Allowing lawns to grow into meadows has been described as a simple way to support biodiversity in the urban environment, also reducing the carbon footprint of lawn management. Experimental studies demonstrating such benefits in boreal region cities are, however, scarce. We investigated boreal lawns, which were transformed into urban meadows by volunteers who overturned the existing soil and sowed wildflower seeds. We followed changes in vegetation, pollinators and soil microbial communities as well as in soil physicochemical properties before and two years after the transformations. During this period, vegetation species richness and diversity increased in the new meadows, unlike in control lawns, and provided habitat and foraging resources for 35 species of bees and other insects. However, none of the soil physicochemical properties, phospholipid fatty acid-based soil microorganism communities nor bacterial or fungal biomasses from meadow soils were significantly different from those found under nearby lawn soils. This study illustrates the potential that simple and inexpensive transformative actions can have on the enhancement of aboveground biodiversity in the current urban lawnscape. The results also show that any changes in soil properties take longer to respond to changes in aboveground vegetation communities and management.

The ongoing loss of biodiversity worldwide, in addition to the increasing levels of urban sprawl and urbanisation, can further decrease the chances of human-nature interactions in cities, and hence reduce the interest and support for nature conservation initiatives. Understanding the impacts that pro-environmental initiatives can have in the context of human-nature interactions, as well as the citizens who engage in these types of endeavors is therefore necessary to avoid any increasing apathy towards nature conservation among the public. As part of an initiative within the Helsinki metropolitan area, Finland, to transform lawns belonging to student housing associations into meadows, we developed a survey to explore residents’ attitudes towards both types of greenspace settings. In addition, we also measured respondents’ environmental identity and concern, as well as their experiences of nature. In order to measure the respondents’ experiences of nature, we further developed a pool of 26 items and scaled them within six proposed dimensions: observing/interacting, consumptive/appreciative, self-directed/other-directed, separate/integrated, solitary/shared and positive/negative (Clayton et al. 2017). As part of the initiative, six lawns within the housing premises were also transformed into meadows via voluntary participation (Trémeau et al. 2024), by turning the existing soils upside down and sowing a mixture of domestically-grown pollinator-friendly seeds. We measured changes in vegetation, pollinator and soil microbial parameters, dynamics of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide fluxes, as well as soil physicochemical properties between control lawns and the transformed meadows over three consecutive years, starting a year before the transformations. Before the lawn transformations took place, we identified 26 and 23 plant species in control lawns and lawns to-be-transformed, respectively, both cases sharing 18 of the inventoried plant species. At the end of the study period, we detected 29 and 39 species in lawns and transformed meadows, respectively, 17 species being common to both greenspace settings. The vegetation richness and diversity significantly increased over time in the transformed meadows, unlike in control lawns. Additionally, differences in vegetation communities between the two types of greenspace settings increased over time. At the end of the study period, transformed meadows provided resources for 35 species of bees, more than a half of them being wild solitary bee species. Neither carbon dioxide emissions nor the fluxes of methane and nitrous oxide significantly differed between the two greenspace types, and none of the studied soil physicochemical properties differed between control lawn and transformed meadow soils. Similarly, neither phospholipid fatty acid-based soil microbial communities nor soil bacterial and fungal biomasses of soils from both types of greenspace settings did significantly differ with each other, suggesting that any possible change in soil aspects takes a longer time to respond to the exerted changes in greenspace management and plant communities. Lastly, we analysed the dimensionality of the respondents’ experiences of nature via structural equation modelling, and we determined that the best model contained all the abovementioned dimensions except the consumptive/appreciative dimension. Our results also show that there were significant correlations between the respondents’ experiences of nature and both their environmental identity and environmental concern. Nevertheless, correlations suggest experiences of nature to be a distinct construct from that of environmental identity and environmental concern. A larger number of respondents belonging to a more diverse range of stakeholders is necessary to verify whether such conclusions apply to a broader audience beyond that involved in this case study. This case study on a citizen-based pro-environmental transformative activity is a research example that incorporates social and environmental sciences to explore participants’ nature experiences and attitudes, along with the short-term environmental effects that their transformative activity has on biodiversity, greenhouse gas dynamics and soil physicochemical properties. The study helps us to better understand the impacts that pro-environmental initiatives can have in the context of human-nature interactions, as well as the type of stakeholders who might engage in these types of pro-environmental activities.

