Assessing mowing intensity: A new index incorporating frequency, type of machinery, and technique

Abstract

Background: Only a few decades ago, colorful, small-scale, heterogeneous, and species-rich hay meadows or extensive pastures were common, but have often been replaced by species-poor, uniform, large-scale multicut meadows. Technological advancements and improved efficiency in grassland management have come at the cost of biodiversity.

Methods: In Germany, 150 grassland plots have been investigated since 2006. Using these extensive data, we propose a new compound index for estimating the site-specific mowing intensity in order to facilitate assessment of the impact of mowing intensity on biodiversity and ecosystem processes. Our index integrates the various qualitative components of mowing machine type, mowing height and use of a conditioner, with the annual number of cuts.

Results: The newly proposed index achieves a much finer gradation of mowing intensity compared to the previous quantification based on the number of cuts only. Furthermore, a decrease in plant and arthropod species was observed at higher mowing intensity.

Conclusions: The proposed mowing intensity index offers enhanced precision in calculations and can easily be integrated into assessments of land-use intensity in grasslands. Further, it could serve as a basis for providing subsidies to farmers, who adopt low-impact mowing practices.

Keywords

applications / conditioner / mower / mowing height / number of cuts / species richness

References

[1] Bates, D., Maechler, M., Bolker, B., Walker, S., Christensen, R. H. B., Singmann, H., Dai, B., Scheipl, F., & Grothendieck, G. (2011). Package ‘lme4.’ Linear mixed-effects models using S4 classes. CRAN, R Package Version.

[2] Benton, T. G., Vickery, J. A., & Wilson, J. D. (2003). Farmland biodiversity: Is habitat heterogeneity the key? Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 18(4), 182–188.

[3] Blüthgen, N., Dormann, C. F., Prati, D., Klaus, V. H., Kleinebecker, T., Hölzel, N., Alt, F., Boch, S., Gockel, S., Hemp, A., Müller, J., Nieschulze, J., Renner, S. C., Schöning, I., Schumacher, U., Socher, S. A., Wells, K., Birkhofer, K., Buscot, F., … Weisser, W. W. (2012). A quantitative index of land-use intensity in grasslands: Integrating mowing, grazing and fertilization. Basic and Applied Ecology, 13(3), 207–220.

[4] Blüthgen, N., Staab, M., Achury, R., & Weisser, W. W. (2022). Unravelling insect declines: Can space replace time? Biology Letters, 18(4), 20210666.

[5] Briemle, G. (2009). Möglichkeiten zur Erhöhung der Artenvielfalt im Feuchtgrünland. In K. F. Schreiber (Ed.), Artenreiches Grünland in der Kulturlandschaft: 35 Jahre Offenhaltungsversuche Baden-Württemberg. Verlag Regionalkultur.

[6] Briemle, G., Nitsche, S., & Nitsche, L. (2002). Nutzungswertzahlen für Gefäßpflanzen des Grünlandes. Schriftenreihe für Vegetationskunde, 38(2), 203–225.

[7] Bundesamt für Naturschutz (BfN). (2014). Grünland-Report: Alles im grünen Bereich? http://epflicht.ulb.uni-bonn.de/202124

[8] Buri, P., Arlettaz, R., & Humbert, J.-Y. (2013). Delaying mowing and leaving uncut refuges boosts orthopterans in extensively managed meadows: Evidence drawn from field-scale experimentation. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 181, 22–30.

[9] Busch, V., Klaus, V. H., Schäfer, D., Prati, D., Boch, S., Müller, J., Chisté M., Mody, K., Blüthgen, N., Fischer, M., Hölzel, N., & Kleinebecker, T. (2019). Will I stay or will I go? Plant species-specific response and tolerance to high land-use intensity in temperate grassland ecosystems. Journal of Vegetation Science, 30(4), 674–686.

[10] Ceballos, G., Ehrlich, P. R., Barnosky, A. D., García, A., Pringle, R. M., & Palmer, T. M. (2015). Accelerated modern human–induced species losses: Entering the sixth mass extinction. Science Advances, 1(5), e1400253.

[11] Chisté M. N., Mody, K., Gossner, M. M., Simons, N. K., Köhler, G., Weisser, W. W., & Blüthgen, N. (2016). Losers, winners, and opportunists: How grassland land-use intensity affects orthopteran communities. Ecosphere, 7(11), e01545.

[12] Cizek, O., Zamecnik, J., Tropek, R., Kocarek, P., & Konvicka, M. (2012). Diversification of mowing regime increases arthropods diversity in species-poor cultural hay meadows. Journal of Insect Conservation, 16(2), 215–226.

[13] Dierschke, H., & Briemle, G. (2008). Kulturgrasland. Ulmer E.

