Plant species richness and composition in managed grasslands: The relative importance of field management and environmental factors

Decline of grassland diversity throughout Europe within the last decades is threatening biological diversity and is a major conservation problem. There is an urgent need to determine the underlying factors that control vascular plant species richness and composition in managed grasslands. In this study, 117 grasslands were sampled using standardised methods. Explanatory variables were recorded for each grassland site, reflecting the local field management, site-specific environmental conditions and large-scale spatial trends. Using variation partitioning methods, we determined the pure and shared effects of these three sets of explanatory variables on the plant species richness and composition in grasslands. Most of the explained variation in plant species richness was related to the joint effect of local field management and environmental variables. However, the applied variation partitioning approach revealed that the pure effect of spatial variables contributed relatively little to explaining variation in both the plant species richness and species composition. The largest fractions of explained variation in plant species composition were accounted for by the pure effects of environmental and local field management variables. Moreover, the results revealed that the main mechanisms by which these sets of explanatory variables affect plant species vary according to the type of management regime under study. From our findings we could conclude that particularly a reduction of nitrogen fertilisation on meadows and grazing at a low stocking rate on pastures can help to conserve biodiversity.     

Small-scale plant species richness and evenness in semi-natural grasslands respond differently to habitat fragmentation

The study explores whether small-scale species diversity, species evenness and species richness in semi-natural grassland communities are similarly associated with present management regime and/or present and historical landscape context (percentage of different land-cover types in the surroundings). Species diversity, evenness and richness were recorded within 441 50 × 50 cm grassland plots in 4.5 × 4.5 km agricultural landscape on Öland, Sweden. Recent and historical land-cover maps (years 2004, 1959, 1938, 1835, and 1800) were used to characterize the present and past landscape context of the sampled vegetation plots. Partial regression and simultaneous autoregressive models were used to explore the relationships between species diversity measures (Shannon diversity, richness and evenness) and different explanatory variables while accounting for spatial autocorrelation in the data. The results indicated that species richness was relatively sensitive to grassland isolation, while the response of species evenness to isolation was characterized by a degree of inertia. Because the richness and evenness components of species diversity may respond differently to habitat fragmentation, we suggest that monitoring projects and empirical studies that focus on changes in biodiversity in semi-natural grasslands should include the assessment of species evenness - as a complement to the assessment of species richness. In addition, our results indicated that the development and persistence of a species-rich and even grassland vegetation was favoured in areas that have historically (in the 19th century) been surrounded by grasslands. Information on landscape history should, whenever possible, be incorporated into the planning of strategies for grassland conservation.     

The importance of the gravel excavation industry for the conservation of grassland butterflies

Conservation biology often relies on the protection of (semi)natural habitat remnants. However, the ever increasing human population is taking over natural resources and habitats. Here, contrary to most other studies, we ask how human-associated severe changes in the environment can be used to enrich local biodiversity. We tested if industrial activity (gravel excavation) leads to the creation of habitats that support grassland butterflies and how these areas add to the richness of local species when compared to typical semi-natural habitats (grasslands). We also identified key factors affecting the richness, abundance, diversity and commonness of butterfly species to provide practical recommendations. Species richness, diversity index and the occurrence of rare species were higher in gravel-pit shores than in grasslands. The richness of butterfly species and their abundance were positively affected by the richness of plant species, shrub density and age of the gravel-pit but negatively by the cover of water reservoirs in the surrounding area and the isolation of gravel-pits from grasslands. Butterfly diversity was positively influenced by the richness of plant species and proximity of human settlement but negatively by area of the shore and isolation. Our study is the first one to show the high value of gravel-pits for the conservation of butterflies. We recommend the inclusion of gravel-pits in a system of ecological networks and management of their surroundings to improve the colonization rate of rare species. We suggests that directing interest to the possible positive effects of industrial development on biodiversity may support conservation efforts.     