The area of meadows and other traditional rural biotopes has drastically decreased in Europe. Although meadows harbor high biodiversity, functionally important groups, such as fungi, have been rarely studied. Road verges have been suggested to function as alternative habitats for some meadow species. We studied fungal species composition and richness in grazed meadows, mown meadows and road verges in Central Finland. We recorded 15,329 basidiomes representing 253 macrofungal species; 19 species are red-listed in Finland. The average species richness of all macrofungal species did not differ among the habitat types, but at landscape level the species richness was highest on grazed meadows and lowest on road verges. Considering macrofungi that prefer culturally affected habitats, grazed meadows had significantly more, and road verges nearly so, species than mown meadows, on average. The community structure of these fungi was related to soil pH and soil grain size, and those on road verges differed from mown and grazed meadows. 40% of the macrofungal species were associated with meadows (grazed, mown or both), while 23% were associated with road verges. Our study shows that particularly grazed meadows, but also road verges, harbor species rich macrofungal assemblages, including many red-listed species. Because species composition differed between road verges and the two meadow types, road verges are not fully alternative to traditional rural biotopes.

Most European forests are used for timber production. Given the limited extent of unmanaged (and especially primary) forests, it is essential to include commercial forests in the conservation of forest biodiversity. In order to develop ecologically sustainable forest management practices, it is important to understand the management impacts on forest-dwelling organisms. Experiments allow testing the effects of alternative management strategies, and monitoring of multiple taxa informs us on the response range across forest-dwelling organisms. To provide a representative picture of the currently available information, metadata on 28 multi-taxa forest management experiments were collected from 14 European countries. We demonstrate the potential of compiling these experiments in a single network to upscale results from the local to continental level and indicate directions for future research. Among the different forest types, temperate deciduous beech and oak-dominated forests are the best represented in the multi-taxa management experiments. Of all the experimental treatments, innovative ways of traditional management techniques (e.g., gap cutting and thinning) and conservation-oriented interventions (e.g., microhabitat enrichment) provide the best opportunity for large-scale analyses. Regarding the organism groups, woody regeneration, herbs, fungi, beetles, bryophytes, birds and lichens offer the largest potential for addressing management–biodiversity relationships at the European level. We identified knowledge gaps regarding boreal, hemiboreal and broadleaved evergreen forests, the treatments of large herbivore exclusion, prescribed burning and forest floor or water manipulations, and the monitoring of soil-dwelling organisms and some vertebrate classes, e.g., amphibians, reptiles and mammals. To improve multi-site comparisons, design of future experiments should be fitted to the set-up of the ongoing projects and standardised biodiversity sampling is suggested. However, the network described here opens the way to learn lessons on the impact on forest biodiversity of different management techniques at the continental level, and thus, supports biodiversity conservation in managed forests.

Wood-pastures are threatened anthropogenic biotopes that provide habitat for an extensive group of species. Here we studied the effect of management, grazing intensity, time since abandonment, historical land-use in-tensity, soil properties and stand conditions on communities of saprotrophic fungi in wood-pastures in Central Finland. We found that the proportion of broadleaved trees and soil pH are the major drivers in the communities of saprotrophic fungi in these boreal wood-pastures. In addition, tree species richness, soil moisture, historical land-use intensity and time since abandonment affected the communities of saprotrophic fungi. Current man-agement or grazing intensity did not have a clear effect on saprotrophic fungal species richness, although dung -inhabiting fungal species richness was highest at intermediate to high grazing intensity. Obviously, there were many more dung-inhabiting fungal species on grazed than on abandoned sites. Our study highlights the con-servation value of wood-pastures as hotspots of saprotrophic fungi.

Questions Agricultural intensification has led to the decline of biodiverse meadows and other semi-natural grasslands. Road verges offer potential alternative habitats for meadow species, but they may not be suitable for all meadow species due to different soil properties, frequent disturbances, pollution or suboptimal management. Are their communities of vascular plants and bryophytes similar or dissimilar to those in mown or grazed meadows? What kind of species are associated with road verges, mown meadows or grazed meadows? How do the habitat types differ in their soil conditions and disturbance intensity? Location The study was conducted at 36 sites in central Finland. Methods We compared the vascular plant and bryophyte flora and the habitat characteristics of road verges, mown meadows and grazed meadows. Results The community composition of both vascular plants and bryophytes differed among the habitat types. Many species occurred in all three habitat types, but several meadow specialists were absent or less frequent in the road verges. In contrast, road verges hosted more forest species and ruderal species, especially bryophytes. Road verges differed from meadows in their soil conditions. Conclusions We conclude that although road verges may host some species typical to meadows, their value as alternative habitats could be increased by improved soil preparation and vegetation management. Meanwhile, the continued decline of quality habitats for meadow species underscores the need to maintain, increase and improve meadow management.

