02293nas a2200169 4500008004100000245013100041210006900172260001600241300001100257490000700268520152300275100002001798700002801818700003001846700002401876856022301900 2019 eng d00aLand Use Guidelines to Maintain Habitat Diversity of Wood- Pastures in the Southern Carpathians Under Projected Climate Change0 aLand Use Guidelines to Maintain Habitat Diversity of Wood Pastur cOct-09-2019 a1 - 240 v743 a

The biodiversity of wood-pastures depends on a balance between human interference and natural vegetation succession, which however is undergoing changes driven by socio-economic factors and climate change. Widely spread throughout Europe, wood-pastures were subject to either intensification or abandonment, leading to habitat segregation and loss. This is currently the fate of large Romanian remnant woodpastures and climate warming further complicates management adaptation.
In a series of simulation experiments, we compared the long-term effects of different land use and climate change scenarios on the habitat diversity of a wood-pasture in the Southern Carpathians (Fundata village, Romania). We tested livestock densities according to management guidelines, complemented with shrub-cutting in order to maintain a structurally-diverse landscape with high habitat values in the light of climate change. We found that significant losses of open pastureland and inclusion into forest, as well as landscape structural simplification and loss of complex habitats can be expected from climate warming, with more severe consequences in a hotter climate perspective. We arguefor the re-establishment of the traditional multi-use of wood-pastures at optimum livestock densities in combination with low-intensity shrubcutting, because our study demonstrated that traditional practices offer a balanced compromise between agricultural use and maintaining habitat mosaics that are robust to climate change.

1 aStoicescu, Iona1 aPătru-Stupariu, Ileana1 aHossu, Constantina, Alina1 aPeringer, Alexander uhttps://www.landscape-online.org/index.php/lo/article/view/LO.201974https://www.landscape-online.org/index.php/lo/article/download/LO.201974/87https://www.landscape-online.org/index.php/lo/article/download/LO.201974/8702755nas a2200169 4500008004100000022001300041245010700054210006900161260001600230300001200246490000800258520218000266100002802446700002002474700002402494856006702518 2018 eng d a0304380000aIntermediate foraging large herbivores maintain semi-open habitats in wilderness landscape simulations0 aIntermediate foraging large herbivores maintain semiopen habitat cJan-07-2018 a10 - 210 v3793 a

In the context of the rewilding Europe debate, the German national strategy on biodiversity aims to dedicate two percent of the German state area to wilderness development until 2020. Many of these potential large wilderness reserves harbor open habitats that require protection according to the Flora-Fauna-Habitat-directive of the European Union. As forests prevail in potential natural vegetation, research is required, to which extent wild large herbivores and natural disturbances may create semi-open landscape patterns in the long-term. We used the spatially explicit process-based model of pasture-woodland ecosystem dynamics WoodPaM, to analyze the long-term interactions between intermediate foraging large wild herbivores and vegetation dynamics in edaphically heterogeneous forest-grassland mosaic landscapes. We newly implemented a routine for intermediate foraging herbivores. We determined herbivore impact on vegetation from the quantitative balance between the demand and supply of herbaceous forage and woody browse. In abstract landscapes that represent the conditions in the established German wilderness area "Döberitzer Heide", we simulated potential future landscape dynamics on open land, in forest and along forest edges with and without intermediate foraging large herbivores and for a climate change scenario. In our simulations the currently open landscape was conserved and even more the opening of current oak and beech forest was promoted. Canopy thinning and patch-mosaics of oak, birch, poplar and pine stands increased the overall nature conservation value in the long-term. To the contrary, open habitats were lost in simulations without herbivores. Moreover, our simulations suggested that intermediate foraging herbivores are especially suitable to maintain semi-open landscapes in wilderness areas, because (i) no additional winter forage was required, the natural availability of browse was sufficient. (ii) Their grazing maintained open land and their browsing thinned tree canopies even on poor sites that were unattractive for foraging. Here, habitat was maintained for threatened species from dry grasslands.

