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Background Traditional knowledge is key for sustainability, but it is rapidly disappearing. Pig keeping in forests and marshes is an ancient, once widespread, now vanishing practice, with a major economic and ecological potential. The knowledge of pig keepers and the foraging activity of pigs are hardly documented. Methods We studied the knowledge of traditional pig keepers (svinjars) on wild plants and pig foraging on the Sava-Bosut forest-marsh complex in Serbia. We conducted picture-based interviews about 234 locally common and/or salient plant species, and participatory fieldwork (11 days) and visual observation (21 days) on pig foraging. Results 181 wild plant species were known by svinjars and 106 taxa were consumed by pigs. Svinjars knew well and could name most regularly foraged species. 98 species were reported by svinjars as foraged and 56 as not eaten. 28 species were observed by the authors as eaten regularly, while 21 were nibbled and 17 avoided. Contradictory information on foraging was rare both among svinjars (8 species) and between svinjars and researchers (7 species); several of these species were rare. Leaves of 92, fruits or seeds of 21 and ‘roots’ of 20 species were reported or observed as eaten, usually with high seasonality. Svinjars were overall observant, but knew little about some less salient species (e.g. Veronica, Circaea). The most common forages (reported and/or observed) were fruits (Quercus, fleshy fruits), grasses (Agrostis, Glyceria), herbs (Ranunculus ficaria, Circaea), nutritious ‘roots’ (Carex spp., Iris), young shrub leaves (Crataegus, Carpinus) and ‘tame’ plants growing in the sun (Persicaria dubia, Erigeron annuus). Traditional, now extinct pig breeds were reported as less selective and more ‘knowledgeable’ about plants, as they received less additional fodder. Svinjars learnt their knowledge since childhood, from community members, but long-term personal observations and everyday encounters with pigs were also important sources of knowledge. Conclusions A deeper understanding of pig foraging could contribute to using pigs in nature conservation management, resource management and organic farming, and to a better understanding of wild boar foraging. The knowledge of svinjars is a disappearing intangible cultural heritage of European importance. Knowledge holders deserve recognition, and legal and financial support to continue this tradition.

Temperate deciduous forests dominated by oaks cover extensive areas in European lowlands. These ecosystems have been under intense anthropogenic use for millennia, thus their natural dynamics, and their regeneration in particular, is still not well understood. Previous studies found that pedunculate oak (Quercus robur), one of the most widespread and abundant species in European deciduous forests, regenerates in open habitats and forest edges, but not in closed forest interiors. However, these observations usually come from the core areas of the biome, and much less is known about such processes at its arid boundary, where limiting factors may be different, and climate change may first exert its effects.In a full factorial field experiment, we tested the effects of different habitats and increased growing season precipitation on the early regeneration of pedunculate oak in a forest-steppe ecosystem in Central Hungary, at the arid boundary of temperate deciduous forests. We planted acorns into three neighbouring habitats (grassland, forest edge, forest interior) and studied seedling emergence and plant performance under ambient weather and additional watering for four years.In the grassland habitat, seedling emergence was very low, and no seedlings survived by the fourth year. In contrast, seedling emergence was high and similar at forest edges and forest interiors, and was not affected by water addition. Most seedlings survived until the fourth year, with no difference between forest edge and forest interior habitats in numbers, and only minor or transient differences in size (leaf number, height).The lack of oak regeneration in the grassland contradicts previous reports on successful oak regeneration in open habitats, and may be related to a shift from light limitation to other limiting factors, such as moisture or microclimatic extremes, when moving away from the core of the deciduous forest biome towards its arid boundary. The similar number and performance of seedlings in forest edges and forest interiors may also be related to the decreasing importance of light limitation. The above-average precipitation in the year of seedling emergence (2016) might be a reason why watering had no effect on oak regeneration.Overall, our results highlight that oak regeneration and thus forest dynamics may be limited by different factors at a biome boundary compared to its core areas. Indeed, this very simple mechanism (inability of oak regeneration in grassland habitats) may contribute to the opening up of the closed forest biome, and the emergence of a biome transition zone.

