The contribution of successional grasslands to the conservation of semi-natural grasslands species – A landscape perspective
Many species that are typical of calcareous, semi-natural grasslands (“typical grassland species”) are declining in Europe as a result of habitat-loss and -fragmentation. Whereas populations of these species are expected to be largest in old semi-natural grasslands, these species may also occur in successional grasslands on previously arable fields. We used a space-for-time approach to analyse cha