1 aSchulze, Kiowa, Alraune1 aRosenthal, Gert1 aPeringer, Alexander uhttps://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S030438001830113302843nas a2200217 4500008004100000022001300041245010100054210006900155260001600224300001400240490000800254520196400262100001902226700002402245700002602269700002802295700002302323700002002346700002602366856023302392 2018 eng d a0048969700aShifts in wind energy potential following land-use driven vegetation dynamics in complex terrain0 aShifts in wind energy potential following landuse driven vegetat cJan-10-2018 a374 - 3840 v6393 a

Many mountainous regions with high wind energy potential are characterized by multi-scale variabilities of vegetation in both spatial and time dimensions, which strongly affect the spatial distribution of wind resource and its time evolution. To this end, we developed a coupled interdisciplinary modeling framework capable of assessing the shifts in wind energy potential following land-use driven vegetation dynamics in complex mountain terrain. It was applied to a case study area in the Romanian Carpathians. The results show that the overall shifts in wind energy potential following the changes of vegetation pattern due to different land-use policies can be dramatic. This suggests that the planning of wind energy project should be integrated with the land-use planning at a specific site to ensure that the expected energy production of the planned wind farm can be reached over its entire lifetime. Moreover, the changes in the spatial distribution of wind and turbulence under different scenarios of land-use are complex, and they must be taken into account in the micro-siting of wind turbines to maximize wind energy production and minimize fatigue loads (and associated maintenance costs). The proposed new modeling framework offers, for the first time, a powerful tool for assessing long-term variability in local wind energy potential that emerges from land-use change driven vegetation dynamics over complex terrain. Following a previously unexplored pathway of cause-effect relationships, it demonstrates a new linkage of agro- and forest policies in landscape development with an ultimate trade-off between renewable energy production and biodiversity targets. Moreover, it can be extended to study the potential effects of micro-climatic changes associated with wind farms on vegetation development (growth and patterning), which could in turn have a long-term feedback effect on wind resource distribution in mountainous regions.

1 aFang, Jiannong1 aPeringer, Alexander1 aStupariu, Mihai-Sorin1 aPătru-Stupariu, Ileana1 aButtler, Alexandre1 aGolay, Francois1 aPorté-Agel, Fernando uhttps://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0048969718317182https://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:S0048969718317182?httpAccept=text/xmlhttps://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:S0048969718317182?httpAccept=text/plain02835nas a2200217 4500008004100000022001300041245010400054210006900158260001600227300001400243490000800257520195300265100002402218700002302242700002202265700002802287700002302315700002602338700002002364856023302384 2017 eng d a0304380000aDisturbance-grazer-vegetation interactions maintain habitat diversity in mountain pasture-woodlands0 aDisturbancegrazervegetation interactions maintain habitat divers cJan-09-2017 a301 - 3100 v3593 a

Low-intensity livestock grazing is a widespread management tool in order to maintain habitat diversity in mountain pasture-woodlands for nature conservation purposes. Historical photographs indicate that forest disturbance significantly contributed to forest-grassland mosaic pattern formation. Disturbance-grazer interactions are however poorly understood and the effects of logging or windthrow are rarely considered in management plans. Moreover, disturbance-grazer interactions are crucial for the maintenance of open habitats in the upcoming “rewilding” approach of nature conservation. We aimed to understand the effects of forest gap creation by the breakdown of senile trees or by single-tree cutting and of large forest openings by windthrow or logging on mosaic pattern formation in pasture-woodlands that were grazed by cattle and dominated by tree species with distinct regeneration ecology (Picea abies vs. Fagus sylvatica). We used the process-based model of pasture-woodland vegetation dynamics WoodPaM and newly implemented a forest disturbance routine. We simulated disturbance and grazing scenarios in an artificial mountain landscape and analyzed mosaic patterns with landscape metrics. We found that grazing in absence of disturbance promoted simply structured mosaics that were preconditioned by topography. Only large-scale forest disturbance disrupted this pattern and maintained the historical heterogeneous distribution of grassland communities across all habitat conditions (especially species-rich mountain grasslands on poor soil). This prerequisite is stronger in pasture-woodlands where the ecology of the dominant tree species promotes forest-grassland segregation (F. sylvatica in our case) and less in naturally thin-canopy mountain forest close to the tree line (P. abies). In wilderness areas, the very low density of grazers may limit the maintenance of open habitats regardless disturbance.