ABSTRACT The microclimate of streamside habitats are protected from the effects of logging with buffer strips of retained trees. However, these buffer strips are often narrow due to their financial loss. Wider, selectively logged buffers might protect the microclimate while providing the same economic return. This study investigates the effects of logging on the microclimate and the growth of the bryophyte Hylocomium splendens on two streamside buffers: a standard unlogged narrow buffer (∼15 m) and a wider buffer (∼30 m) selectively logged with decreasing intensity towards the stream. The study was conducted in Central Finland on eight sites where the two buffers were logged next to each other. The near-stream change in air temperature and relative humidity was measured from pre-logging to post-logging. Additionally, post-logging microclimate gradients and the growth of H. splendens was measured on a 30 m transect away from the stream. The results showed no significant differences in the ability of the two kinds of buffers in maintaining streamside microclimate, and neither buffer seems to protect the microclimate from the negative effects of logging. The growth of H. splendens also decreased in both buffers. We conclude that wider, unlogged buffer strips are required to protect riparian forest microclimate.

Preserving streamside forest habitats or buffer strips is considered to reduce forestry-related biodiversity loss in commercial forest landscapes. However, it is still unclear what type of management in and near streamside forests can be undertaken without compromising their biodiversity and natural change through succession. Using a before–after, control–impact study design, we tested the impacts of forested buffer strips (15 or 30 m wide, with or without selective logging), preserved after clear-cutting, on the changes of polypore communities in streamside boreal forests in Finland. Manipulations in 28 sites produced four treatment classes, the community compositions of which were compared with seven unmanaged controls before and 12 years after the manipulations. The polypore community composition in 15 m wide buffer strips changed differently than that in controls and resembled the community composition typically found in production forests. Moreover, selective logging tended to homogenize polypore communities. These responses of polypore communities indicate that the natural biodiversity and succession of streamside forests was disturbed in both 15 m wide and selectively logged buffer strips. Streamside forests in nonlogged 30 m wide buffer strips seemed to retain the natural polypore community composition and succession, at least during the 12-year period.

Streamside forests are preserved from clear-cut logging in production forests and protected with uncut buffer strips in many countries. However, buffer strips often remain narrow due to economic reasons and, therefore, provide weak protection against adverse edge effects of clear-cuts and are vulnerable to windthrow. Selective logging of buffer strips is sometimes allowed to reduce their costs, but the decreased tree density may expose the buffer to higher occurrence of windthrow. We used a replicated two-factor experiment to assess the effects of buffer width (15 m or 30 m) and selective logging (0% or 30% of the basal area removed) on the risk of windthrow in boreal streamside forests in Finland. We examined the windthrown trees 12 years after experimental logging at 29 sites and at seven unlogged control sites. In addition, we studied the influence of topography and the extent of clear-cut logging in the surrounding forests on windthrow risk. The proportion of windthrown spruces at sites with 15 m buffer strips was, on the average, six times higher than at control sites and 2.5 times higher than at sites with 30 m buffer strips. In contrast, the proportion of windthrown spruces did not differ between sites with 30 m buffer strips and control sites. Selective logging did not increase the risk of windthrow strongly. However, sites with selectively logged 30 m buffers were slightly more prone to windthrow than control sites. The proportion of windthrown trees tended to increase with the extent of the adjacent clear-cut areas on both sides of the stream. We conclude that a 15 m buffer strip is not wide enough to protect streamside forests from substantial windthrow, while a 30 m buffer strip is sufficient in most cases. Selective logging of 30 m buffers may be undertaken at sites that are not under a high risk of windthrow. If selective logging enables a wider buffer strip, it may be a better option for protecting the streamside habitat from substantial windthrow than leaving a narrow buffer strip. Moreover, clear-cut harvesting on both sides of the stream should be avoided if the aim is to prevent excessive windthrow.

