Sown wildflower patches are key elements of agri-environment schemes, designed to deliver rapid biodiversity and ecosystem service benefits. With longer-term maintenance, they may also be involved in habitat restoration by supporting ecological processes. However, successional trajectories of sown communities remain insufficiently understood, particularly regarding the role of spontaneous colonisation. To assess the succession of sown and spontaneous species, we established native, diverse wildflower patches in an agricultural region of Hungary. Patches were placed in homogeneous or heterogeneous landscapes and arranged as one large or three smaller patches. Plant communities were surveyed in early summer for five years, recording cover, species richness and diversity. Spontaneous colonisation strongly complemented sown assemblages: 240 species emerged from the soil seed bank during the study. The two species groups showed distinct temporal patterns. Spontaneous species dominated cover initially, but sown species surpassed them by the third year. However, spontaneous species’ richness remained higher for five years. Community composition shifted steadily. Sown species formed a more consistent component of the community, whereas spontaneous species showed higher temporal variability. Landscape context and spatial configuration had only weak effects on structural and compositional attributes, indicating that local processes and the soil seed bank primarily shaped early succession. These results demonstrate that, in species-rich novel habitats, spontaneous colonisation and sown species jointly drive early successional dynamics, highlighting the value of integrating natural assembly processes with targeted sowing in agri-environment schemes.

203 évvel ezelőtt, 1820-ban gróf Semsey Lajos átadta Balmazújvárosnak Magdolna területén lévő gyepeit, szántóit, melyet a város közlegelőként hasznosított, és amelyet azóta is legelőként használnak. Korábban a területet viszonylag rövid ideig, hozzávetőlegesen 50-80 évig szántották. Magdolnát két szikes tó/lapos, ill. körülöttük szikes gyepek és nagy kiterjedésű löszpusztagyepek (Salvio-Festucetum) alkotják. A parlagok mellett kis méretű, felszántatlan löszgyepfoltok is vannak. Feltűnő a különbség a magas természetességű felszántatlan ősgyepek és a legfeljebb közepes természetességű óparlagok között, pedig mind a propagulum, mind az azokat szállító legelő állat rendelkezésre állt az elmúlt 203 évben. A parlagok és az ősgyepek közötti különbséget 17 térsorozati mintavétellel vizsgáltuk, mérve az alfa- és béta-diverzitást. Eredményeink szerint a parlagoknak nincs önálló fajkészletük, az ősgyepek szegényebb változatainak tekinthetőek. A faj-area görbék alapján minden térléptékben élesen elkülönülnek az ősgyepek és a parlagok. Ősgyeppel érintkező parlag estében a határvonaltól távolodva szerkezeti grádiens nem figyelhető meg. Azok a fajok, amik átléptek a parlag területére, azon bárhol megjelenhetnek, de az ősgyepek felé kissé nő a gyakoriságuk. Kolonizáló front nincs. Az óparlagok nem egységesek, van közöttük jobb (kis térléptékben az ősgyepekét megközelítő, de azt el nem érő) szerkezetű is, de ez is fajszegény. A vizsgált területen 203 év kevés volt a regenerációra. Úgy tűnik, a Tiszántúlon a máig megmaradt ősi Salvio-Festucetum foltokra emberi léptékben nem tekinthetünk propagulumforrásként a löszgyep-specialista fajok tekintélyes része esetében, ha természetvédelmi célú spontán regeneráció a célunk. A továbblépést – és talán a megoldást – a spontán nem terjedő fajok dokumentált és nyomon követett betelepítésének kísérletei jelenthetik.