1 aPeringer, Alexander1 aButtler, Alexandre1 aGillet, François1 aPătru-Stupariu, Ileana1 aSchulze, Kiowa, A.1 aStupariu, Mihai-Sorin1 aRosenthal, Gert uhttps://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S030438001730100Xhttps://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:S030438001730100X?httpAccept=text/xmlhttps://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:S030438001730100X?httpAccept=text/plain02521nas a2200217 4500008004100000022001300041245013700054210006900191260001600260300001200276490000800288520177600296100002402072700002202096700002002118700002102138700002802159700002602187700002302213856006702236 2016 eng d a0304380000aLandscape-scale simulation experiments test Romanian and Swiss management guidelines for mountain pasture-woodland habitat diversity0 aLandscapescale simulation experiments test Romanian and Swiss ma cJan-06-2016 a41 - 490 v3303 a

Distinct guidelines have been proposed in Romania and Switzerland for the management of pasture-woodlands that either focused on the regulation of grazing pressure (Romanian production perspective) or overall tree cover (Swiss conservation perspective). However, the landscape structural diversity and the cover of forest-grassland ecotones, which are both crucial for nature conservation value, were not explicitly considered.

We aimed to compare the country-specific management guidelines regarding their efficiency for the conservation of the structurally diverse forest-grassland mosaics in the light of recent land-use and climate change.

In strategic simulation experiments using the process-based model of pasture-woodland ecosystems WoodPaM, we analyzed the relationships among drivers for the formation of mosaic patterns (grazing intensity, climate change) and the resulting landscape properties (tree cover, forest-grassland ecotones, mosaic structure) during the past until today (2000 AD).

The results showed that tree canopy densification following recent climate warming is likely to trigger landscape structural shifts. Medium grazing pressure promoted the development of the full range of pasture-woodland habitats and is therefore confirmed as a management strategy that balances agronomic demands and nature conservation value. Tree cover is rejected as a criteria to monitor pasture-woodland conservation status, because its relationship to landscape structural diversity and to the cover of forest-grassland ecotones did not hold for changing climate.

Our results suggest “experimental-retrospective” analysis as a useful tool to test conclusions from expert knowledge.

1 aPeringer, Alexander1 aGillet, François1 aRosenthal, Gert1 aStoicescu, Ioana1 aPătru-Stupariu, Ileana1 aStupariu, Mihai-Sorin1 aButtler, Alexandre uhttps://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S030438001630079501250nas a2200217 4500008004100000022001400041245013200055210006900187260001600256300001400272490000700286520052500293100002400818700002300842700002100865700002600886700002000912700002300932700002200955856005500977 2016 eng d a0921-297300aMulti-scale feedbacks between tree regeneration traits and herbivore behavior explain the structure of pasture-woodland mosaics0 aMultiscale feedbacks between tree regeneration traits and herbiv cJan-05-2016 a913 - 9270 v313 a

The pasture-woodlands of Central Europe are low-intensity grazing systems in which the structural richness of dynamic forest-grassland mosaics is causal for their high biodiversity. Distinct mosaic patterns in Picea abies- and Fagus sylvatica-dominated pasture-woodlands in the Swiss Jura Mountains suggest a strong influence of tree species regeneration ecology on landscape structural properties. At the landscape scale, however, cause-effect relationships are complicated by habitat selectivity of livestock.

1 aPeringer, Alexander1 aSchulze, Kiowa, A.1 aStupariu, Ileana1 aStupariu, Mihai-Sorin1 aRosenthal, Gert1 aButtler, Alexandre1 aGillet, François uhttp://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10980-015-0308-z00961nam a2200145 4500008003900000020001900039245008300058210006900141260001400210520046600224100001900690700001700709700002100726856006800747 2006 d a978-184407384900aRealizing Community Futures: A Practical Guide to Harnessing Natural Resources0 aRealizing Community Futures A Practical Guide to Harnessing Natu bEarthScan3 a

Through an easy-to-read narrative style and using real examples from Africa and Asia, this revolutionary book--part argument for the limitless power of human imagination and part practical manual for turning visions into reality--explains how to use a process of participatory modelling" to structure people’s learning and understanding of the natural systems they depend upon and how this can lead to better social and environmental outcomes.

1 aVanclay, Jerry1 aPrabhu, Ravi1 aSinclair, Fergus uhttp://www.cifor.cgiar.org/realizingfutures/_ref/home/index.htm