Grasslands, people and conservation – our new perspectives paper in Biological Conservation

Our new perspective article on the conservation of Palaearctic grasslands has been published in Biological Conservation.

The paper is open access and freely available (please click here for download)

Valkó, O., Kamp, J., Ancillotto, L., Dengler, J. (2026): Shaped by humans but increasingly threatened: pathways for the conservation of Palaearctic grasslands. Biological Conservation 324: 112126. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2026.112126

Here we introduce a recently published special issue of the Eurasian Dry Grassland Group (EDGG) bringing together 18 contributions from across Eurasia. It was a pleasure to work with colleagues who share our enthusiasm for these diverse and beautiful habitats. :)

You can read all the articles of the special issue here.

In our perspective paper we summarized the main findings of the published papers and put these in a broader perspective of Palaearctic grassland conservation. The papers explore both the challenges facing grasslands and possible ways forward. Intensification, abandonment and land conversion remain major threats, often interacting with changes in climate and water availability. An important message is that biodiversity change can be easy to overlook: species composition may shift even when the total number of species remains similar.

There are also encouraging examples showing how appropriate grazing, mowing and other management practices can support grassland biodiversity. Protected areas can help, but maintaining many of these habitats also requires continued care. This means supporting the farmers and pastoralists who manage them, combining traditional knowledge with science, and allowing management to respond to local conditions.

For us, one of the main messages is that conserving grasslands also means understanding their relationship with people. We hope this collection will provide useful ideas for both research and conservation practice.

Abstract

Palaearctic grasslands are among the most species-rich ecosystems of the Northern Hemisphere, but their conservation depends on continued management that must be reconciled with agricultural production, rural livelihoods and other socio-economic demands. Introducing a special issue that brings together 18 contributions from across Eurasia, we synthesize the interacting pressures shaping these grasslands and identify pathways towards their effective conservation. The studies show that intensification, abandonment and land conversion remain dominant threats, while hydrological change, climate warming, biological invasions and institutional shortcomings create additional, often interacting pressures. Biodiversity decline takes multiple forms: long-term records reveal declines among common as well as rare plants and animals, and substantial shifts in community composition may occur before losses of species richness become apparent. At the same time, the contributions also highlight promising avenues for tackling these conservation issues. Shifting from intensive to extensive management can rapidly benefit plants, butterflies and birds in multiple grassland types. Protected areas can slow biodiversity loss but only when combined with appropriate management. Passive protection alone is rarely sufficient: grassland biodiversity depends on active, context-specific stewardship that maintains suitable disturbance regimes through grazing, mowing, shrub removal or prescribed burning. We argue that grassland conservation must therefore treat these ecosystems as socio-ecological systems by safeguarding old and continuous grasslands, supporting viable low-intensity farming and pastoralism, integrating traditional and scientific knowledge, and replacing rigid action-based subsidies with flexible, result-oriented support. Long-term monitoring, interdisciplinary research and stronger evaluation of policy implementation are essential for translating ecological knowledge into durable conservation outcomes.

The full list of the articles of the special issue:

Arnold, I., Marchand, G., Hayoz-Andrey, A., Serres-Hänni, A., Arlettaz, R., Humbert, J.Y., 2025. Relaxation of management intensity promotes butterfly communities in mountain grasslands. Biol. Conserv. 304, 111027. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111027

Bieringer, G., Nemeth, E., Kohler, B., 2026. Anthropogenic water depletion outweighs climate change as a cause of wet grassland bird decline in Lake Neusiedl–Seewinkel National Park. Biol. Conserv. 313, 111632. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111632

Boch, S., Ecker, K. T., Pichon, N. A., Bedolla, A., Holderegger, R., Moser, T., Bergamini, A., 2026. Positive developments in low-intensive, protected grasslands in Switzerland suggest successful conservation measures. Biol. Conserv. 313, 111629. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111629

Buzhdygan, O., Baldauf, S., Tietjen, B., Iemelianova, S., Borovyk, D., Vynokurov, D., ... & Kuzemko, A., 2026. Drivers of plant invasions and their scale-dependency in grasslands. Biol. Conserv. 313, 111584. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111584

