Prescribed burning as a potential tool in grassland conservation and management
Abstract
Prescribed burning is a conservational tool with relatively low implementation costs that can be used in several ways in the management of grasslands. The specific goal of burning projects in European grasslands are to (i) maintain or create open landscapes, (ii) to reduce litter, (iii) to speed up succession towards target grasslands and to (iv) suppress wildfires by decreasing fuel loads with prescribed burning. However inappropriate burning can have serious negative impacts on grassland ecosystems by promoting the dominance of untargeted species (e.g. competitor grasses, invasive species) and by damaging several endangered plant and animal species (especially invertebrates) which can lead to the loss of species richness in the long run. In our study we discuss the effects of burning on grassland ecosystems, and we review the European attempts of grassland conservation by burning. We point out what can be adapted to the European conservation practice from North-American burning studies regarding the timing and frequency of burning, the combination of burning with grazing and the use of burning in invasive control. Although the effects of burning on grasslands are contradictory from a conservation point of view, carefully designed prescribed burning can be applied as a conservation measure in grasslands. We stress out, however, that carefully designed case studies are necessary to clarify in which circumstances burning can be applied with a special emphasis on the effects of burning on target species of conservation and on invasive and weedy species.
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