HNV Farming & Other aspects

Change of land-use and landscape structure in Baden-Württemberg

The past 100 years have seen most dramatic changes in land-use. Accompanying the switch from threshing with hand flails to the use of enormous combine harvesters, landscape structure and ecological processes have undergone a similar change. The following pictures try and highlight these differences by showing the same areas in Baden-Württemberg at the beginning of the 20th century and in the 1990ies.

Castle Brauneck
	past large area of regularly grazed calcareous grassland – mainly short sward, but different microhabitats present many solitary trees, important perching and nesting sites for different bird species (pipits, shrikes etc.) coppiced willows in the valley bottom today grassland habitats completely lost – plantation with coniferous trees dominates coppiced willows overgrown by trees low habitat diversity = low conservation value [ Switch images ]
Kornbühl
	past hill practically without shrubs or trees – open grassland meadows bordered by trees and shrubs in foreground today slopes of hill partly covered with coniferous trees transformation of open grassland into juniper heath – still high conservation value but totally different habitat structure and accompanying species meadows in foreground converted to arable fields [ Switch images ]
Lautertal
	past large (transhumant) sheep flocks – important dispersal vector for seeds and certain animals (snails, grasshoppers) calcareous grasslands (Natura-code 6210) and juniper heath (5130) with short sward – optimum conditions for thermophilic species habitat continuum exists from slope to valley floor today* habitat management by conservation authorities afforestation of dry grasslands Natura habitat types (*6210, 5130) threatened by shrub encroachment lack of open ground and short sward in dry grassland – lower structural diversity [ Switch images ]
Lautertal
	past dry grassland habitat continuum along the lower valley slope grassland with substantial proportion of the different habitat types of the Lautertal orchards, gardens with stone walls near the village today afforestation of most grasslands isolation and change of habitat structure (shrubs) of remaining grassland lack of connectivity with similar sites increases extinction threat for poorly dispersing species loss of orchards and gardens (transformation into woodland) [ Switch images ]

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