Landscape ecology
The role of landscape composition and configuration in forming the biodiversity patterns of grasslands is in the focus of our scientific interest. The formerly continuous large natural habitats have been affected by several land use changes and in many regions the landscape is now characterised by small remnant grassland stands located in a hostile matrix of arable fields. This type of agricultural landscape is a typical setting in many countries across Europe. This study system - despite the many threats that the grassland fragments receive from the hostile matrix - is really amazing and complex, as both the current and historical landscape changes and the environmental conditions of the local habitats shape the plant species composition of the fragmented grasslands. Grassland fragments in the agricultural landscapes are essential for maintaining the biodiversity and multifunctionality of the agricultural landscapes, so they are very important also in agro-environmental policies (please read our recent EASAC policy report on Regenerative Agriculture).
Our favourite study objects are kurgans that are anicent burial mounds built by nomadic steppic tribes. These features are widespread across the steppe and forest steppe region of Eurasia, from Hungary to Mongolia, and their number exceeds half million! Similar features - built by different cultures - are present in almost all continents. Recently we had the pleasure to visit ancient mounds in Denmark which are very similar to steppic kurgans in their landscape ecological function.
But why are ancient burial mounds interesting for ecologists? Due to their steep slopes and the societal respect related to them, they often hold the last remnants of species-rich grassland vegetation in the otherwise intensively used agricultural landscape. Depending on the landscape context they can act as biodiversity hotspots, stepping stones or safe havens for grassland specialist species. Despite the cultural and biological importance of these widespread mounds, they don't receive sufficient protection and their natural values are largely undiscovered in most of the regions. The studies of Balázs Deák aim to change this situation. In the kurgan-related projects of Balázs we have sampled more than 400 kurgans so far in different regions of Hungary, Bulgaria and Kazakhstan. We study the role of landscape and local factors in shaping the vegetation composition and arthropod fauna of the mounds. We also dig deep in the history: Balázs together with the landscape archaeologist Ádám Bede track the effects of the historical landscape changes in the present day vegetation of the grassland fragments on kurgans. In our recent study we studied the current and historical landscape composition and revealed the differences in the extinction debt among plant and animal taxa on kurgans.
Are you interested in kurgans? Do you want to contribute to mapping and discovering these important landmarks in Eurasia? Then visit the webpage of the Eurasian Kurgan Database! Balázs founded this database to provide a Eurasian-wide synthesis on the land cover, threat factors and cultural values of kurgans.
Recent publications from our group in landscape ecology
Deák, B., Bede, Á., Rádai, Z., Tóthmérész, B., Török, P., Nagy D., D., Torma, A., Lőrinczi, G., Nagy, A., Mizser, S., Kelemen, A. & Valkó, O. (2021): Different extinction debts among plants and arthropods after loss of grassland amount and connectivity. Biological Conservation 264: 109372.
Deák, B., Kovács, B., Rádai, Z., Apostolova, I., Kelemen, A., Kiss, R., Lukács, K., Palpurina, S., Sopotlieva, D., Báthori, F. & Valkó, O. (2021): Linking environmental heterogeneity and plant diversity: the ecological role of small natural features in homogeneous landscapes. Science of the Total Environment 763: 144199.
Deák, B., Rádai, Z., Bátori, Z., Kelemen, A., Lukács, K., Kiss,
R., Maák, I.E. & Valkó, O. (2021): Ancient burial mounds provide
safe havens for grassland specialist plants in transformed landscapes - A
trait-based analysis. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 9: 619812.
Deák, B., Báthori, F., Lőrinczi, G., Végvári, Z., Nagy D., D., Mizser, S., Torma, A., Valkó, O. & Tóthmérész, B. (2021): Functional composition of ant assemblages in habitat islands is driven by habitat factors and landscape composition. Scientific Reports 11: 20962.
Deák, B., Rádai, Z., Lukács, K., Kelemen, A., Kiss, R., Báthori, Z., Kiss, P.J. & Valkó, O. (2020): Fragmented dry grasslands preserve unique components of species and phylogenetic diversity in agricultural landscapes. Biodiversity and Conservation 29: 4091-4110.
Deák, B. & Valkó, O., Tóth, C.A., Botos, Á. & Novák, T. (2020): Legacies of past land use challenge grassland recovery - An example from dry grasslands on ancient burial mounds. Nature Conservation 39: 113-132.
Deák, B., Valkó, O., Nagy D. D., Török, P., Torma, A., Lőrinczi, G., Kelemen, A., Nagy, A., Bede, Á., Mizser, Sz., Csathó, A.I., Tóthmérész, B. (2020): Habitat islands outside nature reserves - threatened biodiversity hotspots of grassland specialist plant and arthropod species. Biological Conservation 241: 108254.
Deák, B. (2020): Nature and Culture: The Role of Ancient Burial Mounds in the Conservation of Eurasian Steppe Vegetation. Centre for Ecological Research, Tihany, pp. 172.
Deák, B., Tóth, C., Bede, Á., Apostolova, I., Bragina, T.M., Báthori, F. & Bán, M. (2019): Eurasian Kurgan Database - a citizen science tool for conserving grasslands on historical sites. Hacquetia 18 (2): 185-193.
Projects related to our landscape ecology studies
Taxonomic, trait and phylogenetic diversity of grassland plant communities in fragmented landscapes - FK135329 grant, Hungarian National Research, Development and Innovation Office; 2020-2024; PI: Balázs Deák
The role of habitat and landscape factors in grassland community assembly - KH130338 grant, Hungarian National Research, Development and Innovation Office; 2018-2022; PI: Balázs Deák
Plant diversity in fragmented rural landscapes - Linear elements and human-mediated dispersal - FK124404 grant, Hungarian National Research, Development and Innovation Office; 2017-2022; PI: Orsolya Valkó