Search

The upper Rhone valley in the Swiss canton of Valais is one of the driest and most continental of the inner-alpine valleys and harbours a rich xerothermic flora. We studied syntaxonomy and ecology of dry grasslands and their species richness patterns. In 2018 we recorded 28 vegetation plots (10 m2) and three nested-plot series of 0.0001 to 100 m2 on the south-facing slopes above the village of Ausserberg. Mean richness of all species ranged from 1.7 on 1 cm2 to 47.3 on 100 m2, with little contribution of bryophytes and lichens. The species-area relationship for total richness closely followed a power function. Modified TWINSPAN yielded a three-cluster solution, which could easily be matched with three orders of the class Festuco-Brometea: Stipo pulcherrimae-Festucetalia pallentis (xeric, rocky), Festucetalia valesiacae (xeric, non-rocky) and Brachypodietalia pinnati (meso-xeric). The subdivision of the xeric types into two orders is new for Swiss dry grasslands, where these types up to now had been joined in a single alliance Stipo-Poion within the Festucetalia valesiacae. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper assesses the impact of different policy options on the land use and associated biodiversity values of jointly organised low-intensity grazing systems (‘Allmende’) in Bavaria. We use an integrated economic and ecological modelling approach to compare three scenarios with the situation in 2003/05. We base the economic sub-model on single farms, which alter their land use in response to economic stimuli. Within the economic part, factors like the farm's endowment with machinery and quota are regarded. Within the rule-based ecological sub-model we analyse: area of protected habitats according to the EC Habitats Directive; biodiversity for selected taxonomic groups and habitat quality for different target species. An overall evaluation of the scenarios indicates that decoupling has a limited effect, because higher direct payments compensate the effect of lower product prices. If all payments are strictly targeted to agri-environmental measures and set to a level which guarantees a low-input management of the grassland, the public costs could be reduced and additional habitats for the target species could be provided. Regarding all indicators but the extent of protected habitats and the public costs, a scenario with a cessation of public payments and market liberalisation performs the worst. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]