A significant proportion of Europe’s species-rich grasslands are semi-natural habitats. They have a long history of traditional management. Several studies have been carried out to conserve them, resulting in the establishment of subsidised conservation management schemes. On the other hand, many of these conservation management schemes have failed to provide locally adaptive solutions to maintain the diversity and functional status of species-rich grasslands. In addition, few studies have compared the conservation effectiveness of different levels of management complexity. The levels of management complexity in our study are based on how different management types (e.g. grazing and mowing etc.) and how different herbage removal intensities (e.g. lower and higher grazing intensities) are combined within and between years. To investigate this, we compared the overall effects of management complexity, herbage removal intensity and management type on plant diversity, plant functional type dominance relationships and plant physiognomy. Our field sampling was carried out in the sandy meso-xeric grasslands of the Turján Region of the Great Hungarian Plain (Central Hungary). We sampled nine 2 m × 2 m plots per grassland site (n = 12), recorded all the rooted plant species and estimated their percentage cover in each plot. High level of management complexity had significant positive effects on plant diversity, grazing had positive effects on plant diversity and phanerophyte density, while the studied levels of herbage removal intensity had no effect on diversity, plant functional types or plant physiognomy. In parallel, mowing and/or low levels of management complexity had some negative effects on conservation value (e.g. lower Shannon and Simpson diversity). In this landscape, the dominance of grazing and the more complex management is more optimal than relatively homogeneous mechanical mowing. The choice of management type and intensity is an important tool in the conservation management system of this landscape, but so too is its appropriate application in space and time. Through a detailed analysis of the effects of management complexity levels compared to management types and herbage removal intensity levels, we provide a new opportunity to make grassland management practices more effective for conserving biodiversity in this region, but it would be important to investigate these in different landscapes and conditions.

Agriculture needs to be fundamentally transformed to be able to live up to and achieve Sustainable Development Goals and thereby improve its contribution to human well-being, as its outputs recently crossed global and European planetary boundaries. Reducing the use of agrochemicals by 75-86%, restoring 2/3 of the land to biodiversity rich habitats and achieving net zero emissions are the key measures to return to the path within the boundaries. Some recent policy initiatives, such as the EU Green Deal and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, set targets for such transformations by 2030. However, if these are not fully applied, no more progress can be expected than from previous failed environmental policies. We identified knowledge gaps, imbalances and other challenges, and we propose a roadmap to transform agriculture: fill knowledge gaps with research that links yield and income with ecosystem services; improve diet and nutrition; improve water retention; develop farming for both biodiversity and carbon sequestration. We argue that traditional farming systems and their knowledge holders can provide key information for setting the baselines of transformative agriculture. As a second step, capacities for a well-functioning science-policy interface need to be strengthened, where diverse evidence is used and harmonised to achieve an overarching naturepositive policy framework. Finally, we stress that implementation should be coherent by 2030 and set the path for transformation so that by 2050, European agriculture can provide healthy food and fair livelihoods in a healthy environment.

Egy agrártájban elhelyezkedő, évszázadok óta szántott halmon, löszalapkőzeten, sokfajú gyeprekonstrukciót végeztünk, a lucerna helyére 2018-ban 114 faj propagulumát juttattuk ki. A területen 7 potenciális élőhelyet különítettünk el, melyekre különböző magkeverékeket vetettünk. A vetés során összesen 61,81 kg magot (95,9 mag kg/ha), valamint 198 Amygdalus nana palánta, 646 Fragaria viridis palánta és 246 Iris pumila palánta került kiültetésre. A terület kezelése évenkénti gépi kaszálással történt, a széna elvitelével. A kialakult gyepet az 1. és a 4. évben monitoroztuk. A vetett fajok közül 84-et sikerült eddig megfigyelnünk (74%). A vetett és ültetett fajok döntő része önfenntartó populációkat hozott létre. A vetett fajok borítása az 1. évhez képest a 4. évre a teljes növényzet arányában látványosan megnőtt (43→86%), ugyanakkor a vetett fajok élőhelyenkénti átlagos száma kissé csökkent, ahogy a m2-enkénti vetett fajszám is (21→17). A 4. évre a kétszikűek egyedszámának kismértékű csökkenése, borításának kismértékű növekedése mellett a csenkeszek látványos növekedése jellemző mind egyedszámukban, mind borításukban (7,5→17 egyed/m² és 1→40%). A gyepek fajkészlete már 4 év után is jól közelíti a természetes löszpusztagyepekét, de a szerkezete még messze elmarad ezektől. A megfigyelt állattani értékek is számottevőek, több védett rovar- és emlősfajt figyeltünk meg. Megállapítható, hogy a gyepregeneráció korai szakaszában a szerkezetadó csenkeszfajok sokkal jelentősebb térfoglalásra képesek, mint a velük együtt vetett kétszikűek. Vizsgálatunk arra utal, hogy előremutatóbb lehet a vetés kétlépcsős kivitelezése, ahol az első lépcsőben csak kétszikűek, esetleg pionír vagy ritkább füvek vetése javasolt, majd évekkel később érdemes a szerkezetadó füveket bevinni.