Riparian forests have cool and humid microclimates, and one aim of leaving forested buffer strips between clear-cut areas and streams is to conserve these microclimatic conditions. We used an experimental study set up of 35 streamside sites to study the impacts of buffer strip width (15 or 30 m) and selective logging within the buffer strips on summer-time air temperature, relative air humidity and canopy openness 12 years after logging. The buffer strip treatments were compared to unlogged control sites. We found that 15-meter buffer strips with or without selective logging and 30-meter buffer strips with selective logging were insufficient in maintaining temperature, relative humidity and canopy openness at similar levels than they were in control sites. In contrast, 30-meter buffer strips differed only little from control sites, although they did have significantly lower mean air humidity. Microclimatic changes were increased by southern or southwestern aspect of the clear-cut, and by logging on the opposite side of the stream. We also tested how the cover of three indicator mosses (Hylocomium splendens, Pseudobqum cinclidioides and Polytrichum commune) had changed (from pre-logging to 12 years post-logging) in relation to post-logging air temperature, relative air humidity and canopy openness. We found that each of the species responded to at least one of these physical conditions. Air humidity was the most significant variable for explaining changes in the cover of the indicator moss species, suggesting that the changes in this microclimatic component has biological impacts. We conclude that to preserve riparian microclimatic conditions and species dependent on those, buffer strips should exceed 30 m in width, and not be selectively logged. Wider buffer strips are required if the clear-cut is towards south or southwest, or if the two sides of the stream are logged at the same time or during subsequent years.

Riparian forests surrounding streams host high biodiversity values, but are threatened by clear-cut logging. Narrow buffer strips of about 15 m are commonly left between the stream and the clear-cut, but studies suggest that the buffer width should be at least 30 m to protect riparian plant communities. Moreover, selective logging is often allowed on the buffer strips in order to increase economic gain. We used an experiment of 43 riparian sites where buffer strip width and selective logging within the strip were manipulated and supplemented with unlogged control sites. We report the short-term changes in the community composition of vascular plants and mosses near the stream (0–15 m distance).

Traditional rural biotopes such as semi-natural grasslands and wood-pastures are among the most threatened biotopes in Finland. Archipelago Sea area hosts an especially representative collection of these biotopes, considering both their combined area and average quality. We surveyed birds, vascular plants, bryophytes, polypores and ground-inhabiting stipitate macrofungi in one wood-pasture complex in Korppoo, Archipelago Sea area. Here we report and discuss the results of these surveys. We detected altogether 457 species, including 8 red-listed bird species and 6 red-listed vascular plant species. We didn´t detect any red-listed bryophytes or fungi, but also these groups included several rare or indicator species as well as some fungal species not included in the latest Finnish red-list evaluation. The conservation value of this wood-pasture complex constitutes of species that are dependent on highly variable set of ecological conditions and habitats. This is related to highly variable conditions typical to wood pastures as a habitat.

Ihmiskuntana hyvinvointimme on täysin riippuvaista luonnon monimuotoisuudesta – lukemattomista muista lajeista ja niiden elinympäristöistä. Elämän yhteenkietoutuneisuus ja sen arvo itsessään vaatii meiltä kohtuullisuutta luonnonvarojen hyödyntämisessä. Perimmäinen syy niin monimuotoisuuden ehtymiselle kuin ilmastonmuutokselle on elämäntapamme, joka kannustaa kasvavaan kulutukseen, jota globaalisti kasvava väestö edelleen ruokkii1 . Suomi on sitoutunut tavoitteeseen pysäyttää monimuotoisuuden köyhtyminen vuoteen 2020 mennessä. On selvää, että tämä tavoite karkaa käsistämme, aivan kuten se teki vuonna 2010. Suomessa elinympäristöjen tila on heikentynyt keskimäärin 60 prosenttia verrattuna luonnontilaan2 , lähes puolet Suomen luontotyypeistä on uhanalaisia3 ja Suomen lajien uhanalaisuus on viimeisen kymmenen vuoden aikana lisääntynyt entisestään4 . Uhanalaisuuden syyt täytyy ymmärtää, jotta voimme tehdä tarpeelliset poliittiset päätökset monimuotoisuuskadon pysäyttämiseksi. Suurimmat uhanalaistumista aiheuttavat toiminnat niin Suomessa kuin muuallakin maailmassa tyydyttävät kasvavaa kulutustamme ja liittyvät pääsääntöisesti metsä- ja maatalouden harjoittamiseen sekä infrastruktuurien rakentamiseen Elonkirjon ehtyminen ja ilmastonmuutos ovat läheisessä vuorovaikutuksessa keskenään; monet päätökset voivat auttaa sekä monimuotoisuutta että ilmastonmuutoksen torjuntaa ja siihen sopeutumista. Monimuotoisuuden suojeleminen vaatii kuitenkin myös erillisiä toimenpiteitä. Suuret ihmiskunnan tulevaisuuteen vaikuttavat päätökset tarvitsevat tuekseen monialaista yhteistyötä eri alojen tutkijoiden ja sidosryhmien edustajien välillä, mutta erityisesti tarvitaan parlamentaarisesti sovittuja, pitkäkestoisia päätöksiä luonnon monimuotoisuuden turvaamiseksi. Tässä julkaisussa riippumattomat tutkijat ja asiantuntijat tarjoavat suosituksia päätöksistä jotka auttavat jos luonnon monimuotoisuuden taantumista halutaan hillitä.