Background Forests have been grazed for millennia. Around the world, forest grazing by livestock became a controversial management practice, gradually restricted in many countries over the past 250 years. This was also the case in most Central and Eastern European countries, including Hungary, where forest grazing was a legally prohibited activity between 1961 and 2017. Until the 2010s, ecologists and nature conservationists considered it merely as a historical form of forest use. As a result, there is little contemporary scientific information available about the impact of forest grazing on vegetation and the traditional ecological knowledge associated with it. Our aim was to explore and summarize this type of knowledge held by herders in Hungary. Methods We interviewed 58 knowledgeable herders and participated in forest grazing activities in 43 study locations across the country. The results were analysed qualitatively. Results We revealed a living ecological knowledge tradition and practice of forest grazing in native and non-native forest stands. The impact of livestock grazing on native and non-native forests is not considerably different, in the view of the herders. For both forest types, the greatest impact of grazing was the suppression of the shrub layer, while grazing also increased the dominance and palatability (“tameness”) of the grasses. Livestock could cause significant damage to seedlings during forest grazing, but if done with care, grazing could also be an integral part of forestry management. Conclusions Sustainability of current forest grazing practices depends on the depth of local and traditional knowledge applied and herders’ stewardship. We stress the importance of collaborating with holders of local and traditional knowledge in order to gain a better understanding of the effects of livestock grazing on vegetation in temperate forests.

Human impacts on the Earth’s biosphere are driving the global biodiversity crisis. Governments are preparing to agree on a set of actions intended to halt the loss of biodiversity and put it on a path to recovery by 2050. We provide evidence that the proposed actions can bend the curve for biodiversity, but only if these actions are implemented urgently and in an integrated manner.

Despite the growing list of elements assessed and recognised as environmental and human health hazards, pollution monitoring and mitigation strategies are mandatory only for a limited number of metals, for which ambient air quality limits are defined by national and international policies. In order to overcome this deficiency, and promote cost-effective strategies and methods to assess airborne pollution, biomonitoring has been employed on several occasions using various protocols and organisms. Here we present a complex national monitoring study based on a combined approach that integrates air pollution data obtained through passive biomonitoring using the foliar content of various tree species and active biomonitoring with Hylocomium splendens moss bags. Concentrations of seven air pollutant metals, Al, Cr, Co, Cu, Fe, Mn and Zn, not regularly monitored and lacking established legal limit values, were measured in 410 passive and 142 active biomonitoring sampling sites across Romania, in two seasons, representing the largest study reported up-to-date applying complementary passive and active biomonitoring. Literature data reporting concentrations from uncontaminated areas was used to establish the concentration limits for four pollution levels (no, low, medium and high pollution), in order to develop a colour-coded warning system. High pollution levels were measured for 4.7% of passive and 9.8% of active monitoring samples. The largest proportions of samples showing high pollution levels were obtained for zinc (38.4%, for active monitoring) and chromium (18.9%, for passive monitoring). A significantly higher element content was found in moss bag samples than in leaves/needles. Though we emphasize the potential of both passive and active biomonitoring in assessing airborne pollution, our experiences and findings show that the more standardized methodology of moss-bag biomonitoring is sounder and better suited for such large-scale studies than a study conducted on multiple tree species. Some of the difficulties encountered during the two biomonitoring studies are also reported, including the range limit of species and the lack of established reference values for pollution limits.

Large herbivores have a keystone role in many forest ecosystems. There is widespread recognition that undesirable changes may be caused by the complete removal of grazing-related disturbances, whereas there can be benefits from properly managed, targeted livestock grazing, both from a forest management and biodiversity perspectives. However, there are also many contradictory statements and results about forest grazing. We summarize the main scientific evidence and knowledge gaps on forest livestock grazing through a global review of the literature for the temperate region. We analysed 71 publications discussing the impact of livestock grazing on vegetation in forests. Grazing reduces vegetation biomass, but less obvious effects relevant to conservation include increased habitat diversity and increased regeneration of selected canopy tree species. Moreover, detailed guidance on how grazing should be carried out for conservation purposes is limited because the results are strongly context dependent. The direction and amplitude of effects can be influenced not only by forest type and stocking levels, but by foraging preferences of livestock, availability of alternative forage, grazing season and herder activity. We stress the need for well-planned real-world experiments and observations, and for more quantitative studies to foster evidence-based conservation management. Grazing differences between wild ungulates and livestock should be better studied, because the effects are often overlapping. We suggest widening the temporal and spatial scales of case studies and stress the need to create space and openness for interdisciplinary and participatory research and conservation approaches, initiating knowledge co-production on the benefits and dis-benefits of grazing in forests.