东北平原典型玉米种植区农业景观植物多样性研究——以昌图县为例

非耕作生境是农业景观中的重要组成部分,为生物提供食物和栖息地,对生物多样性保护具有重要意义。本文以辽宁省昌图县为例,选取了20个非耕作生境比例为0~50%的网格(1 km?1 km)为样区,采用典型样地法对调查区域内农业景观中的林地、田间路、草地、沟渠、果园5类主要非耕作生境中的植物群落进行调查,探讨不同非耕作生境类型和比例中植物多样性及其与景观异质性之间的关系。研究结果表明,随着非耕作生境比例增加,植物物种多样性和均匀度先增加后减小,在20%~30%时达到峰值;非耕作生境比例在0~40%范围内时,植物物种丰富度同样呈现先增加后减小,且在20%~30%时达到峰值;非耕作生境比例高于40%时,植物物种丰富度再次出现峰值且高于20%~30%。随着非耕作生境比例的增加,农业景观香浓多样性、香浓均匀度指数和景观斑块形状复杂程度逐渐增加,蔓延度恰好相反。不同生境中重要值最高的均为禾本科植物,但植物种不同;优势种优势度为果园沟渠草地田间路林地。果园、草地和沟渠的物种多样性和均匀度指数显著高于林地和田间路,丰富度指数为草地林地沟渠果园田间路,且草地、果园和田间路的不同调查区域间植物群落指数存在较大的变异性。草地、果园、沟渠、田间路和林地中景观异质性与物种多样性相关性顺次降低。研究结论表明,东北平原典型玉米种植区农业景观中,最适宜非耕作生境比例为20%~30%;非耕作生境中林地、沟渠对物种多样性维持、湿生植物多样性保护具有积极作用;不同生境干扰类型和方式不同,景观异质性与植物物种多样性相关性程度也不同。在今后农业景观生物多样性保护中应综合考虑非耕作生境的类型和比例,干扰的类型和方式等多种因素对生物多样性、生态服务及农业产量的影响。     

Effects of abandonment of subalpine hay meadows on plant and invertebrate diversity in Transylvania, Romania

Recent changes in agriculture (intensification or abandonment) have resulted in a critical reduction of semi-natural grasslands in Eastern Europe. Subalpine semi-natural grasslands in Transylvania, Romania, harbour a high diversity of plants and invertebrates, including endemics, and are considered refugia for numerous threatened open-land species. We investigated effects of land abandonment by examining species richness, species abundance, proportion of open-land, endemic and threatened vascular plants, gastropods, and diurnal and nocturnal Lepidoptera in extensive hay meadows (initial stage), and three seral stages of succession (early stage of abandoned hay meadow, naturally growing birch forest, and mature forest) in the mountainous region of Baisoara in Transylvania. A total of 626 species (225 vascular plants, 16 gastropods, 68 diurnal and 317 nocturnal Lepidoptera) were found in the 16 study sites (four replicates per successional stage). The four taxonomic groups differed in their response to the abandonment of hay meadows. Each stage of succession harboured the maximum species richness for one taxonomic group: extensive hay meadows for vascular plants, abandoned hay meadows for diurnal Lepidoptera, birch forests for nocturnal Lepidoptera, and mature forests for gastropods. In all four taxonomic groups the complementarity of species composition increased with successional age, whereas the number of characteristic open-land species decreased with successional age. The four successional stages did not differ in proportion of red-listed plant and diurnal Lepidoptera species. In nocturnal Lepidoptera, however, the proportion of red-listed species increased with successional age. Furthermore, successional stages did not differ in number of plant species endemic to the Carpathians and Eastern Europe. Our results indicate the high conservation value of all stages of subalpine grassland succession for the indigenous biodiversity of Transylvania. To prevent losses of characteristic species, we suggest a rotational grassland management program that maintains different successional stages.     

Old cultural traditions, in addition to land use and topography, are shaping plant diversity of grasslands in the Alps

Socio-economically motivated land use changes are a major threat for species diversity of grasslands throughout the world. Here, we comprehensively explore how plant species diversity of grasslands in the species-rich cultural landscape of the Swiss Alps depends on recent land use changes, and, neglected in previous studies, on old cultural traditions. We studied diversity in 216 grassland parcels at three altitudinal levels in 12 villages of three cultural traditions (Romanic, Germanic, and Walser). In valleys of Romanic villages more different parcel types tended to occur than in those of Germanic and Walser villages, suggesting that socio-economic differences among cultural traditions still play a role in shaping landscape diversity. Moreover, at the village level, higher man-made landscape diversity was associated with higher plant species richness. All observed changes in land use reduced the farmers’ workload. Plant species richness was lower in fertilized than in unfertilized parcels and in abandoned compared with used parcels. Grazing slightly reduced species richness compared with mowing among unfertilized parcels, while in fertilized parcels it had a positive influence. The highest species diversity was found in mown unfertilized subalpine grasslands. Nevertheless, moderate grazing of former meadows can be a valuable alternative to abandonment. We conclude that the ongoing changes in land use reduce plant species richness within parcels and at the landscape level. To preserve plant species diversity at the landscape level a high diversity of land use types has to be maintained.     