Traditional rural biotopes such as wood-pastures are species-rich environments that have been created by low intensity agriculture. Their amount has decreased dramatically during the 20th century in whole Europe due to the intensification of agriculture. Wood-pastures host some fungal species that prefer warm areas and are adapted to semi-open conditions, but still very little is known about fungi in these habitats. We studied how management, historical land-use intensity, present grazing intensity, time since abandonment, and stand conditions affect the species richness and community composition of ectomycorrhizal fungi. We surveyed fruit bodies on three 10 m x 10 m study plots in 36 sites and repeated the surveys three times. Half of the sites were currently unmanaged but had a grazing history. We measured soil pH, soil moisture and the basal area of different tree species, and interviewed landowners about grazing history. We found that the proportion of broadleaved trees, soil pH, and soil moisture are the major drivers of the communities of ectomycorrhizal fungi in boreal wood-pastures. Management or grazing intensity did not have significant effects on fungal species richness, whereas historical land-use intensity seemed to have a negative effect on species richness. To conclude, present stand conditions are the most important factors to evaluate when planning the conservation of ectomycorrhizal fungi living in semi-open forest habitats.

ContextHabitat loss is a major threat to biodiversity. It can create temporal lags in decline of species in relation to destruction of habitat coverage. Plant species specialized in semi-natural grasslands, especially meadows, often express such extinction debt.ObjectivesWe studied habitat loss and fragmentation of meadows and examined whether the changes in meadow coverage had caused an extinction debt on vascular plants. We also studied whether historical or present landscape patterns or contemporary environmental factors were more important determinants of species occurrence.MethodsWe surveyed the plant species assemblages of 12 grazed and 12 mown meadows in Central Finland and detected the meadow coverages from their surroundings on two spatial scales and on three time steps. We modelled the effects of functional connectivity, habitat amount, and isolation on species richness and community composition.ResultsWe observed drastic and dynamic meadow loss in landscapes surrounding our study sites during the last 150years. However, we did not find explicit evidence for an extinction debt in meadow plants. The observed species richness correlated with contemporary factors, whereas both contemporary factors and habitat availability during the 1960s affected community composition.ConclusionsEffective conservation management of meadow biodiversity builds on accurate understanding of the relative importance of past and present factors on species assemblages. Both mown and grazed meadows with high species richness need to be managed in the future. The management effort should preferably be targeted to sites located near to each other.