Semi-open oak woods and solitary oaks commonly dominate the wooded fabric (i.e. the ‘oakscape’) of European traditional rural agricultural landscapes based on animal husbandry. However, modern land use systems fail to perpetuate oakscapes, posing a serious threat to biodiversity conservation and the associated diversity of ecosystem services. Reconstructing the dynamics of oakscape remnants can provide valuable insights concerning the maintenance of oakscapes. We used the socio-economic transitions at the European Union’s eastern border as a natural experiment to explore the drivers for successful oak recruitment in 27 selected units representing 4 oakscape categories. Analyses of tree-ring data, historical maps, and orthophotos were used to reconstruct the oakscapes’ establishment trajectories in relation to land use changes in the period 1790–2010. The oaks in cultural semi-open woods and wood-pastures differed substantially from those in closed canopy forests by more stocky shape and faster early age DBH annual increase. We found two distinct recruitment patterns: (1) FAST – recruitment usually completed within 2–3 decades, attributed to an unconstrained succession of abandoned agricultural land, and (2) SLOW – recruitment extending over several or more decades. In Ukraine, frequent illegal grass burning in marginal woods was the most successful mechanism perpetuating oak recruitment. Top-down policy encouraging specialized intensive farming, sustained yield forestry, and conservation efforts concentrated on the preservation of closed canopy forests compromise the future of traditional agro-silvo-pastoral systems. Maintenance of traditional integrated agro-silvo-pastoral management sustaining oakscapes needs to combine local traditional knowledge and landscape stewardship.

The high nature conservation value of floodplain ecosystems is severely threatened by invasive alien species. Besides adversely affecting native biodiversity, these species also pose a major threat from a wider socio-ecological perspective (e.g. ‘roughness’ increases flood risk). Finding options to control dense shrub layers consisting of invasive alien species is therefore of high priority for multipurpose management. We studied cattle grazing impacts on the cover, composition and diversity of the herb and shrub layers in floodplain poplar plantations along the Tamis river, Serbia. Non-grazed, moderately grazed, intensively grazed and resting place stands were sampled in five locations in three sampling points. Non-grazed stands had substantially higher cover of invasive alien shrub species (on average 65%) than moderately and intensively grazed stands, and resting places (5.17, 0.02 and 0.00%, respectively), but without considerable differences between the grazing intensity categories. The number of invasive alien species in the shrub layer decreased considerably from non-grazed to intensively grazed stands. Species composition in the herb layer changed from non-grazed to intensively grazed stands, while resting places differed substantially from the other categories. Total species richness, richness of native generalist herbaceous grassland species, and the cover of palatable grasses were the highest in moderately and intensively grazed stands. Our results suggest that cattle grazing in floodplains is effective at controlling invasive alien shrub species. Furthermore, continuous moderate or intensive grazing would contribute to multifunctional management of invaded floodplains by enhancing local biodiversity, reducing flood risk, and providing additional grazing areas for the local community.

Habitats associated with oak may host high insect diversity, especially saproxylic species, due to the availability of specific microhabitats such as dead wood, rotten logs and woody debris. Among the insects occurring in such habitats, ants play a major role in forest ecosystems as generalist predators. Ant assemblages were investigated using different types of traps. Sampling was carried out in 2015 and 2016, in a wood-pasture located in eastern Transylvania (Romania). Differences between species richness and composition in different types of oak habitats were tested: solitary oak in pasture, oak stand, and the ecotone separating them. Altogether a total of 17 ant species were identified. The three habitats shared an important proportion of the species, yet significant differences between the three habitats in terms of community composition were found. The highest diversity of ant species was recorded in the oak stands, followed by the solitary trees, though differences were not significant. Oak associated habitats can sustain high diversity of ant species and moreover thermophilic specialists thrive. Finally, the abundance of Lasius brunneus is highlighted, the species being proposed as a wood-pasture specialist.

