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Grasslands differ in many types depending on the diversity of climatic conditions and substrates. Due to the great wealth of species found in semi-natural grasslands, they conserve an essential part of the biodiversity of the European Union (EEC 43/92), defined as habitats of community interest. Using the region of Calabria (southern Italy) as a case study, this study aims to evaluate how species assemblages and a set of indicators applied to them can be used to analyse and characterize the diversity, ecological features and conservation status of grassland habitats. Vegetation analysis was carried out using the phytosociological method, and habitat ecological characteristics were defined by Ellenberg's ecological indicator adapted to the Italian flora. Multivariate analysis of the surveys by means of cluster analysis and Principal Components Analysis (PCA) made it possible to define eight habitat groups according to EEC Directive 43/92: 6110 Rocky or basophilous calcareous grasslands of the Alysso-Sedion albi, 6170 Alpine and subalpine calcareous grasslands, 6220*a Pseudo-steppe with grasses and annuals of the Thero-Brachypodietea dominated by a Lygeum spartum, 6220*b Pseudo-steppe with grasses and annuals of the Thero-Brachypodietea dominated by Hyparrhenia hirta, 6210* Semi-natural dry grasslands and scrub facies on calcareous substrates (Festuco-Bromometalia) (*important orchid sites), 6230* Species-rich Nardus grasslands, on siliceous substrates in mountain areas (and submountain areas, in Continental Europe), 6410 Molinia meadows on calcareous, peaty or clayey-siltladen soils (Molinion caeruleae), 6420 Mediterranean tall humid herb grasslands of the Molinio-Holoschoenion, 6430 Hydrophilous tall herb fringe communities of plains and of the montane to alpine levels. Temperature (T) and oisture (U) are the most statistically significant ecological factors in differentiating different habitat types. Analysis of diversity, assessed through Shannon and Evenness indices, showed that it is strongly correlated with habitat diversity as soil moisture increases. The study of ecological characteristics, correlated with biodiversity indices, helps to characterize grassland habitats, providing guidance for the implementation of active conservation policies for these habitats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper is a complex segment of a study aimed at Natura 2000 habitats that are affected by invasive and potentially invasive plants. In the first paper, the forest habitats that have registered changes following the impact of the exercise of this category of plants were presented, and in the present study, the practical Natura 2000 habitats that were affected to a lesser or greater extent by invasive and potential plant species are presented. invasive. These are: 6120* Xeric sand calcareous grasslands, 6240* Sub-pannonic steppic grasslands, 6260* Pannonic sand steppes and 62C0* Ponto-Sarmatic steppes. A summary analysis shows that all analyzed habitats are of community interest, which leads us to say that taking measures to reduce the impact exerted by this category of plants is strictly necessary. The most affected surfaces are those on the periphery of protected areas, where numerous spontaneous species are affected by various phytopathogenic agents and where the zoo-anthropogenic factor makes its presence felt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Grasslands differ in many types depending on the diversity of climatic conditions and substrates. Due to the great wealth of species found in semi-natural grasslands, they conserve an essential part of the biodiversity of the European Union (EEC 43/92), defined as habitats of community interest. Using the region of Calabria (southern Italy) as a case study, this study aims to evaluate how species assemblages and a set of indicators applied to them can be used to analyse and characterize the diversity, ecological features and conservation status of grassland habitats. Vegetation analysis was carried out using the phytosociological method, and habitat ecological characteristics were defined by Ellenberg’s ecological indicator adapted to the Italian flora. Multivariate analysis of the surveys by means of cluster analysis and Principal Components Analysis (PCA) made it possible to define eight habitat groups according to EEC Directive 43/92: 6110 Rocky or basophilous calcareous grasslands of the Alysso-Sedion albi, 6170 Alpine and subalpine calcareous grasslands, 6220*a Pseudo-steppe with grasses and annuals of the Thero-Brachypodietea dominated by a Lygeum spartum, 6220*b Pseudo-steppe with grasses and annuals of the Thero-Brachypodietea dominated by Hyparrhenia hirta, 6210* Semi-natural dry grasslands and scrub facies on calcareous substrates (Festuco-Bromometalia) (*important orchid sites), 6230* Species-rich Nardus grasslands, on siliceous substrates in mountain areas (and submountain areas, in Continental Europe), 6410 Molinia meadows on calcareous, peaty or clayey-siltladen soils (Molinion caeruleae), 6420 Mediterranean tall humid herb grasslands of the Molinio-Holoschoenion, 6430 Hydrophilous tall herb fringe communities of plains and of the montane to alpine levels. Temperature (T) and oisture (U) are the most statistically significant ecological factors in differentiating different habitat types. Analysis of diversity, assessed through Shannon and Evenness indices, showed that it is strongly correlated with habitat diversity as soil moisture increases. The study of ecological characteristics, correlated with biodiversity indices, helps to characterize grassland habitats, providing guidance for the implementation of active conservation policies for these habitats.

