Controlling invasive alien shrub species, enhancing biodiversity and mitigating flood risk: A win-win-win situation in grazed floodplain plantations

JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT

卷:295

Article

Demeter, Laszlo¹  Molnar, Abel Peter²  Bede-Fazekas, Akos^1,3  Ollerer, Kinga^1,4  Varga, Anna^1,5  Szabados, Klara⁶  Tucakov, Marko⁶  Kis, Alen⁶  Biro, Marianna^1,3  Marinkov, Jelena⁷  Molnar, Zsolt¹ 

[1] Inst Ecol & Bot, Ctr Ecol Res, Vacratot, Hungary

[2] Hungarian Univ Agr & Life Sci, Doctoral Sch Biol Sci, Godollo, Hungary

[3] GINOP Sustainable Ecosyst Grp, Ctr Ecol Res, Tihany, Hungary

[4] Romanian Acad, Inst Biol Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania

[5] Univ Pecs, Dept European Ethnol & Cultural Anthropol, Pecs, Hungary

[6] Inst Nat Conservat Vojvodina Prov, Novi Sad, Serbia

[7] Hungarian Acad Sci, MTA DE Lendulet Evolutionary Phylogen Res Grp, Debrecen, Hungary

关键词: Agroforestry;    Multifunctionality;    Forest grazing;    Hybrid poplar plantations;    Native biodiversity;    Invasive shrubs;   

DOI  :  10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.113053

来源: Elsevier

【 摘 要 】

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 socioecological 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.

【 授权许可】

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