Biomonitoring, i.e. using plant species for measuring pollution levels, has been previously explored in several locations using various protocols and organisms in the search for effective strategies and practices for monitoring and reducing the levels of pollution. Here we present a tested and functional cost-effective method of using the foliar accumulation of tree species to develop a system for the long-term monitoring of airborne heavy metal bioaccumulation at a large, national scale. A total number of 1230 leaf samples have been collected during a vegetation season in 410 sampling locations scattered across Romania. Concentration levels were determined using an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer. Data from literature were used as reference values for the natural concentration of heavy metals in plants. Values exceeding these levels were considered as indicators of pollution, and used to define pollution thresholds. The maximum amounts measured in the collected samples were 152 mg kg−1 dry weight for lead, 25.65 mg kg−1 dry weight for cadmium, 65.51 mg kg−1 dry weight for nickel and 4.81 mg kg−1 dry weight for arsenic. For analysing and communicating the findings, the BioMonRo software has been developed as a novel tool for warning-informing and decision-making. The software, now implemented by the Ministry of Environment for monitoring environmental quality, uses concentration data to build up national heavy metal pollution maps and can generate reports, which are automatically sent to various stakeholders. Based on our findings, we consider that tree species are efficient biomonitors, and similar methods could be successfully used in extensive biomonitoring programmes (national, regional or European), and for informing authorities.

Intensification and specialisation of agriculture and forest use has led to profound structural and compositional changes in European landscapes. In particular, sharp, narrow edges adjacent to relatively homogenous vegetation types progressively replace transitional habitats, crucial for a plethora of species and ecological processes. Quercus robur and Q. petraea regeneration niches make them best adapted to such transitional habitats. However, contemporary oaks’ importance, including their regeneration, is usually considered within limits of forest habitats. Defining habitats, landscape patterns and processes fostering oak regeneration and ‘oakscape’ development. We assessed the state-of-the art of the topical literature with respect to various aspects of oak regeneration based on a refined list of 234 titles from the Web of Science database. The review confirmed that the vast majority of studies focus on forest habitats, disregarding the fact that substantial part of acorns are being carried away and seeded by birds in non-forest habitats. The common acceptance of the simplistic landscape mosaic model, based on segregated homogenous vegetation categories and clear-cut lines separating patches, impedes proper assessment of landscape changes, referring to ‘untypical’, transitional habitats—the true oaks’ domain. Hence, restoring and sustaining European ‘oakscape’ should result from the overall landscape management, based on a better adapted gradient approach to landscape studies. Applying such an approach, we identified a set of habitats fostering successful oak regeneration and recruitment without direct human support, contributing to the contemporary ‘oakscape’, represented mostly by non-forest, either natural or anthropogenic habitats.

Questions: What is the functional trait variation of European temperate grasslands and how does this reflect global patterns of plant form and function? Do habitat specialists show trait differentiation across habitat types?. Location: Europe. Methods: We compiled 18 regeneration and non-regeneration traits for a continental species pool consisting of 645 species frequent in five grassland types. These grassland types are widely distributed in Europe but differentiated by altitude, soil bedrock and traditional long-term management and disturbance regimes. We evaluated the multivariate trait space of this entire species pool and compared multi-trait variation and mean trait values of habitat specialists grouped by grassland type. Results: The first dimension of the trait space accounted for 23% of variation and reflected a gradient between fast-growing and slow-growing plants. Plant height and SLA contributed to both the first and second ordination axes. Regeneration traits mainly contributed to the second and following dimensions to explain 56% of variation across the first five axes. Habitat specialists showed functional differences between grassland types mainly through non-regeneration traits. Conclusions: The trait spectrum of plants dominating European temperate grasslands is primarily explained by growth strategies which are analogous to the trait variation observed at the global scale, and secondly by regeneration strategies. Functional differentiation of habitat specialists across grassland types is mainly related to environmental filtering linked with altitude and disturbance. This filtering pattern is mainly observed in non-regeneration traits, while most regeneration traits demonstrate multiple strategies within the same habitat type., EL, BJA, MTI, AM, PI and CB acknowledge the research leading to these results has received funding from the People Programme (Marie Curie Actions) of the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme FP7/2007–2013 under REA grant agreement no. 607785, as a part of the NAtive Seed Science TEchnology and Conservation (NASSTEC) Initial Training Network (ITN). BJA was further funded by the Marie Curie Clarín‐COFUND program of the Principality of Asturias and the European Union (ACB17‐26). BJA and HB acknowledge support from the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle–Jena–Leipzig funded by the German Research Foundation (DFTG FZT 118) through the sPlot research platform. PI acknowledges support from the Rural & Environment Science & Analytical Services Division of the Scottish Government. KÖ thanks RO1567‐IBB03/2018 for financial support.