Habitat mapping is essential for the management and monitoring of Natura 2000 sites. Time-consuming field surveys are still the most frequently used solution for the implementation of the European Habitats Directive, but the use of remote sensing tools for this is becoming more common. The high temporal resolution of Sentinel-2 data, registering the visible, near, and shortwave infrared ranges of the electromagnetic spectrum, makes them valuable material in this context. In this study, we aimed to use multitemporal Sentinel-2 data for mapping three grassland Natura 2000 habitats in Poland. We performed the classification based on spectro-temporal features extracted from data collected from eight different terms within the year 2017 using Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs), and we also tested other widely used machine learning algorithms for comparison, such as Random Forests (RFs) and Support Vector Machines (SVMs). Based on ground truth data, we randomly selected training and validation polygons and then performed the evaluation iteratively (100 times). The best resulting median F1 accuracies that we obtained for habitats were as follows: 6210, 0.85; 6410, 0.80; and 6510, 0.84 (with SVM). Finally, we concluded that the accuracy of the results was comparable, but we obtained the best results using SVM (median OA = 88%, with 86% for RF and 84% for CNNs). In this work, we confirmed the usefulness of the spectral dimension of Sentinel-2 time series data for mapping grassland habitats, and researchers of future work can further develop the use of CNNs for this purpose. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The meadow violet (Viola pumila Chaix) is an endangered species which is regionally extinct in many European countries. This is a stenobiontic species with a very limited distribution in Bulgaria. Only a few populations have been detected, and they consist of several tens to several hundreds of specimens. The meadow violet has limited reproductive abilities and weak competitiveness. The species is exposed to various anthropogenic threats, as the most significant of them are related to ploughing, conversion of the mesophilic meadows into arable lands, changes in the water regime of the habitats, the expansion of highly competitive species from the group of tufted cereal grasses and infrastructure construction. To date, information concerning the relocation of rare and endangered plant species in Bulgaria is rather scarce. In the present study we provide a protocol on our activities during a successful establishment of a new locality as part of our effort to successfully relocate one particular population of the meadow violet. The observations made after the relocation of the species over a two-year period (2020 and 2021) provided data on the successful relocation, and the creation of a new locality for the species. We discuss the conservation measures needed for this rare and endangered species, and efforts to increase its population, as well as the measures needed for effective management of the habitats of V. pumila (mainly 6510 "Lowland hay meadows"). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background The availability of preferred habitats determines the spatial and temporal distribution of herbivores in savanna ecosystems. Understanding habitat preference of a targeted wildlife species is crucial for developing effective conservation strategies. Habitat preference of large grazers in connection to grass height and post-fire effect has been debated for the last century. Here, we examined the effects of season, grass height and burning on the habitat preference on Swayne’s hartebeest (Alcelaphus buselaphus swaynei) in Maze National Park. Data for seasonal habitat selection were collected using both direct observation along established transect lines and pellet counting using permanently established plots. Every month, we measured grass height commonly preferred by Swayne’s hartebeest in grassland habitat. Starting from the first week of burning, we recorded the abundance of Swayne’s hartebeest in both burned and unburned grassland patches. Results From detected pellets, 94.3% were recorded in the grassland habitat indicating that other habitat types are less used despite their extensive cover > 50% of the Park. During wet and early dry seasons, Swayne’s hartebeest exclusively preferred grassland habitat. We found that 85.2% (n = 1079) and 85.3% (n = 593) of individuals observed in areas with a grass height below 30 cm during wet and early-dry seasons, respectively; while 70.9% (n = 2288) preferred grass height below 30 cm during the dry season. The density of Swayne’s hartebeest in burned grassland area was higher than unburned grassland areas up to 150 days since burning. However, in unburned grassland areas, the density was initially low but showed increasing trend for consecutive days, reaching similar density with burned areas after 150 days since burning. Conclusion Swayne’s hartebeest exclusively preferred grassland habitat, particularly during wet and early-dry seasons, shortest available grass height in all seasons and were attracted to burned grassland areas. Our results suggested that fire played an important role in maintaining habitat quality in grassland, and that management should continue using controlled burning as a tool for the conservation of Swayne’s hartebeest. However, we remain cautious of our findings given the paucity of information regarding other confounding factors and the absence of long-term data on fire disturbance.