Land use and habitat gradients determine bird community diversity and abundance in suburban, rural and reserve landscapes of Minnesota, USA

Bird species’ community responses to land use in the suburbanizing Twin Cities, Minnesota, USA, were contrasted among reserves, rural lands, and suburbs. For each land use type, bird composition, diversity, and abundance were recorded for 2 years in ≈99 plots in three sampling units (each ≈4500 ha). A habitat gradient defined by canopy structure (grasslands to savannas to forests) was influenced by land use, so ≈300 plots were used to characterize simultaneous variation in bird communities along land use and habitat gradients. At broad scales (aggregate of 33 plots covering ≈4500 ha) suburbs supported the lowest bird richness and diversity and rural landscapes the most, with reserves slightly below rural. Although reserves were like rural lands in diversity of bird communities, they supported more species of conservation concern, particularly of grasslands and savannas. Differences among land use types varied with habitat structure. Suburbs, rural lands, and reserves had similar forest bird communities, but differed in grassland and savanna bird communities. The extensive rural forests are important for the region’s forest birds. Suburban grasslands and savannas had low shrub abundance, low native bird richness and high non-native bird richness and abundance. However, total bird richness and diversity were as high in suburban as in rural and reserve plots because high native richness in suburban forests and high non-native species richness in suburban grasslands and savannas compensated for lower native richness in suburban grasslands and savannas. Bird conservation here and in the Midwest USA should protect rural forests, expand grasslands and savannas in reserves, and improve habitat quality overall.     

阿尔泰山布尔津林区不同草地类型物种多样性特征与生产力的关系

为探讨物种多样性与地上生物量的相关性以及物种多样性的垂直变化特征.以阿尔泰山布尔津林区5种草地类型为研究对象,通过对布尔津林区各草地类型的调查,分析了阿尔泰山布尔津林区各草地类型的物种多样性变化特征.结果 表明:(1)5个草地群落类型地上生物量差异明显,荒漠草原和山地草甸草原较低,山地草原最高,而山地草甸和高寒草甸处于...     

Ethical pluralism, pragmatism, and sustainability in conservation practice

Conservation organizations are asked to be responsive to a number of ethical obligations beyond that of the conservation of biodiversity: the reduction of poverty, the imperative of social justice and cultural integrity, and the improvement in human livelihoods. Yet how a conservation project is designed and structured can negatively impact people’s access to resources, privilege one group of people over another, or protect some species at a cost to others. Ideological conflict among nature protectionists, advocates for indigenous people, those promoting a pro-poor agenda, and those seeking to move conservation into the economic mainstream has characterized the conservation debate. I argue that in practice, most conservation programs should adopt a pluralistic and pragmatic approach, adopting multiple goals and making decisions on the basis of what works. Choosing among approaches requires an appreciation of trade-offs, and consideration of biological, social, and cultural values. Ultimately conservation approaches must be sustainable – ecologically, culturally, socially, economically and politically – otherwise they will fail both practically and ethically.     

Habitat-based conservation priorities for carabid beetles within the Picos de Europa National Park, northern Spain

Quick biodiversity studies on poorly studied taxa and areas are increasingly popular for setting conservation priorities over a wide range of spatial scales. However, the implementation of such studies is complicated by the variable extent to which the different criteria used in prioritisation are correlated to each other. Using methods of constrained ordination, we examined the species-habitat relationships of carabid beetles based on ground beetle assemblages from 22 sites in the Picos de Europa National Park, northern Spain. We found characteristic species assemblages for subalpine meadows, Genista shrublands, and pastures, whereas mown meadows, heathlands, beech and riparian woodlands were occupied by more habitat generalist species. Species associated with subalpine meadows and Genista shrublands tended to be mostly brachypterous and to have geographic ranges restricted to northern Spain. In contrast, we found no relationship between the degree of species' association with pastures and geographic range-wing size type. Although the species richness was higher in riparian woodlands and mown meadows, we suggest a higher conservation value for subalpine meadows and Genista shrublands across the landscape because they sustain characteristic assemblages dominated by species with restricted ranges and reduced powers of dispersal. Our study suggests that preserving areas in the landscape supporting higher biodiversity will not necessarily preserve those species potentially more susceptible to habitat loss and fragmentation. It also supports the feasibility of biodiversity studies based on multivariate techniques for setting conservation priorities over complex landscapes.     