Introduced pathogen microorganisms are important drivers of ecosystem change. This paper highlights the impact of the non-native pathogen mildew multi-species complex on the natural regeneration dynamics of pedunculate oak (Quercus robur). Pedunculate oak is a European keystone tree species, hosting a great amount of biodiversity, but its future role in (near-)natural forests is uncertain due to the lack of natural regeneration. We reviewed historical and recent ecological, pathological and forestry literature on topics related to the impact of mildew on the success of advanced natural regeneration of pedunculate oak in (near-)natural forests. We propose a novel hypothesis, the ‘pathogen mildew hypothesis’, to explain the failure of natural regeneration of pedunculate oak. Mildew reduces shade tolerance and vertical growth in seedlings and saplings, so sapling vitality and competitiveness have diminished considerably since it was unintentionally introduced to Europe in the early 20th century. Due to mildew infection, pedunculate oak in many cases no longer regenerates well naturally under its own canopy. We found that forest ecologists and conservationists often overlook the impacts of this ‘recent’ driver, while the ‘closed-forest’ and ‘wood-pasture’ hypotheses do not adequately help the management of pedunculate oak regeneration. Nature conservation and forest management plans should thus also consider the impact of mildew in order to improve natural regeneration, promote close-to-nature management of pedunculate oak forests, and support associated diversity. More generally, nature conservation, forest ecology and close-to-nature forestry should pay greater attention to the impact of introduced non-native microorganisms on the dynamics of natural ecosystems.

Wetland grazing by livestock, once widespread throughout Europe, is increasingly used in conservation management. To avoid conflicts and enable cooperation between wetland users and conservationists, habitat quality indicators relevant to both stakeholder groups would be useful. We aimed to identify which indicators of grazed wetland habitat quality are important to the two groups, and which are the preferred trends for these indicators along a grazing intensity gradient. We conducted free listing interviews with 15 conservationists and 15 herders to identify the key indicators of well managed, extensively grazed wetland habitats. To check the practical ecological relevance of these indicators, vegetation surveys were performed along a gradient from ungrazed to heavily grazed stands (45 sites) in three countries: Hungary, Romania and Serbia. Positive trends for herders included increases in useful forage grasses and decreases in tall-growing marsh species; for conservationists, increases in wetland birds, protected and threatened plant species, habitat heterogeneity, and patches of open vegetation were all positive. Grazed marshes had lower vegetation cover and height, less litter cover and fewer shrubs. The proportion of open surfaces and the frequency of rare mud species and protected species increased along the grazing intensity gradient. As grazing intensified, 73% of the 15 vegetation attributes assigned to the indicators changed in a ‘positive’ direction, half of them significantly, showing the benefits of extensive but patchy heavy grazing. Despite differences in perceived benefits, there were no opposing preferred trends for any of the studied indicators, so patchy, occasionally and locally intense or heavy wetland grazing by livestock in these landscapes was beneficial for herding and conservation alike. In the situation of mosaic-like, carefully herded extensive grazing, there was no trade-off between conservation management and utilisation.

This report describes the Romanian Grassland Database (RGD), registered under EU-RO-008 in the Global Index of Vegetation-Plot Databases (GIVD). This collaborative initiative aims to collect all available vegetationplot data (relevés) of grasslands and other open habitats from the territory of Romania to provide them for science, nationally and internationally, e.g. via the European Vegetation Archive (EVA) and the global database "sPlot". The database mainly contains vegetation-plots from not only wet, mesic, dry, saline, alpine and rocky grasslands, but also other vegetation types like heathlands, mires, ruderal, segetal, aquatic and cryptogamdominated vegetation. Currently, 21,685 relevés have mainly been digitised from literature sources (90%), while the remainder comes from individual unpublished sources (10%). We report on the background and history of the RGD, explain its "Data Property and Governance Rules" under which data are contributed and retrieved, and outline how the RGD can contribute to research in the fields of vegetation ecology, macroecology and conservation.