Alien invasive species are a significant threat to biodiversity and ecosystems in nonnative geographical ranges. Ulex europaeus is one such shrub introduced to the montane grasslands of Sri Lanka. We conducted this study with the objective of evaluating the U. europaeus removal programs focusing on both positive and negative impacts that arose. Three months of pre-removal and three months each of two post-removal time periods were selected for sampling. We evaluated the changes in the density of U. europaeus, Calotes nigrilabris, spatiotemporal variation of vegetative structure and pollinator abundance. Initially, the removal of U. europaeus was mostly successful in terms of reduced shrub density. However, the prevalence and emergence of live shrubs after the removal program raises concerns regarding the viability of the project. Furthermore, the drastic population density reduction of endemic and threatened lizard C. nigrilabris following the removal of U. europaeus can be considered a negative impact of high conservation concern. However, we observed an increase in pasture availability and re-establishment of natural vegetative structure. It can be concluded that proper knowledge regarding the invasive species and understanding their ecological linkages is important for the success of management programs. Continuous and long term, control and monitoring are recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Native grassland in the Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) is important habitat for migratory birds, particularly ducks. Much of this grassland is at risk for conversion to cropland. Permanent easements, managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, protect high-quality habitat but do not currently consider vulnerability to cropland conversion. We find that (i) grassland easements are protecting native grassland from conversion, although the level of protection is modest; (ii) it may be possible to increase habitat protection by targeting grassland that is vulnerable to cropland conversion; and (iii) conversion estimates that fail to account for easements are biased downward.

Background: The availability of preferred habitats determines the spatial and temporal distribution of herbivores in savanna ecosystems. Understanding habitat preference of a targeted wildlife species is crucial for developing effective conservation strategies. Habitat preference of large grazers in connection to grass height and post-fire effect has been debated for the last century. Here, we examined the effects of season, grass height and burning on the habitat preference on Swayne's hartebeest (Alcelaphus buselaphus swaynei) in Maze National Park. Data for seasonal habitat selection were collected using both direct observation along established transect lines and pellet counting using permanently established plots. Every month, we measured grass height commonly preferred by Swayne's hartebeest in grassland habitat. Starting from the first week of burning, we recorded the abundance of Swayne's hartebeest in both burned and unburned grassland patches. Results: From detected pellets, 94.3% were recorded in the grassland habitat indicating that other habitat types are less used despite their extensive cover > 50% of the Park. During wet and early dry seasons, Swayne's hartebeest exclusively preferred grassland habitat. We found that 85.2% (n = 1079) and 85.3% (n = 593) of individuals observed in areas with a grass height below 30 cm during wet and early-dry seasons, respectively; while 70.9% (n = 2288) preferred grass height below 30 cm during the dry season. The density of Swayne's hartebeest in burned grassland area was higher than unburned grassland areas up to 150 days since burning. However, in unburned grassland areas, the density was initially low but showed increasing trend for consecutive days, reaching similar density with burned areas after 150 days since burning. Conclusion: Swayne's hartebeest exclusively preferred grassland habitat, particularly during wet and early-dry seasons, shortest available grass height in all seasons and were attracted to burned grassland areas. Our results suggested that fire played an important role in maintaining habitat quality in grassland, and that management should continue using controlled burning as a tool for the conservation of Swayne's hartebeest. However, we remain cautious of our findings given the paucity of information regarding other confounding factors and the absence of long-term data on fire disturbance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report a two-year field experiment that solicited residents of Jamestown, Rhode Island, USA, to fund contracts with farmers willing to provide public goods associated with improving the nesting success of grassland birds, particularly the Bobolink. This experiment explores the potential to leverage valuation research for the purpose of enhancing charitable contributions in a manner consistent with developing