[14] Ebeling, A., Hines, J., Hertzog, L. R., Lange, M., Meyer, S. T., Simons, N. K., & Weisser, W. W. (2018). Plant diversity effects on arthropods and arthropod-dependent ecosystem functions in a biodiversity experiment. Basic and Applied Ecology, 26, 50–63.

[15] Fischer, M., Bossdorf, O., Gockel, S., Hänsel, F., Hemp, A., Hessenmöller, D., Korte, G., Nieschulze, J., Pfeiffer, S., Prati, D., Renner, S., Schöning, I., Schumacher, U., Wells, K., Buscot, F., Kalko, E. K. V., Linsenmair, K. E., Schulze, E.-D., & Weisser, W. W. (2010). Implementing large-scale and long-term functional biodiversity research: The biodiversity exploratories. Basic and Applied Ecology, 11(6), 473–485.

[16] Godoy, O., Granjel, R., Van der Plas, F., Soliveres, S., Penone, C., Saiz, H., Holzel, N., Prati, D., Fischer, M., & Allan, E. (2022). Loss of species richness with land use intensity is explained by a reduction in niche differences. bioRxiv, 2022–12.

[17] Grendelmeier, B. (2011). Entwicklung einer junghasenschonenden Mähmethode. Bachelorarb., Zürcher Hochsch. f. Angew. Wissensch.

[18] Grime, J. P. (2006). Plant strategies, vegetation processes, and ecosystem properties. John Wiley & Sons.

[19] Guido van Rossum. (2007). Python programming language. In USENIX annual technical conference (Vol. 41, pp. 1–36). https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:45594778

[20] Haddad, N. M., Crutsinger, G. M., Gross, K., Haarstad, J., Knops, J. M. H., & Tilman, D. (2009). Plant species loss decreases arthropod diversity and shifts trophic structure. Ecology Letters, 12(10), 1029–1039.

[21] Handke, K., Otte, A., & Donath, T. (2011). Late mowed stripes of grassland promote invertebrates in flood-plain meadows-results from the nature reserve Kühkopf-Knoblochsaue. Naturschutz Und Landschaftsplanung, 43(9), 280–288.

[22] Harrison, X. A. (2014). Using observation-level random effects to model overdispersion in count data in ecology and evolution. PeerJ, 2, e616.

[23] Hecker, L. P., Wätzold, F., Yang, X., & Birkhofer, K. (2022). Squeeze it or leave it? An ecological-economic assessment of the impact of mower conditioners on arthropod populations in Grassland. Journal of Insect Conservation, 26(3), 463–475.

[24] Humbert, J.-Y., Ghazoul, J., Richner, N., & Walter, T. (2010). Hay harvesting causes high orthopteran mortality. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 139(4), 522–527.

[25] Humbert, J.-Y., Ghazoul, J., Sauter, G. J., & Walter, T. (2010). Impact of different meadow mowing techniques on field invertebrates. Journal of Applied Entomology, 134(7), 592–599.

[26] Humbert, J.-Y., Ghazoul, J., & Walter, T. (2009). Meadow harvesting techniques and their impacts on field fauna. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 130(1–2), 1–8.

[27] IUCN. (2023). The IUCN red list of threatened species. Version 2023-1. https://www.iucnredlist.org

[28] Jarnemo, A. (2002). Roe deer Capreolus capreolus fawns and mowing-mortality rates and countermeasures. Wildlife Biology, 8(3), 211–218.

[29] Van Klink, R., Menz, M. H. M., Baur, H., Dosch, O., Kühne, I., Lischer, L., Luka, H., Meyer, S., Szikora, T., Unternährer, D., Arlettaz, R., & Humbert, J. Y. (2019). Larval and phenological traits predict insect community response to mowing regime manipulations. Ecological Applications, 29(4), e01900.

[30] Klonglan, E. D., Robbins, R. L., & Ridley, B. L. (1959). Evaluation of effectiveness of pheasant flushing bars in Iowa hayfields. Proceedings of the Iowa Academy of Science, 66(1), 534–552.

[31] Kremer, B. P. (2016). Die Wiese. WBG.

[32] Legendre, P. (1998). Model II regression user’s guide, R edition. R Vignette, 14.

[33] Milberg, P., Tälle, M., Fogelfors, H., & Westerberg, L. (2017). The biodiversity cost of reducing management intensity in species-rich grasslands: Mowing annually vs. every third year. Basic and Applied Ecology, 22, 61–74.

[34] Newbold, T., Hudson, L. N., Hill, S. L. L., Contu, S., Lysenko, I., Senior, R. A., Börger, L., Bennett, D. J., Choimes, A., Collen, B., Day, J., De Palma, A., Díaz, S., Echeverria-Londoño, S., Edgar, M. J., Feldman, A., Garon, M., Harrison, M. L. K., Alhusseini, T., … Purvis, A. (2015). Global effects of land use on local terrestrial biodiversity. Nature, 520, 45–50.