In a time when environmental responsibility is increasingly discussed, with several legal initiatives and a great variety of civic movements, the understanding of environmental problems, together with the capacity and willingness to solve them is gaining more importance. The means of getting acquainted with and learning about these issues are diverse, and are commonly named as environmental education. With a vast background in the pedagogical and the non-governmental sector, environmental education became the subject of several policies, legal and political instruments. Despite the evidences of its positive outcomes, environmental education is still underrepresented in the school curricula. Addressing the problem of this inappreciation, this paper brings together several international documents, theories and studies showing the development and the positive outcomes of environmental education, in the hope of contributing to the widespread of its consideration in the pedagogical and non-pedagogical scientif...

Wood-pastures are important elements of the European natural and cultural heritage, fulfilling several ecological functions at local and landscape scale (e.g. providing a valuable habitat for a wide range of species, as well as a link to traditional landscape management practices), but are nowadays in decline especially due to land-use changes begun in the 20th century and lack of legal recognition. Wood- pastures are relatively common in Southern Transylvania (Romania), and, contrary to the majority of similar habitats from Europe, are not threatened mainly by abandonment and subsequent secondary succession, but by modifications in the traditional management regime. Using a wide range of historical documents, this paper presents an overview of the traditional and the current management of the ground vegetation in wood-pastures. These habitats were traditionally grazed mainly by cattle and pigs, sheep being often subject to regulations. Regular mowing was also practiced. Nowadays sheep are the main grazers and mowing has practically disappeared, while the incidences of burning are increasing. Analyzing the differences between the present situation and those described in old publications provides valuable information for conservation management and potential restoration of similar, degraded habitats throughout Europe.

Hay-making structures are part of the agricultural landscape of meadows and pastures. Hay meadows are still used and found all over Europe, but their distribution patterns as well as their characteristics and regional features depend on geographical area, climate, culture, and intensity of agriculture. Intensively used hay meadows are the most dominant, using heavy machinery to store hay mostly as rounded or square bales. Traditional hay-making structures represent structures or constructions, used to quickly dry freshly cut fodder and to protect it from humidity. The &lsquo, ancient&rsquo, forms of traditional hay-making structures are becoming a relic, due to mechanisation and the use of new technologies. Both the need for drying hay and the traditional methods for doing so were similar across Europe. Our study of hay-making structures focuses on their current state, their development and history, current use and cultural values in various European countries. Regarding the construction and use of hay-making structures, we have distinguished three different types, which correlate to natural and regional conditions: (1) temporary hay racks of various shapes, (2) hay barracks, a special type of shelters for storing hay and (3) different types of permanent construction and buildings for drying and storing hay. Hay-making structures have been mostly preserved in connection with traditional agricultural landscapes, and particularly in the more remote regions or where associated with strong cultural identity.

As airborne pollution is recognised as the single largest environmental health hazard in Europe, the necessity to develop effective systems for monitoring and reducing the level of air pollutants, becomes imperative. The paper describes a tested and implemented long-term biomonitoring system for airborne heavy metals at a national scale. Moss bags (Hylocomium splendens) were exposed in 142 monitoring stations designated in Romania, and the content of Pb, Cd, Ni and As was quantified using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The results revealed that the accumulation of heavy metals exceeded the established thresholds, marking high pollution levels in 8.8% of samples for As, in 5.63% samples for Cd, in 3.17% samples for Pb, and in 0.35% samples for Ni. The maximum heavy metal concentration was 113.77 mg kg−1 dry weight for Pb, 44.93 mg kg−1 dry weight for Ni, 14.68 mg kg−1 dry weight for As, and 3.88 mg kg−1 dry weight for Cd, with several overlaps for at least two metals, thus marking pollution hotspots. In order to process, summarise and communicate the obtained data, a software named BioMonRo has been developed as the core part of a complex monitoring and warning-informative system. The software is able to generate heavy metal pollution maps and specific reports, depicting the levels and patterns of distribution, which can be automatically sent to a number of interested recipients. The results show that the developed national system is functional, cost-effective, and could be successfully used for long-term monitoring of airborne heavy metals.

