Origin, Conservation, and Restoration of the Threatened European Grassland Ecosystem in the Anthropocene

Download or read book Origin, Conservation, and Restoration of the Threatened European Grassland Ecosystem in the Anthropocene written by Grégory Mahy and published by Frontiers Media SA. This book was released on 2024-11-07 with total page 189 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Natural and Semi-Natural Grassland Ecosystems (NSG) represent high-value biodiversity hotspots for biodiversity of the European continent, as well as an invaluable cultural heritage forged through millennia of human-nature interactions. While pristine natural European grasslands result mainly from constrained specific climatic and soil conditions, semi-natural grasslands largely result from the activities of humans and their livestock (e.g. grazing, mowing, burning) during millennia of low-intensity land use. European NSG, their biodiversity, and the cultural heritage they represent are highly threatened since the beginning of the 20th century in a context of multifactorial global change including environmental dimensions (climate change, habitat fragmentation, pollution, biological invasions) and land-use changes with the accelerating of socio-economic evolution of agricultural practices (intensification or abandonment) and urbanization.