The importance of traditional meadow management techniques for conservation of vascular plant species richness in Norway

Using information from a regional survey of vascular plants of 130 sites in western Norway, a selection of sites based on a heuristic iterative complementarity-based nature reserve selection procedure was performed. The results indicate that conservation of traditionally managed hay meadows is of major importance as they contributed 60.1% of all native species recorded; afforested grasslands (deciduous woodlands < 70 years old) contributed 26.8%, whereas artificially fertilized hay meadows and intensively cultivated grasslands taken together contributed 13.1% of the species. The species composition of the meadows was significantly nested. Thus, if you conserve the most species-rich meadows, you also conserve most of the species in the less species-rich meadows. Nestedness in meadows was significantly correlated with within-meadow habitat diversity and soil pH. The most species-rich meadows were traditional meadows, characterized by high habitat diversity and high soil pH. These meadows will support nearly all species including habitat specialists and regionally rare species, whilst artificially fertilized hay meadows only support the generalist subset, i.e. common species. Area was not significantly correlated with nestedness suggesting that it is more important to cover many habitats than to preserve large traditional meadows just because they are large.     

Arable weed decline in Northern France: Crop edges as refugia for weed conservation?

The maintenance of biodiversity in agro-ecosystems is often viewed as an insurance against an uncertain future, yet, there is increasing evidence of biodiversity loss in agricultural landscapes. Here, we examined long term trends in the arable weed flora of North-East France by revisiting 158 arable fields initially surveyed in the 1970s. We assessed changes in species richness, density and frequency of occurrence in weed communities as well as for subgroups that are recognised for their conservation value. We also evaluated the importance of crop edges as potential refugia for the threatened arable weeds. Among the 121 species recorded in both surveys, 40% had significantly declined in frequency while 10% had significantly increased. At the field level, we recorded a 42% decline in species richness and a 67% decline in species density. Trends were comparable for weed species of particular conservation value. In the 2000s survey, crop edges harboured levels of weed diversity that were intermediate between those found in field cores in the 1970s and in the 2000s survey. Our results indicated that many species of conservation value had disappeared or seriously decreased in the field core but still persisted in the crop edge. The consequences of this general decline and possible conservation options are discussed in the light of the results.     

The influence of land-use practices and economics on plant species richness in meadows

Thirty-one meadows were investigated within five sites representing various farming styles found in Austrian cultural landscapes. The meadows were analysed regarding (a) biodiversity (vascular plant and bryophyte species richness), (b) land-use practices (fertiliser input, mowing intensity, the use of silage), and (c) economic aspects (variable costs, profit margin and subsidies per ha). There were significant negative correlations between plant species richness and mowing intensity and intensity of fertiliser application. Bryophytes were good indicators of low nutrient regimes, having high species richness at low fertiliser input. Vascular plants showed highest species richness at an intermediate nitrogen supply. The total plant species richness decreased with increasing nitrogen supply. Intensive silage production was also negatively correlated with plant diversity. Species with a very narrow ecological niche of soil moisture and nutrients declined, whereas species adapted to wider ecological conditions increased. Profit margin and variable costs correlated negatively with plant species richness, with meadows that offered low or no profit margins showing highest species richness. There was no significant relationship between species richness and the amount of subsidies invested at the study meadows. Estimated costs of maintaining a species are shown. It is concluded that if plant species richness are to be maintained in these meadows, farmers have to receive increased financial incentives through agro-environmental subsidies for appropriate meadow management, and these have to be linked to clearly defined measures.     