[35] Oppermann, R., & Claßen, A. (1998). Naturverträgliche Mähtechnik: Moderne Mähgeräte im Vergleich. Naturschutzbund NABU, Landesverband Baden-Württemberg.

[36] Outhwaite, C. L., McCann, P., & Newbold, T. (2022). Agriculture and climate change are reshaping insect biodiversity worldwide. Nature, 605, 97–102.

[37] Pimm, S. L., Jenkins, C. N., Abell, R., Brooks, T. M., Gittleman, J. L., Joppa, L. N., Raven, P. H., Roberts, C. M., & Sexton, J. O. (2014). The biodiversity of species and their rates of extinction, distribution, and protection. Science, 344, 1246752.

[38] Pimm, S. L., & Raven, P. (2000). Extinction by numbers. Nature, 403, 843–845.

[39] Prochnow, A., & Meierhöfer, J. (2003). Befahrmuster bei der Grünlandmahd: Faunaschonung und Aufwendungen. Agrartechnische Forschung, 9(4), 36–43.

[40] R Core Team. (2021). R: A language and environment for statistical computing (4.3.1) [Computer software]. https://www.R-project.org/

[41] Reiter, K., Schmidt, A., & Stratmann, U. (2004). Grünlandnutzung nicht vor dem 15 (Vol. 124). Bundesamt für Naturschutz.

[42] Rigal, S., Dakos, V., Alonso, H., Auniņš A., Benkő Z., Brotons, L., Chodkiewicz, T., Chylarecki, P., de Carli, E., del Moral, J. C., Domşa, C., Escandell, V., Fontaine, B., Foppen, R., Gregory, R., Harris, S., Herrando, S., Husby, M., Ieronymidou, C., … Devictor, V. (2023). Farmland practices are driving bird population decline across Europe. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences United States of America, 120(21), e2216573120.

[43] Saumure, R. A., Herman, T. B., & Titman, R. D. (2007). Effects of haying and agricultural practices on a declining species: The North American wood turtle, Glyptemys insculpta. Biological Conservation, 135(4), 565–575.

[44] Schäfer, D., Prati, D., Fischer, M., & Hölzel, N. (2018). Vegetation records for 150 grassland EPs, 2008—2017 [dataset]. Biodiversity Exploratories Information System. https://www.bexis.uni-jena.deddm/data/Showdata/23586?version=2

[45] Seibold, S., Gossner, M. M., Simons, N. K., Blüthgen, N., Müller, J., Ambarlı D., Ammer, C., Bauhus, J., Fischer, M., Habel, J. C., Linsenmair, K. E., Nauss, T., Penone, C., Prati, D., Schall, P., Schulze, E.-D., Vogt, J., Wöllauer, S., & Weisser, W. W. (2019). Arthropod decline in grasslands and forests is associated with landscape-level drivers. Nature, 574, 671–674.

[46] Tallamy, D. W., & Shriver, W. G. (2021). Are declines in insects and insectivorous birds related? Ornithological Applications, 123(1), duaa059.

[47] Tome, D., Denac, D., & Vrezec, A. (2020). Mowing is the greatest threat to Whinchat Saxicola rubetra nests even when compared to several natural induced threats. Journal for Nature Conservation, 54, 125781.

[48] Vogt, J., Klaus, V., Both, S., Fürstenau, C., Gockel, S., Gossner, M., Heinze, J., Hemp, A., Hölzel, N., Jung, K., Kleinebecker, T., Lauterbach, R., Lorenzen, K., Ostrowski, A., Otto, N., Prati, D., Renner, S., Schumacher, U., Seibold, S., … Weisser, W. (2019). Eleven years’ data of grassland management in Germany. Biodiversity Data Journal, 7, e36387.

[49] Vogt, J., Weisser, W., Ayasse, M., Fischer, M., Schumacher, U., Schreiber, C., Lauterbach, R., Ostrowski, A., & Teuscher, M. (2023). Land use in grasslands: Raw data of yearly owner interviews. Version 57 (Version 57) [Dataset]. Biodiversity Exploratories Information System. https://www.bexis.uni-jena.de

[50] Watt, A. (2020). Land-use intensity and land-use change: Impacts on biodiversity. In W. Leal Filho, A. M. Azul, L. Brandli, A. Lange Salvia, & T. Wall (Eds.), Life on land (pp. 1–13). Springer International Publishing.

[51] Zhang, Y., Loreau, M., He, N., Zhang, G., & Han, X. (2017). Mowing exacerbates the loss of ecosystem stability under nitrogen enrichment in a temperate grassland. Functional Ecology, 31(8), 1637–1646.

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

2024 The Author(s). Grassland Research published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Chinese Grassland Society and Lanzhou University.