markets for ecosystem-service public goods; we focus on individuals' willingness to contribute revenue. The direct-mail marketing experiment collected over $16,000 through four provision point, money-back guarantee mechanisms: a voluntary contribution mechanism with a proportional rebate; a pivotal mechanism based on the Clarke tax; and two novel uniform price mechanisms, each presented in discrete choice and open-ended response formats. We find that citizens do respond strategically: consistently lower offers in the open-ended format suggest a high incidence of cheap riding, but also a significant effect of higher suggested offer thresholds. These framing effects dominated differences among mechanisms, as revenue generated from the proportional rebate and one of the uniform price mechanisms approached the potential for revenue generation estimated under the incentive compatible pivotal mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Native grassland in the Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) is important habitat for migratory birds, particularly ducks. Much of this grassland is at risk for conversion to cropland. Permanent easements, managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, protect high-quality habitat but do not currently consider vulnerability to cropland conversion. We find that (i) grassland easements are protecting native grassland from conversion, although the level of protection is modest; (ii) it may be possible to increase habitat protection by targeting grassland that is vulnerable to cropland conversion; and (iii) conversion estimates that fail to account for easements are biased downward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Populations of Henslow's Sparrows have declined dramatically in recent decades, coinciding with widespread loss of native grassland habitat. Prescribed burning is a primary tool for maintaining grassland patches, but its effects on nest survival of Henslow's Sparrows remains largely unknown, especially in conjunction with other factors. We monitored 135 nests of Henslow's Sparrows at Big Oaks National Wildlife Refuge in southern Indiana from 1998-2001 in an effort to understand factors influencing nest survival, including prescribed burning of habitat. We used a mixed-effects implementation of the logistic exposure model to predict daily nest survival in an information theoretic framework. We found that daily survival declined near the onset of hatching and increased with the height of standing dead vegetation, although this relationship was weak. We found only nominal support to suggest that time since burn influenced nest survival. Overall, nest age was the most important factor in estimating daily nest survival rates. Our daily survival estimate from our marginal model (0.937) was similar to that derived from the Mayfield method (0.944) suggesting that our results are comparable to previous studies using the Mayfield approach. Our results indicate that frequent burning to limit woody encroachment into grassland habitats might benefit Henslow's Sparrow, but that a variety of factors ultimately influence daily nest survival. However, we note that burning too frequently can also limit occupancy by Henslow's Sparrows. We suggest that additional research is needed to determine the population-level consequences of habitat alteration and if other extrinsic factors influence demographics of Henslow's Sparrows. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High yields are a priority in managing biomass for renewable energy, but the environmental impacts of various feedstocks and production systems should be equally considered. Mixed-species, perennial grasslands enrolled in conservation programs are being considered as a source of biomass for renewable energy. Conservation grasslands are crucial in sustaining native biodiversity throughout the US Upper Midwest, and the effects of biomass harvest on biodiversity are largely unknown. We measured the effect of late-season biomass harvest on plant community composition in conservation grasslands in three regions of Minnesota, USA from 2009 to 2012. Temporal trends in plant species composition within harvested grasslands were compared to unharvested grasslands using mixed effects models. A before-after control-impact approach using effect sizes was applied to focus on pre- and postharvest conditions. Production-scale biomass harvest did not affect plant species richness, species or functional group diversity, nor change the relative abundance of the main plant functional groups. Differences in the relative abundances of plant functional groups were observed across locations; and at some locations, changed through time. The proportion of non-native species remained constant, while the proportion of noxious weeds decreased through time in both harvested and unharvested grasslands at the central location. Ordination revealed patterns in species composition due to location, but not due to harvest