Conference Agenda

The presentation will introduce the EU-cofunded 3-year Biodiversa + project ALPine mountain hay MEadows MAnagement (ALPMEMA) and present first findings from the field excursions of the project implemented during summer 2023. ALPMEMA addresses win-win situations in the agricultural sector to learn from best practices. Mountain hay meadows are a protected habitat type under the EU Habitats Directive and host several endangered species. The favorable conservation status of these meadows is often threatened by reduced human activity, e.g. farmland abandonment. Thus it can also be positively or negatively influenced by tourism. In a four-country (Armenia, Austria, Germany, Sweden) transdisciplinary mixed-method meta-analysis, three main components are combined: governance analysis, GIS/remote sensing, and future-scenarios co-creational workshops.

First findings indicate synergies and challenges between tourism and meadow management. Synergies for example relate to production/consumption that financially contribute to the successful maintenance of mountain hay meadows in a favorable conservation status. Examples are direct sales of consumables or activities to tourists as well as indirect sales such as accommodation rent in mountain hay meadow areas. Tradeoffs are for examples related to increased pressure from tourism leading to environmental degradation and intimidation of livestock. The presentation will also point out future research opportunities.

Within the ALPMEMA project, mountain hay meadows (MHM) are under investigation. MHM is a habitat covered by the Habitat Directive, and the EU aspires to protect it. The development is monitored through assessments of conservation status (CS). The conservation goal is to achieve a favorable conservation status (FCS). CS is evaluated based on three aspects: the habitat's area and range, typical species, and its structure and function. Member states interpret these aspects differently. Also, the definition of the habitat differs. To assess trends effectively, robust follow-up and error-free methods are crucial. The purpose with this study is to potentially streamline conservation efforts.

The key questions we seek to answer include: Is the definition of MHM consistent? Are the methods assessing FCS comparable and possible to follow up? What are the features of MHM with FCS?

Our foundation consists manuals for MHM assessments and actual investigations. The study is conducted in Austria, Germany, and Sweden. Regional differences are also in focus.

Based on our experiences and field visits with participants from all three countries in 2023, we assess differences in field methods and note variations both within and across countries and over time.

Species-rich grasslands, such as mountain hay meadows (MHM), make an important contribution to the conservation of biodiversity. As semi-natural meadows, they often suffer from infrequent human activity (mowing) or grazing animals to maintain their species composition. In order to increase knowledge to counteract this trend and to develop effective strategies to maintain MHM in good conservation status, we are conducting an international Solution Scanning. This presentation will provide first results and insights from this research. Attempting to adequately account for the diversity of MHM types and the associated diversity of management practices, a typology of practical measures on the meadow and subsequently a typology of the underlying organisational structures that ensure the maintenance of the practical measures will be developed. In order to achieve this goal, a mixed method approach will be employed in the form of a systematic literature review and semi-structured interviews. The typologies will serve as a basis for a subsequent Delphi study with international experts. The experts will first discuss the determinants of successful management of MHM based on the typologies and synthesise them into best management practices. The transferability of these practices to different contexts will then be analysed.

Mountainous landscapes in Europe, known for smallholder-based, multifunctional land uses in high-nature value areas, often face issues of underuse, farmland abandonment, and land degradation. Mapping these multifunctional high-nature value areas using satellite imagery is challenging due to their spatial and spectral complexity and limited cloud-free observations. Our goal was to evaluate remote sensing techniques for mapping these complex landscapes, especially focusing on mountain hay areas. Utilizing the freely available radar Sentinel-1 and optical Sentinel-2 time series, we successfully mapped 11 thematic classes, including hay and improved meadows, fruit orchards, vineyards, and shrubland. This study, centered on the Armenian part of the Caucasus Mountains, explored various combinations of satellite and ancillary data, i.e., elevation, texture, and vegetation indices. Results demonstrated an overall mapping accuracy of up to 82%, with user accuracies varying between 57% and 88%. Integrating texture measures with the Sentinel-2 series improved the classification of meadows while including nighttime lights, elevation, and slope data enhanced the differentiation of vineyards. Sufficient Sentinel-2 time series data was key for achieving plausible classification accuracies. In conclusion, the freely available Sentinel-2 is effective for mapping multifunctional landscapes in European mountain regions on classification resolutions of 10–20 meters in thematic maps.

Mountain species are shifting to higher elevations or latitudes following climate change. These shifts can lead to range reduction with consequent increase in extinction risks, especially for those with narrow high-elevation ranges. Therefore, land cover change and topographic complexity hinder species movement toward suitable climates, accelerating species decline. Species distribution models (SDMs) can be used to analyse potential range shifts by comparing species distribution data with environmental characteristics, assuming population locations reflect species' preferences. We estimated the distribution change of > 400 species of mountain mammals and birds worldwide using an ensemble SDM approach and predicted potential future distributions by 2050 and under three emission scenarios (SSP-126, SSP-370, SSP-585). Considering species' dispersal ability and habitat preferences, we also assessed the role of land use change in shaping potential future distributions. On average, we showed that tropical and sub-mountain species are more vulnerable to global change and more exposed to land-use change impacts than the rest of analysed species. Climate mitigation policies and targeted conservation interventions are crucial to prevent high-risk loss, especially for vulnerable mountain species.

European semi-natural mountain grasslands are currently threatened by both land abandonment and management intensification, which calls for more research in theses biodiversity hotspots. In this study we investigated the resilience of grasslands to relaxation of intensification, i.e. their ability to progressively return to a biodiversity-richer stable state. Thirteen study regions were selected in the southwestern Swiss Alps in spring 2019. Each region included three meadows that have been intensively managed for at least the last 20 years. Adopting a randomised block design, two out of three meadows per study site are now being restored by shifting their mode of exploitation towards low-intensity (1/3 of the fertiliser dose applied beforehand) or extensive management (no more fertilisation application). In 2023, four years later, plant species richness increased by 7–9% in extensified meadows. Nonetheless, butterfly abundance almost doubled, and butterfly species richness increased by 21% and 62% in low-intensity and extensive meadows respectively. This was mostly driven by a strong increase in forb cover and higher light availability as shown by the Landolt indicator value. Altogether results indicate that the butterfly community can response rapidly (faster that plant species richness per se) to management changes, following passive restoration.