晋西北退耕地物种多样性研究

以晋西北偏关县退耕还林地为研究对象,在退耕5,4和3 a(分别为2000年,2001年,2002年)的退耕地分别取120个1 m×1 m的样方,在对照区取24个1 m×1 m的样方,对其进行调查,应用丰富度、多样性指数、均匀度及生态优势度等指标,综合测度物种多样性。结果表明,随着退耕时间的延长,退耕地的物种丰富度、多样性指数逐渐增大,生态优势度逐渐减小,退耕地的物种多样性比撂荒地明显增加。     

Does science replace traditions? Correlates between traditional Tibetan culture and local bird diversity in Southwest China

A positive relationship between traditional cultures and biodiversity exists worldwide, but when traditional and formal conservation institutions coexist, how they interact and affect biodiversity remains poorly studied. From 2005 to 2007, we studied the relationship between Tibetan traditional practices and biodiversity. Specifically, how traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) and scientific ecological knowledge (SEK) affect local biodiversity by affecting people’s attitudes and behaviors towards conservation. We interviewed 331 villagers in nine Tibetan villages in Sichuan Province, China. We used proxy questions to measure the traditional practices, TEK, SEK, conservation attitudes and behaviors of village residents. Meanwhile, we assessed the bird diversity around the villages by stratified sampling and point counts. The results indicate traditional practices exhibited a strong positive correlation with TEK, but a negative correlation with formal education and SEK. The villagers with high traditional practices had more positive attitudes towards conservation and more actively participated in conservation than villagers with low traditional practices, and villagers with medium traditional practices were the least concerned about, or participated in, conservation activities. Bird species richness, abundance, and the Shannon–Wiener diversity index were positively correlated with the traditional practice index of each village. The results of a negative binomial regression showed the traditional practice index was a positive correlative factor of bird species richness, while formal education was not a significant variable, after controlling for other potential sampling and environment factors. Government-sponsored conservation education was somewhat successful in raising people’s environmental awareness, but these efforts have yet to correlate with enhanced biodiversity measures.     

Impact of farm size and topography on plant and insect diversity of managed grasslands in the Alps

Since the second half of the 20th century, the intensification of land-use practices and the associated decline in semi-natural habitats have been the major drivers of farmland biodiversity loss. In many marginal agricultural systems, a structural transformation of farms, from small and traditional to large and intensive, has also been observed. We unravelled the impact of farm size and slope on plant, orthopteran and butterfly diversity in 132 hay meadows in a region of the Italian Alps. We defined three farm size classes representing different levels of intensification and used mixed models to test the influence of farm size along with topographic slope. The diversity of plants, orthopterans and butterflies declined with management intensity at the field scale, which mainly depended on farm size and grassland topography. We found a positive effect of slope and a negative influence of farm size on species richness of the three taxonomic groups. Large farms were strongly associated with higher production of organic fertilizers and higher soil fertility than small traditional farms, irrespective of meadow slope. At the regional scale, we found that large farms managed flatter meadows (slope = 9.0) than small traditional farms (slope = 13.5), contributing to the abandonment of steep species-rich grassland areas. Regional stakeholders should consider targeted conservation schemes to prevent the ongoing substitution of small farms with large intensive farms. A complementary solution could be to target future conservation measures to support farms with low production of organic fertilizers and to reward the maintenance of the current management of steep meadows.     

Spatial congruence between biodiversity and ecosystem services in South Africa

Ecosystems services sustain humans all over the world. The unsustainable use of ecosystem services around the world has led to widespread degradation which now threatens human health and livelihoods. Although the maintenance of ecosystem services is often used to justify biodiversity conservation actions, it is still unclear how ecosystem services relate to different aspects of biodiversity and to what extent the conservation of biodiversity will ensure the provision of services. The aim of this study was to find out whether biodiversity priorities, biomes, species richness and vegetation diversity hotspots co-occur in space with ecosystem services. The distribution of the ranges and hotspots of five ecosystem services (surface water supply, water flow regulation, carbon storage, soil accumulation, and soil retention) was assessed in South African biomes. Coincidence, overlap, and correlation analyses were used to assess spatial congruence between ecosystem services and species richness (plants and animals) and vegetation diversity hotspots. The grassland and savanna biomes contained significant amounts of all five ecosystem services. There was moderate overlap and a generally positive but low correlation between ecosystem services hotspots and species richness and vegetation diversity hotspots. Species richness was mostly higher in the hotspots of water flow regulation and soil accumulation than would be expected by chance. The water services showed varying levels of congruence with species richness hotspots and vegetation diversity hotspot. These results indicate that actions taken to conserve biodiversity in South Africa will also protect certain ecosystem services and ecosystem services can be used to strengthen biodiversity conservation in some instances.     