treatment. Therefore, habitat and bioenergy characteristics related to grassland plant communities are not expected to change due to short-term or intermittent late-season biomass harvest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT The greater prairie-chicken ( Tympanuchus cupido pinnatus) is a grassland bird species of conservation concern, although the region of the Nebraska Sandhills has the largest and most stable population in North America. The Sandhills region is semiarid and dominated by privately owned rangeland; vegetation in the region is typically less dense than the tall grass ecosystem. Most management recommendations for the greater prairie-chicken are based on work in tall grass prairies, so our goal was to estimate the responses of brood-site selection and survival to the unique vegetation characteristics of the Sandhills region. We studied prairie-chickens on private rangelands in Rock and Brown Counties from 2009 to 2011. We radio-marked 139 females and monitored females with broods from May through July using pickup-mounted and handheld telemetry systems. We used discrete choice models to assess micro-scale habitat selection within used pastures. Specifically, we investigated the effect of local heterogeneity of vegetation structure and composition on site selection. The contiguous grasslands of the Sandhills contain variation in soils, slope, and proximity to water table, so we also assessed selection of these ecological sites (the equivalent of land-use categories in fragmented landscapes) for brood-rearing within the broad landscape (macro-scale). Last, we assessed variation in brood survival in response to weather and vegetation structure and composition. Prairie-chicken females with broods selected sands ecological sites (upland, rolling hills sites) that had thicker vegetation with higher visual obstruction reading (VOR; [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the paper is to study the germination response of Plantago media seeds, collected from their natural growth environment in order to identify the weaknesses and threats regarding the conservation of this species in grassland habitats from the piedmont areas near Zărand Mountains. The biologic material was represented by Plantago media L. seeds, collected in September from grasslands found at 617 m altitude.We assessed the potential of Plantago media seeds to produce normal plants in a wide range of field conditions. For that, we used the test "top of paper" (TP) in two variants: ITP -- temperature 20°C, humidity 90%, with light, without special treatments and IITP at an alternating temperature 20-30°C, humidity 90%, with light, with precooling at 10 C° for five days. Our studies revealed that the highest percentage of normal Plantago media seedlings appeared 21 days after the seeds had been placed for germination (ITP and IITP). The maximum germination (65%) was recorded in variant IITP, when Plantago media seeds were kept at 10° C for 5 days, and then subjected to high humidity (90%) and alternating temperature (20-30°C), with light. The mathematical model used suggests that variant IITP (top of paper) indicates the potential of Plantago media seeds to germinate in early spring on cold and humid soils in Zărand Mountains, where this species was identified and from where we took the seeds for analysis. In the area under analysis, species Plantago media L. is not under any survival risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) has provided critical wildlife habitat for many species since 1985. However, the quality of this habitat for early successional species, such as ring-necked pheasant ( Phasianus colchicus), may decrease with field age. Late successional grasslands may lack valuable vegetative and structural diversity needed by pheasants, especially during nesting and brood-rearing stages. Since 2004, the United States Department of Agriculture has required new CRP contracts to include plans for mid-contract management, which could include discing and interseeding. The benefits of such practices have not been assessed, and continuation of current policy could be affected by the lack of information to support such practices. During 2005-2006 we evaluated nesting and brood-rearing habitat used by radio-marked hen pheasants in areas of northeastern Nebraska where portions of CRP fields had been recently disced and interseeded with legumes. Pheasant hens selected managed portions of CRP fields for both nesting and brood-rearing. Hens selected nest sites with greater forb cover and vertical density. Hens with broods also selected sites with greater forb composition. Discing and legume interseeding appeared to be an effective strategy for increasing pheasant use of CRP fields. © 2012 The Wildlife Society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) fields may provide good habitat for nesting and brood-rearing ring-necked pheasants ( Phasianus colchicus) during early stages of succession. But, the success