![]() In areas where nature conservation does not maintain land as part of contractual nature conservation (sheep farming) or private engagement, the last remaining calcareous grasslands are increasingly being lost ( Krauss et al., 2010). Agricultural intensification, afforestation and transfer to arable land, as well as the abandonment of transhumance-driven by the economic weakness of European sheep wool production compared to significantly cheaper sheep wool from New Zealand and Australia-were the root cause of the loss ( Poschlod and WallisDeVries, 2002). Today, < 30% of calcareous grassland of the Swabian Alb persists ( Poschlod and WallisDeVries, 2002). While calcareous grasslands in Germany seemingly reached their maximum distribution in the 19th century ( Krauss et al., 2010 Poschlod and WallisDeVries, 2002), it is certain that there has been a drastic decline in their extent in the second half of the twentieth century ( Poschlod and WallisDeVries, 2002). ![]() From the 15th to the 19th centuries, shepherding resulted in the development of hundreds of calcareous grassland corridors, often dozens of kilometres long, connecting large summer and winter pastures in southwestern Germany between the Rhine Valley, the Swabian Alb and Lake Constance, which persisted until the 1960s ( Poschlod and WallisDeVries, 2002). These grasslands owe their origin to extensive usage by humans, such as management as hay meadows and/or grazing, and above all to shepherding. Calcareous grassland has outstanding nature conservation value, is listed on the Annex I of the European Habitats Directive, and is one of the habitat types with the highest biodiversity of rare plants and animals per unit area in Germany ( Steffan-Dewenter and Tscharntke, 2002). Calcareous grasslands: an example of High Nature Value Farmland under pressureĮxtensive grassland on nutrient-poor chalky soils-so-called calcareous grassland-is a typical example of European High Nature Value Farmland that is of anthropogenic origin.
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