpringerLink 等数据库收录! |
|