Do we protect biological originality in protected areas? A new index and an application to the Bonifacio Strait Natural Reserve

Changes in biodiversity may disrupt the ecological functions performed by species assemblages. Hence, we urgently need to examine the implications of biodiversity loss not only in terms of species conservation but also in terms of sustainability of ecosystem services. The ability of protected areas to maintain local species richness has been clearly demonstrated. However, preserving goods and services provided by ecosystems requires not only the conservation of species richness but also the conservation of the most ‘original’ species, i.e. the ones with the highest average rarity of their attributes which are likely to perform some unique functions in ecosystems. We proposed a new conservation of biological originality (CBO) index as well as associated randomization tests to quantify the ability of protected areas to maintain viable populations for the most original species. As an application, we used long-term fisheries data collected in the Bonifacio Strait Natural Reserve (BSNR) to determine the species which benefited from the protection reinforcement in 1999. We also estimated a set of 14 ecomorphological functional traits on the 37 fish species caught in the BSNR and we obtained a functional originality value for each species. As a result, we found that functional originality was significantly protected in the fish assemblage of the BSNR: species with the most original functional trait combinations became more abundant after 1999. Our finding suggests that protecting most original species is an insurance against functional diversity erosion in the BSNR. More generally, our new index can be used to test whether protected areas may protect preferentially the most original species and whether restorative management promotes the reestablishment of the most original species with particular habitat requirements.     

Population viability, ecological processes and biodiversity: Valuing sites for reserve selection

No-take reserves constitute one tool to improve conservation of marine ecosystems, yet criteria for their placement, size, and arrangement remain uncertain. Representation of biodiversity is necessary in reserve planning, but will ultimately fail for conservation unless factors affecting species’ persistence are also incorporated. This study presents an empirical example of the divergent relationships among multiple metrics used to quantify a site’s conservation value, including those that address representation (habitat type, species richness, species diversity), and others that address ecological processes and viability (density and reproductive capacity of a keystone species, in this case, the black chiton, Katharina tunicata). We characterized 10 rocky intertidal sites across two habitats in Barkley Sound, British Columbia, Canada, according to these site metrics. High-richness and high-production sites for K. tunicata were present in both habitat types, but high richness and high-production sites did not overlap. Across sites, species richness ranged from 29 to 46, and adult K. tunicata varied from 6 to 22 individuals m⁻². Adult density was negatively correlated with species richness, a pattern that likely occurs due to post-recruitment growth and survival because no correlation was evident with non-reproductive juveniles. Sites with high adult density also contributed disproportionately greater potential reproductive output (PRO), defined by total gonad mass. PRO varied by a factor of five across sites and was also negatively correlated with species richness. Compromise or relative weighting would be necessary to select valuable sites for conservation because of inherent contradictions among some reserve selection criteria. We suspect that this inconsistency among site metrics will occur more generally in other ecosystems and emphasize the importance of population viability of strongly interacting species.     

Grazing management of calcareous grasslands and its implications for the conservation of beetle communities

Calcareous grasslands are an important habitat for floral and faunal communities in the UK and Europe. Declines due to changes in management, scrub invasion and agricultural improvement have left much of the remnants of this habitat in a degraded and fragmented state. Grazing, by cattle or sheep, is one of the main management practices used to maintain and improve the floral and faunal quality of calcareous grassland. The long-term impacts of different grazing regimes, however, are poorly understood, particularly in terms of the invertebrate communities. This study contrasted the impacts of recently introduced and long-term sheep or cattle grazing on beetle communities present on one of the largest areas of calcareous grassland in Europe, the Salisbury Plain military training Area, UK. No effects of grazing management on beetle abundance, species richness or evenness were found, but plant diversity and overall percentage cover of grasses did influence beetle diversity. Proportions of the total number of individuals and overall species richness within beetle guilds (predatory, phytophagous, flower/seed feeders, root feeders and foliage feeders) were strongly influenced by both the duration and type of grazing animal. At the species level, beetle community structure showed significant differences between ungrazed, long-term cattle and long-term sheep grazing treatments. Changes in plant community structure were found to influence beetle community structure. The significance of these results is discussed in terms of the long-term impacts of grazing on beetle community structure, and the benefits of different grazing regimes for the conservation management of calcareous grasslands.