By Ineke Roeling
It is a strong image. Search online for 'Dutch grasslands' and you will find pictures of green grass, black-and-white cows, a ditch and a mill. These are agricultural grasslands. However, when I think of grasslands, I think of semi-natural grasslands, basically nature reserves. These are grasslands filled with grasses and herbs, many of them also endangered plant species. These semi-natural grasslands have been protected for years, but are still threatened. For the past years I have been studying the effect of eutrophication on the species richness in these grasslands.
It is a strong image. Search online for 'Dutch grasslands' and you will find pictures of green grass, black-and-white cows, a ditch and a mill. These are agricultural grasslands. However, when I think of grasslands, I think of semi-natural grasslands, basically nature reserves. These are grasslands filled with grasses and herbs, many of them also endangered plant species. These semi-natural grasslands have been protected for years, but are still threatened. For the past years I have been studying the effect of eutrophication on the species richness in these grasslands.
Coming Thursday I will present a selection of my most important findings so far during a symposium in Artis (Amsterdam zoo). The symposium is organised by NWO, the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research, that also funded my project. During the day many different topics are presented and discussed. But all topics are centered around the theme 'Biodiversity Works'. All projects cooperated with one or more stakeholders. In our case this was Natuurmonumenten, a major Dutch nature protection organisation. In addition we also received support from Staatsbosbeheer (State Forestry Service), Landschap Overijssel and Dunea. With this blogpost I want to keep you updated about my research and the symposium.
First, however, I want to show how special the plants and the grasslands themselves are. As these grasslands are so threatened, they are in general not open to the public.
First, however, I want to show how special the plants and the grasslands themselves are. As these grasslands are so threatened, they are in general not open to the public.
There are multiple threats to these grasslands. Acidification, drought and fragmentation are very important factors. Another major threat is eutrophication, the focus of my research. Both nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) have been added in the system. Partly by nearby farming, partly due to atmospheric deposition - a result of car exhaust, industry and farming. We can see that the amount of nitrogen (left) and phosphorus (right) produced as a result of agriculture is especially high in areas with intensive animal farming.
In the last decades policies have been put in place to reduce the impact of N and P. Both farmers and industry have reduced their outputs. Nevertheless, the problems are not resolved, as can be seen below.
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