Individual project
WegAS - Potential am Wegrand-Resilente Agrarlandschaften der Zukunft
Funder: Hessian Agency for Nature Conservation, Environment and Geology
Period: 2022-2026
URI: https://www.hlnug.de/themen/naturschutz/lore-steubing-institut/projekte/wegraender
Detailed description:
In Central Europe, structurally rich cultivated landscapes are centers of biodiversity. Accordingly, the homogenization of agricultural landscapes caused by land use change and intensification is seen as the main cause of biodiversity loss. The fact that the drivers of biodiversity loss, including other causes such as climate change and invasive species, influence each other poses enormous challenges for nature conservation. Accordingly, there is a consensus that extensive transformation processes are required to counteract the loss of biodiversity in the long term.
In Central Europe, open roadsides and roadsides represent potential substitute habitats and dispersal routes, for example for grassland animal and plant species. Current research shows that biotopes such as roadsides, green spaces and roadside greenery have a high potential for the conservation of biodiversity and represent connecting elements in the landscape ecology context. As they can serve as a secondary habitat for species from adjacent biotopes as well as species typical of wetlands, they are particularly species-rich. They therefore represent valuable refuges, especially when the surrounding agricultural land is used intensively, and thus increase resilience at the landscape level. In addition to controlling relevant ecosystem functions, they can therefore make a significant contribution to the still insufficiently developed biotope network in Europe.
The aim of the project is therefore to analyze the ecological status and nature conservation potential of roadsides in Hesse. In four representative Hessian cultural landscapes, waysides and roadsides are examined with regard to their species composition (flora and insect fauna), connectivity and landscape-structural integration. Based on these analyses, the potential of roadsides for the connectivity of (species-rich) grassland communities in different Hessian landscapes is evaluated. Socio-ecological surveys will also be used to compile practical experience in the creation and maintenance of species-rich roadsides in Hesse in order to identify successful concepts and make better use of the nature conservation potential of roadsides in the future. The project also establishes a professional network for the exchange of experience on the prioritization, creation and maintenance of species-rich roadsides and thus creates a communication platform for practitioners, authority representatives and scientists.
In Central Europe, structurally rich cultivated landscapes are centers of biodiversity. Accordingly, the homogenization of agricultural landscapes caused by land use change and intensification is seen as the main cause of biodiversity loss. The fact that the drivers of biodiversity loss, including other causes such as climate change and invasive species, influence each other poses enormous challenges for nature conservation. Accordingly, there is a consensus that extensive transformation processes are required to counteract the loss of biodiversity in the long term.
In Central Europe, open roadsides and roadsides represent potential substitute habitats and dispersal routes, for example for grassland animal and plant species. Current research shows that biotopes such as roadsides, green spaces and roadside greenery have a high potential for the conservation of biodiversity and represent connecting elements in the landscape ecology context. As they can serve as a secondary habitat for species from adjacent biotopes as well as species typical of wetlands, they are particularly species-rich. They therefore represent valuable refuges, especially when the surrounding agricultural land is used intensively, and thus increase resilience at the landscape level. In addition to controlling relevant ecosystem functions, they can therefore make a significant contribution to the still insufficiently developed biotope network in Europe.
The aim of the project is therefore to analyze the ecological status and nature conservation potential of roadsides in Hesse. In four representative Hessian cultural landscapes, waysides and roadsides are examined with regard to their species composition (flora and insect fauna), connectivity and landscape-structural integration. Based on these analyses, the potential of roadsides for the connectivity of (species-rich) grassland communities in different Hessian landscapes is evaluated. Socio-ecological surveys will also be used to compile practical experience in the creation and maintenance of species-rich roadsides in Hesse in order to identify successful concepts and make better use of the nature conservation potential of roadsides in the future. The project also establishes a professional network for the exchange of experience on the prioritization, creation and maintenance of species-rich roadsides and thus creates a communication platform for practitioners, authority representatives and scientists.
