Projects per year
Abstract
Anthropogenic heathlands are semi-natural ecosystems with a unique cultural and biodiversity value, considered worthy of preservation across most of the world. Their rate of loss, however, is alarming. Currently, we know little about the heathlands' actual span of resilience affordances and their association with abiotic and anthropogenic factors, including how much additional intervention they need to persist. Consequently, we are missing out on vital knowledge for conservation, management and the historical persistence of heathlands. This paper develops a method to assess the ecological resilience affordances of Atlantic postglacial heaths in the absence of human management. We use 12 existing cases of heathland succession to establish a four-step resilience grade for each site, which we regress onto a series of explaining factors and use it in predicting heath resilience across postglacial Atlantic Northern Europe. We find that temperature, humidity, elevation and sandiness have a positive correlation with high heathland resilience. Our predictive mapping shows an uneven distribution of ecological heath resilience across Atlantic Northern Europe within an area of 1,000 × 1,200 km of 5 × 5 km resolution. Historic heathland distributions far exceed areas that afford high heath resilience, suggesting that heath distribution and persistence depend on both abiotic and anthropogenic factors. Policy implications: The map predicting the ecological resilience of Atlantic postglacial heaths can be used by managers working towards heath preservation and restoration to prioritize conservation efforts and to plan management practices across Atlantic Northern Europe. Together with the predictive model, it provides an important initial screening tool to assess heathland resilience in the absence of management as well as the impact of atmospheric nitrogen. The results are equally relevant for scholars who are interested in humans' role in increasing and decreasing ecosystem resilience. Our predictive method can be applied in other regions across the world by adding regionally specific variables.
Original language | English |
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Journal | Journal of Applied Ecology |
Volume | 59 |
Issue | 11 |
Pages (from-to) | 2825-2838 |
Number of pages | 14 |
ISSN | 0021-8901 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Nov 2022 |
Keywords
- Atlantic Northern Europe
- Calluna vulgaris
- conservation
- heathland
- historical management practices
- resilience affordances
- succession
- tree encroachment
Fingerprint
Dive into the research topics of 'Mapping the ecological resilience of Atlantic postglacial heathlands'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.Projects
- 3 Active
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ANTHEA: Anthropogenic Heathlands: The Social Organization of Super-Resilient Past Human Ecosystems
Løvschal, M. (PI), Ombashi, H. (Participant), Caple, Z. A. (Participant) & Haughton, M. (Participant)
01/08/2020 → 01/08/2025
Project: Research
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Dune and Heathland Ecosystems
Strandberg, M. T. (Participant), Damgaard, C. (Participant), Bak, J. L. (Participant) & Hansen, R. R. (Participant)
01/01/2020 → …
Project: Research
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Anthropogenic Heathlands in Prehistoric Atlantic Europe: Review and future prospects
Ombashi, H. & Løvschal, M., 15 Aug 2023, In: European Journal of Archaeology. 26, 3, p. 341-358 18 p.Research output: Contribution to journal/Conference contribution in journal/Contribution to newspaper › Journal article › Research › peer-review
5 Citations (Scopus) -
Heathland living as integrated landscaping
Løvschal, M. & Perez Fjalland, E. L., 2022, In: The Preserve Journal. 6, p. 98-106 9 p.Research output: Contribution to journal/Conference contribution in journal/Contribution to newspaper › Journal article › Research
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Anthropogenic heathlands: disturbance ecologies and the social organisation of past super-resilient landscapes
Løvschal, M., Jun 2021, In: Antiquity. 95, 381, E14.Research output: Contribution to journal/Conference contribution in journal/Contribution to newspaper › Journal article › Research › peer-review
9 Citations (Scopus)
Activities
- 1 Lecture and oral contribution
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Humans and heathlands: The deep time emergence of landscapes held in common
Løvschal, M. (Lecturer)
29 Mar 2023Activity: Presentations, memberships, ownership and other activities › Lecture and oral contribution
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