title: Do vineyards in contrasting landscapes contribute to conserve plant species of dry calcareous grasslands?
abstract: The increasing development of vineyards in Mediterranean areas worldwide is considered a major driver of conversion of several habitats of conservation concern, including calcareous dry grasslands that are targeted for biodiversity conservation by the European Union, according to Natura 2000 policies. Here, we aim at evaluating the potential of extensive vineyards located in contrasting landscapes (semi-natural vs crop-dominated) for providing suitable habitat conditions to plant species associated with dry grasslands. This study was carried out in one of the economically most important winemaking districts of Italy, characterized by a hilly landscape with steep slope vineyards. We compared plant communities of vineyards in contrasting landscapes with those of the remnants of dry grasslands. Our study demonstrates that landscape composition strongly affects local plant communities in vineyards, with a positive effect of semi-natural habitats bordering the cultivated areas. Our findings thus supply an additional tool for improving the effectiveness of viticultural landscapes for nature conservation. In particular, our results indicate that vineyards on steep slopes could provide moderate chance for the conservation of plant specialists inhabiting calcareous dry grasslands, depending on the landscape composition: vineyards embedded in semi-natural landscapes have more potential for conservation than those in crop-dominated landscapes. Our study also indicates that conservation efforts should aim at (a) decreasing the current management intensity that likely hampers the beneficial effects of semi-natural habitats in the surrounding landscape on local plant assemblages, and (b) strictly conserving the remnants of dry grasslands that are irreplaceable refugia for habitat specialists and species of conservation concern.
authors.affiliation: Department of Agronomy, Food, Natural Resources, Animals and the Environment (DAFNAE), University of Padova, viale dell'Università 16, 35020 Legnaro, Padova, Italy; Department of Life Sciences, University of Trieste, via Giorgieri 10, 34100 Trieste, Italy. Electronic address: junasc@libero.it.
authors.forename: Juri
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Nascimbene
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Padova, via U. Bassi 58/B, I-35121 Padova, Italy.
authors.forename: Michela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zottini
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Padova, via U. Bassi 58/B, I-35121 Padova, Italy.
authors.forename: Diego
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ivan
authors.affiliation: Department of Agronomy, Food, Natural Resources, Animals and the Environment (DAFNAE), University of Padova, viale dell'Università 16, 35020 Legnaro, Padova, Italy.
authors.forename: Valentina
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Casagrande
authors.affiliation: Department of Agronomy, Food, Natural Resources, Animals and the Environment (DAFNAE), University of Padova, viale dell'Università 16, 35020 Legnaro, Padova, Italy.
authors.forename: Lorenzo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Marini
mesh_terms: D000383:Agriculture / Q000379:methods*; D044822:Biodiversity; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources / Q000379:methods*; D017753:Ecosystem; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D065948:Grassland; D007558:Italy; D014920:Wine
keywords: Crop landscape; Plant conservation; Ruderal species; Semi-natural landscape; Specialist species; Species richness and composition