Land-use change is one of the major drivers of global biodiversity loss, its study experiencing continuous development and increasing recognition, influencing main research directions within ecology. Many studies target the negative aspect; however, the modification of the natural environment over centuries and millennia led to the biodiversity, in its broadest sense, we are trying to conserve nowadays within cultural landscapes. This theoretical paper deals with the issue of spatial and temporal variations in extensively managed rural landscapes from Central-Eastern Europe. The constraints of the state of the art and arising challenges for biodiversity management in complex, farmed landscapes of high nature conservation value are discussed, through the example of Transylvania (Romania). The paper argues for the necessity of considering historical perspectives and traditional knowledge in an attempt to understand the current on-site conditions and developing realistic adaptive management strategies with special emphasis on the (traditional) rural communities, representing a key resource for biodiversity conservation

Large, old trees are keystone ecological structures, their decline having disproportional ecological consequences. There is virtually no information available regarding the status and occurrence of old trees in traditional cultural landscapes from Eastern Europe. In this study, we explore the environmental determinants of the old oaks found in wood-pastures from a changing traditional rural landscape from Central Romania. Both the old oaks and the wood-pastures harboring them have exceptional cultural, historical, and ecological values, yet are vulnerable to land-use change. We surveyed 41 wood-pastures from Southern Transylvania and counted the old oaks in them. We then related the number of old oaks from these wood-pastures to a set of local and landscape level variables related to wood-pastures. We found 490 old oaks in 25 wood-pastures. The number of old oaks was positively related to the size of the wood-pasture and the amount of pasture and forest around it (500 m buffer), and negatively related to the proximity of the village. Furthermore, we found a significant interaction between the effects of sheepfolds in the wood-pasture and the size of the wood-pasture on the number of old trees, indicating a negative influence of sheepfolds on the number of old trees in smaller sized wood-pastures. There is an increasing risk for losing old trees in the traditional cultural landscapes due to the lack of formal recognition of these trees. Therefore, while presenting the positive example of local initiatives and citizen science, we argue for an urgent development and implementation of conservation policies along with education strategies targeting the old trees and rural communities from the changing traditional cultural landscapes of Eastern Europe.

SUMMARYSpatial models are increasingly employed to help understand the distribution of organisms and establish conservation priorities. Classic patch-orientated models may have limited power to accurately predict the organisms' distributions. Pond breeding amphibians are appropriate study organisms because of their complex life cycle, low dispersal and sensitivity to environmental conditions. Here connectivity metrics and niche modelling were used to predict the occurrence of the northern crested newt in a rural landscape from central Romania. Pond-related variables, such as macrophyte cover and the presence of predatory fish, were the most important predictors of newt occurrence, followed by one landscape-related variable (urbanization) and a connectivity metric (nearest neighbouring occupied pond). Most of the landscape and connectivity variables were not adequate predictors, presumably because most of the terrestrial habitats in this traditionally used rural landscape are ecologically optimal for amphibians. Conservation measures for the northern crested newt should promote the preservation of traditional extensive agricultural practices and discourage stocking of ponds with predatory fish.

A massive decline of biodiversity is caused by land-use changes. Efforts must therefore be made to better understand the factors that govern organismal distribution, especially for countries where traditional management is about to be intensified such as in Romania. We here document the spatial distribution of amphibians from a Romanian rural landscape where land-use is still largely traditional. We related the occurrence of nine amphibian species and species richness to measures of composition and configuration of the landscape surrounding 54 ponds at three spatial scales: circular areas of 400, 600 and 800 m radii. Busy roads most severely impacted single species and amphibian richness whereas landscape composition measures, such as cover of urban areas, agricultural areas, pastures, forests and wetlands were of little importance. We suggest that the relative unimportance of landscape compositional measures on amphibians is a consequence of the traditional management of these landscapes that keep the environmental conditions favorable for most species.

Ancient wood-pastures are facing a major decline in several European countries. These habitats are of great importance for biodiversity because of their special semi-natural character that increases landscape variability and connectivity. In this paper we examine the habitat preferences of the tree pipit Anthus trivialis in an ancient oak wood-pasture, the Breite Natural Reserve, central Romania, with the aim of identifying the most significant habitat variables correlated with the presence of this species. In this way, we aim to highlight the need for conservation management of both the species and this particular habitat type, which are both declining across Europe. We found that the number of oaks with a diameter at breast height (d.b.h) > 1.27 m (equating to a circumference of 4 m) was the only variable with significant positive effect on the presence of the tree pipit. Shrub cover had significant negative effect on presence. Tree canopy cover, the clumping tendency of trees and distance from forest had no effect on the presence of this species in the study area. Our results show that the habitat requirements for the maintenance of the tree pipit impose the same active management needs as those for the maintenance of the ancient wood-pasture character of the Breite Natural Reserve, namely the control against hornbeam invasion and ensured viability of new oak sapling generations.