of hens in early successional CRP, relative to late successional CRP and other grassland habitats, has yet to be evaluated. The reproductive period is especially critical for populations of pheasants, and CRP's benefits to hens and chicks may decrease as fields age because of loss of vegetative diversity, decrease in vegetation density, and accumulation of residual litter. During 2005-2006, we evaluated spatial and temporal variation in nest and brood survival for radio-marked hen pheasants in areas of northeastern Nebraska where portions of CRP fields had been recently disced and interseeded (DICRP) with legumes. Nests in DICRP tended to have a higher daily survival rate (0.984; 95% CI: 0.957-0.994) than nests in grasslands (including CRP) that were unmanaged (0.951; 95% CI: 0.941-0.972). The probability of 23-day nest success was 0.696 (95% CI: 0.631-0.762) for DICRP and 0.314 (95% CI: 0.240-0.389) for unmanaged grasslands. Daily brood survival rates varied by habitat type, brood age, and date of hatch. The probability of a brood surviving to day 21 was 0.710 (95% CI: 0.610-0.856). Brood survival rates increased with time spent in DICRP and as the brood aged. Survival decreased as broods spent more time in cropland and peaked seasonally with broods that hatched on 15 June. Brood survival probability, to 21 days, would be reduced to 0.36 (95% CI: 0.100-0.701) if broods in our sample had not used DICRP. We combined nest and brood survival in a productivity model that suggested 2,000 hens, in a landscape with no DICRP, would produce 1,826 chicks, whereas the same hens in a landscape of 100% DICRP would produce 5,398 chicks. Production of first-year roosters more than doubled when hens nested in DICRP. Without DICRP, population growth rates of pheasant populations usually declined; with DICRP, populations stabilized with at annual survival rates of 0.3 or greater. The positive response of nest and brood survival to discing and interseeding CRP provides further evidence that CRP fields must be managed to optimize wildlife benefits. © 2012 The Wildlife Society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The article discusses the population dynamics of grassland-nesting ducks that breed in the Prairie Pothole Region of North America. .The grassland habitats used by these ducks are greatly threatened by habitat loss and fragmentation. It suggests that predators being the dominant cause of nest loss, are difficult to observe directly. Predator communities are diverse, and each species of predator has different impacts on nest survival rates. The species composition of nest predators' present in a given landscape may be influenced by the amount of grassland. It may influence nest-survival rates. Predator effects on nest survival can vary depending on the species composition of the predator community, the density of predators present, and availability of alternate prey items. Linear and nonlinear forms of relationships between nest survival and continuous habitat have been discussed extensively. In order to design successful habitat management strategies, it is needed to understand how predator responses are affected by habitat features

Digital map products that integrate long-term duck population and land-use data are currently being used to guide conservation program delivery on the Canadian Prairies. However, understanding the inter-relationships between ducks and other grassland bird species would greatly enhance program planning and delivery. We hypothesized that ducks, and Northern Pintail (Anas acuta) in particular, may function as an umbrella guild for the overall breeding habitat quality for other grassland bird species. We compared grassland bird species richness and relative abundance among areas of low, moderate, and high predicted waterfowl breeding densities (i.e., duck density strata) in the southern Missouri Coteau, Saskatchewan. We conducted roadside point counts and delineated habitats within a 400 m radius of each point. The duck high-density stratum supported greater avian species richness and abundance than did the duck low-density stratum. Overall, duck and other grassland bird species richness and abundance were moderately correlated, with all r between 0.37 and 0.69 (all P < 0.05). Although the habitat requirements of Northern Pintail may overlap with those of other grassland endemics, priority grassland bird species richness was only moderately correlated with total pintail abundance in both years, and the abundances of pintail and grassland songbirds listed by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada were not correlated. No differences in the mean number of priority grassland species were detected among the strata. Adequate critical habitat for several priority species may not be protected if conservation is focused only in areas of moderate to high wetland density because large tracts of contiguous, dry grassland habitat (e.g., pasture) occur infrequently in high-quality duck habitat.