ABSTRACT Biodiversity declines in an unprecedented way, mostly due to land use change. Restoration interventions proved to be one of the most effective tools to halt the decline, especially in ecosystems such as agricultural fields. Evidence-based, locally adapted recommendations on grassland restoration, however, are often missing, so we present a novel approach for such interventions that can be implemented anywhere and that are based on scientific rigor. In a recently started long-term field ecological study, we established 0.5 ha wildflower parcels, using a diverse local seed mixture of 32 insect-visited plant species in Central European agricultural landscapes in 2020. Our focus is on the landscape-scale effects of this ecological intensification on ecosystem services such as crop yield, pollination and pest control, and the long-term monitoring of the successional processes. The aim is to showcase an effective restoration protocol that could serve as a model for future farm management, and provide much-needed evidence for policy on landscape ecological restoration of international relevance.

Local, adaptive traditional grassland management systems have played a fundamental role in the creation, maintenance and conservation of high nature value (HNV) grasslands. The state of diverse HNV grasslands has deteriorated across Europe in conjunction with changes in various management factors, such as management type and management intensity. To conserve the species-rich vegetation of HNV grasslands and to avoid undesirable shifts in plant functional type dominance, it is important to explore the effects of management factors crucial for nature conservation and to adapt them to local circumstances. In our study, we focus on three of the main factors in the management of valuable meadow steppes in the Great Hungarian Plain region (Central Hungary). We studied management types (mowing, grazing and combined), different levels of herbage removal intensity (low, medium, high) and spatio-temporal complexity (low, medium and high) of grassland management. Altogether 172 plots (1 m × 1 m) were designated in 17 sites. Plant diversity indexes and plant functional types were calculated according to the presence and percentage cover of plant species in the plots. Regarding plant diversity and the dominance of plant functional types, herbage removal intensity and spatio-temporal complexity of management had, for the most part, stronger effects than the type of management. Higher spatio-temporal complexity of management resulted in higher plant diversity, while higher intensity of management led to significantly lower diversity. Proper application of type, intensity and spatio-temporal complexity of management practices (separately and in combination) proved to be determining factors in the long-term maintenance and conservation of diversity and species composition of HNV grasslands.

The research gap between rangeland/livestock science and conservation biology/vegetation ecology has led to a lack of evidence needed for grazing-related conservation management. Connecting scientific understanding with traditional ecological knowledge of local livestock keepers could help bridge this research and knowledge gap. We studied the grazing behaviour (plant selection and avoidance) of beef cattle (c. 33,000 bites) on species-rich lowland pastures in Central Europe and traditional herding practices. We also did >450 outdoor interviews with traditional herders about livestock behaviour, herders' decisions to modify grazing behaviour and effects of modified grazing on pasture vegetation. We found that cattle grazing on species-rich pastures displayed at least 10 different behavioural elements as they encountered 117 forage species from highly desired to rejected. The small discrimination error suggests that cattle recognize all listed plants 'by species'. We also found that herders had broad knowledge of grazing desire and they consciously aimed to modify desire by slowing, stopping or redirecting the herd. Modifications were aimed at increasing grazing intensity in less-desired patches and decreasing grazing selectivity in heterogenous swards. Synthesis and applications. The traditional herd management practices presented here have significant conservation benefits, such as avoiding under- and overgrazing, and targeted removal of pasture weeds, litter and encroaching bushes, tall competitive plants and invasive species. We argue that knowledge co-production with traditional herders who belong to another knowledge system could help connect isolated scientific disciplines especially if ecologists and rangeland scientists work closely with traditional herders, co-designing research projects and working together in data collection, analysis and interpretation. Stronger links between these disciplines could help develop evidence-based, specific conservation management practices while herders could contribute with their practical experiences and with real-world testing of new management techniques.