Historical Landscape Perspectives on Grasslands in Sweden and the Baltic Region

Ove Eriksson and Sara A. O. Cousins
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Ove Eriksson: Department of Ecology, Environment and Plant Sciences, Stockholm University, SE-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden
Sara A. O. Cousins: Department of Physical Geography and Quaternary Geology, Stockholm University, SE-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden

Land, 2014, vol. 3, issue 1, 1-22

Abstract: A landscape perspective is generally recognized as essential for conservation biology. The main underlying reason is that species respond to features of the landscape at various spatial scales, for example habitat area, connectivity, and matrix habitats. However, there is also an “historical” component of a landscape perspective, which has not received similar attention. The underlying reasons for historical effects are that humans have influenced landscapes during several millennia and that species and communities may respond slowly to land use change. An historical perspective on landscapes also relates to how we perceive “natural” vs. “cultural” landscapes, and thus how conservation actions are motivated and valuated. We review studies from Sweden and the Baltic region in the context of an historical landscape perspective, focusing on semi-natural grasslands, i.e. , grasslands formed by long-term human management for grazing and hay-making. Semi-natural grasslands are today a high concern for conservation. Historical effects are ubiquitous on species distributions and patterns of species richness, and have important implications for developing informed conservation programs in semi-natural grasslands, particularly with regard to assumptions of historical baselines, the choice of conservation targets, and insights on time-lags in the response of species to current landscape change.

Keywords: conservation baselines; extinction debt; historical ecology; remnant populations; semi-natural grasslands (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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