Czyżewski, S., Søndergaard, S. A., Molnár, Á. P., Kerr, M. R., Kristensen, J. A., Atkinson, J., ... & Svenning, J. C., 2026. Revisiting Europe's temperate forests: Palaeoecological evidence for an herbivory-driven woodland-grassland mosaic biome. Biol. Conserv. 316, 111749. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2026.111749

Danko, H., Gärtner, J., Kasper, F., Heinken, T., Dengler, J., Karrenberg, S., 2026. Vegetation change in dry grasslands in Northeast Germany over two decades: A resurvey. Biol. Conserv. 313, 111494. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111494

Franke, L., Stanik, N., Rosenthal, G., 2025. Prescribed burning in montane Nardus grasslands: Fire frequency is key to balance vegetation structure and diversity. Biol. Conserv. 308, 111208. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111208

Gómez-Catasús, J., Benítez-López, A., Díaz, M., del Portillo, D. G., Pérez-Granados, C., Alonso, J. C., ... & Bravo, C., 2025. Alarming conservation status of Western European steppe birds and their habitats: An expert-based review of current threats, traits and knowledge gaps. Biol. Conserv. 311, 111414. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111414

Granata, E., Assandri, G., Franzoi, A., Pedrini, P., Brambilla, M., 2025. Management, topography and landscape contribute to shape bird communities in Alpine semi-natural grasslands. Biol. Conserv. 311, 111409. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111409

Janišová, M., Škodová, I., Magnes, M., Iuga, A., Biro, A. S., Ivașcu, C. M., ... & Buzhdygan, O.Y., 2025. Role of livestock and traditional management practices in maintaining high nature value grasslands. Biol. Conserv. 309, 111301. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111301

Janišová, M., Sorescu-Marinković, A., Aćić, S., Hubáčková, B., Magnes, M., Opravil, Š., Širka, P., 2024. Exploring a grassland biodiversity hotspot in the Serbian Carpathians: Interdisciplinary perspectives and conservation implications. Biol. Conserv. 299, 110822. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2024.110822

Kasari-Toussaint, L., Trepp, R., Takkis, K., Helm, A., Holm, A., Holm, B., Reitalu, T., 2026. Challenges and solutions in managing semi-natural grasslands: Insights from Estonia. Biol. Conserv. 313, 111520. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111520

Koshkina, A., Smelansky, I., Tabelinova, A., Stephens, G., Jones, S., Salemgareev, A., Bowe, M., Devenish, A., 2026. Drivers of human-saiga antelope conflict in semi-arid rangelands of West Kazakhstan. Biol. Conserv. 313, 111631. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111631

Medrano-Vizcaino, P., Benítez-López, A., Traba, J., Arroyo, B., Bota, G., Morales, M.B., Mougeot, F., 2025. Spatial shifts in steppe bird hotspots over two decades: Assessing conservation priorities and the role of protected areas. Biol. Conserv. 305, 111068. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111068

Oyundelger, K., Jäschke, Y., Gonchigsumlaa, G., Batjav, B., Damdindorj, S., Munkhzul, O., ... Wesche, K., 2026. Pasture condition in the Mongolian steppe: Cross-validating traditional ecological knowledge and field-based ecological surveys. Biol. Conserv. 313, 111587. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111587

Riedel, S., Widmer, S., Dengler, J., Herzog, F., Schneider, M. K., Wohlgemuth, T., Kessler, M., 2025. Lasting legacies: Relicts of historical plant communities in Central European grasslands amid a century of biodiversity loss. Biol. Conserv. 312, 111500. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111500

Widmer, S., Riedel, S., Babbi, M., Herzog, F., Wohlgemuth, T., Kessler, M., Dengler, J., 2026. A century of change: Many losers vs. few winners among Swiss grassland plants. Biol. Conserv. 315, 111679. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111679

Wysocki, A., Malicki, M., Wojnarowicz, D., Jała, Z., Pielech, R., 2026. Old grasslands as conservation priority: Habitat continuity increases plant diversity and spatial heterogeneity in temperate grasslands. Biol. Conserv. 313, 111577. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111577