Amphibians are good indicators of human impact, declining steadily worldwide. We explored the relationships between the ponds and nearby landscape parameters and population size of the Agile Frog (Rana dalmatina), estimated from the number of egg masses, in a cultural landscape within the central section of Târnava Mare Basin, Romania. Forty-three permanent ponds were surveyed in a 2600 km2 area. The average number of egg masses per pond was 211.13 (SD = 426.41). The egg mass number was significantly and positively related to the emergent aquatic macrophyte cover (its effect peaks at around 50%) and the green connecting corridors between the ponds and forests, and negatively related to the extent of nearby urban areas. The proximity of the forest (positive effect) and the presence of high traffic roads (negative effect) were highly correlated with green corridors and further eliminated from the model due to multicollinearity. Both these variables had significant effects when incorporated in univariate models and multivariate models without green corridors. Since a large part of our study area was currently declared as Natura 2000 site, there is an increased need for management proposals and conservation applications for biodiversity, including amphibians. Rana dalmatina is an important species for monitoring because it is common in the studied area and is suited for short surveys.

The primary anthropogenic factor causing amphibian declines in Europe is habitat loss and fragmentation. Here we explore the effects of aquatic and landscape habitat variables on the adult counts of the Common Toad (Bufo bufo) in 43 ponds in central Romania surveyed between 2000 and 2005. Principal components analysis (PCA) identified two main factors, with which the adult counts can be related the first related to landscape variables (percentage of forest cover, presence/absence of roads and habitat corridors) and the second, to pond variables, in particular the presence/absence of fish, together accounting for 49% of the total variance. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed differences between ponds where toads were present or absent in factor loadings of both principal components, but only the landscape factor was significantly correlated with toad counts. These results highlight the role of landscape composition and configuration in maintaining toad populations in this area, and suggest a negative effect of landscape fragmentation. To efficiently protect amphibians in Romania, appropriate legislation and a close collaboration between landowners, landscape planners and herpetologists are needed.

Fish introductions are considered one of the most widespread anthropogenic threats to aquatic ecosystems. Their negative impact on native amphibian communities has received increasing attention in recent years. We investigated the relationship between the introduced fish, emergent vegetation cover and native amphibians in man-made ponds generated by regulation and dam building along the Târnava Mare Valley (Romania) during the last 40 years. We inventoried amphibians and fish inhabiting 85 permanent ponds and estimated habitat complexity focusing on emergent vegetation cover. Four amphibian species were found to be negatively associated with the presence of predatory fish. Species richness of ponds without fish and ponds without predatory fish did not differ significantly, whereas ponds containing only predatory fish had significantly lower amphibian richness. A significant positive relationship was found between the emergent vegetation cover and pond occupancy of six amphibian species and amphibian species richness. As a management recommendation, we suggest the restriction of fish introductions to non predatory fish and the maintenance of high emergent vegetation cover in the ponds.

Wood-pastures are among the oldest land-use types in Europe and have high ecological and cultural importance. They are under rapid decline all over Europe because of changes in land use, tree cutting, and lack of regeneration. In this study we characterized the structure, condition and threats of wood-pastures in a traditional rural region in Romania. Forty-two wood-pastures were surveyed, as well as 15 forest sites for comparison. All wood-pasture sites were described via four groups of variables: condition, management, site, and landscape context. Forest sites were dominated by Hornbeam ( Carpinus betulus ) and Beech ( Fagus sylvatica ), whereas wood-pastures were dominated by Oak ( Quercus sp.) and various species of fruit trees. Most wood-pastures contained trees classified as ‘ancient’ but no such trees were found in forests. The proportion of dead trees was positively related to forest cover within 300 m around the wood-pasture. Models that included management, site and landscape-related variables best explained the prelevance of Oak, Beech, Hornbeam and Pear trees in wood-pastures. Large oaks and hornbeams were more likely to be dead or affected by uncontrolled pasture burning than small oaks and other tree species. Our results show that ancient wood-pastures are common in this rural region, and they may be more common in Eastern Europe than previously thought. There is an urgent need for research, legal recognition and conservation management of wood-pastures as distinct landscape elements for their cultural, ecological and agricultural importance.