Effect of Rotational Shepherding on Demographic and Genetic Connectivity of Calcareous Grassland Plants

Response to habitat fragmentation may not be generalized among species, in particular for plant communities with a variety of dispersal traits. Calcareous grasslands are one of the most species‐rich habitats in Central Europe, but abandonment of traditional management has caused a dramatic decline of calcareous grassland species. In the Southern Franconian Alb in Germany, reintroduction of rotational shepherding in previously abandoned grasslands has restored species diversity, and it has been suggested that sheep support seed dispersal among grasslands. We tested the effect of rotational shepherding on demographic and genetic connectivity of calcareous grassland specialist plants and whether the response of plant populations to shepherding was limited to species dispersed by animals (zoochory). Specifically, we tested competing dispersal models and source and focal patch properties to explain landscape connectivity with patch‐occupancy data of 31 species. We fitted the same connectivity models to patch occupancy and nuclear microsatellite data for the herb Dianthus carthusianorum (Carthusian pink). For 27 species, patch connectivity was explained by dispersal by rotational shepherding regardless of adaptations to zoochory, whereas population size (16% species) and patch area (0% species) of source patches were not important predictors of patch occupancy in most species. [Correction made after online publication, February 25, 2014: Population size and patch area percentages were mistakenly inverted, and have now been fixed.] Microsite diversity of focal patches significantly increased the model variance explained by patch occupancy in 90% of the species. For D. carthusianorum, patch connectivity through rotational shepherding explained both patch occupancy and population genetic diversity. Our results suggest shepherding provides dispersal for multiple plant species regardless of their dispersal adaptations and thus offers a useful approach to restore plant diversity in fragmented calcareous grasslands. Efectos del Pastoreo Rotacional sobre la Conectividad Genética y Demográfica de Plantas de Pastizales Calcáreos     

在中国西部防治荒漠化:政策透视

毫无疑问。土地退化在中国西部是一个严重问题。它对千百万穷苦农牧民的生计具有负面影响，并制约着中国几个最穷困省份的经济发展。但是。对于土地退化的真正原因及制止土地退化的可行办法。还存在许多争议。这也是本文关注的主要问题。 世界银行相信。联合国《防治荒漠化公约》能够帮助中国为解决西部干旱省份土地退化问题找到可行的办法。《公约》和世界上其他环境公约一样，是用来减少穷困和促进可持续的经济发展的。但如何在一个特定国家水平上成功地履行防治荒漠化公约主要取决于如何诊断问题的症结。如何从解决问题的国际经验中学习和应用这些经验教训。[编者按]