Questions: How does the presence of grazers impact plant diversity at various spatial scales? What are the effects on plant beta-diversity and its two components, species turnover and nestedness? Are the effects caused by defoliation, trampling or defecating?Location: Twenty-four currently grazed and 24 abandoned wood-pasture sites in Central Finland.Methods: The species richness of vascular plants and bryophytes was studied at four spatial scales: within 4-m(2) subplots (alpha(1)), within 100-m(2) plots (alpha(2)), within sites (alpha(3)) and within the landscape (gamma). beta-Diversity was studied between subplots within plots (beta(1)), between plots within sites (beta(2)) and between sites within the landscape (beta(3)).Results: Currently grazed sites had higher species richness at all of the spatial scales (alpha(1), alpha(2), alpha(3), gamma) and higher within-plot and within-site beta -diversities (beta(1) and beta(2)). At the within-plot scale (beta(1)) plant beta-diversity was increased primarily by variation in defoliation. At this scale both turnover and nestedness were increased by grazers. At the larger within-site scale (beta(2)) only turnover was increased, and it was mostly caused by variation in trampling intensities. Within the landscape (beta(3)) currently grazed sites had higher between-site turnover and lower nestedness than abandoned sites.Conclusions: Grazing creates and maintains high species richness and beta-diversity of vascular plants and bryophytes, mostly due to high species turnover between patches. Defoliation, dunging and trampling are all important turnover agents, although their relative importance varies with spatial scale. At the landscape scale the currently grazed sites had high species turnover between them, and thus the conservation of all grazing-dependent species requires continued management at various sites, while high nestedness between abandoned sites implies that their biodiversity can be efficiently conserved through protecting the most species-rich sites.

Wood-pastures are biodiverse biotopes where livestock graze among trees. The diversity of several species groups is related to the structural diversity created by herbivores and by trees, decaying wood and rocks. One of the greatest threats to wood-pastures is abandonment that results in decreased heterogeneity of soil microhabitats as well as encroachment by young trees. We studied the diversity of bryophytes on different microhabitat types (soil, rocks, trees and decaying wood) in grazed and abandoned boreal wood-pastures (48 sites). Most species grew on soil, rocks or both. For both soil and rocks currently grazed sites had higher bryophyte species richness and several individual species also preferred grazed sites over abandoned sites. The grazers increase biodiversity by creating patches of bare soil and exposed rock surfaces. Currently grazed and abandoned sites did not differ significantly in bryophyte species richness on decaying wood or trees, and the overall bryophyte richness on these substrates was quite low due to the scarcity of dead wood and large living deciduous trees with suitable bark conditions. Rare species were observed on all microhabitats, most abundantly on soil and decaying wood. Especially our result on higher richness on rock surfaces shows the complexity of grazing effects on biodiversity. Grazers may affect the biodiversity of a species group that is not consumed by them, on a surface which is not attractive to them. These unobvious interactions should be recalled when planning wood-pasture management and conservation.

Wood-pastures have been formed by traditional low-intensity livestock grazing in wooded areas. They host high biodiversity values that are now threatened by both management abandonment (ceased grazing) and agricultural intensification, and therefore these habitats are of conservation interest in Europe. In order to explore the effects of grazing on the biodiversity of boreal wood-pastures, we studied the communities of vascular plants and bryophytes in 24 currently grazed and 24 abandoned sites. In addition to the current management situation, we studied the effects of soil pH and moisture, tree density, historical land-use intensity, time since abandonment (in abandoned sites) and grazing intensity (in grazed sites). Grazed sites had higher species richness of both species groups and rare species were also slightly more numerous. Grazing impacted the community composition of vascular plants more than that of bryophytes. For both species groups soil pH (which ranged from 3 to 5) was the most important variable in determining species richness, the number of rare species and the composition of communities. The responses of the two species groups varied somewhat, but generally species richness was maximized on sites with higher soil pH, moisture and grazing intensity, but lower tree cover. We conclude that more effort should be paid on maintaining currently grazed sites under management. If a site has been abandoned, it could be restored into a wood-pasture if it still retains some structural features such as openness and typical species of a wood-pasture. Highest biological conservation values for both management and protection can be found among those sites that are naturally most fertile, but attention should also be paid on the landscape-scale versatility of managed sites. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Wood-pastures are threatened biotopes in which trees and livestock grazing maintain high conservation values. However, browsing may threaten tree regeneration, whereas abandonment leads to tree encroachment. We studied the regeneration of trees in a grazed and abandoned boreal wood-pastures. In grazed sites, the density of young spruces (Picea abies) was high, while the density of young birches (Betula spp.) was very low. Sprucification can be prevented only by removing spruces. The number of young birches and pines (Pinus sylvestris) was correlated with the number of junipers (Juniperus communis), probably because thorny junipers protect palatable seedlings from browsing. In abandoned sites, deciduous trees and spruces regenerated abundantly. In the long term, both grazing and abandonment lead to changes in tree species compositions and low diversity wood-pastures. Landscape scale planning and disturbance dynamics are needed for the creation of new wood-pastures and the maintenance of all pasture types within the landscape.