Regional distribution and biodiversity perspectives of Finnish grasslands

Abstract

The preservation of viable agricultural landscapes is essential in Finland and throughout Europe, because a considerable proportion of threatened species are associated with rural habitats, particularly various grasslands. In this study, the
regional distribution of Finnish grasslands was studied using an existing nationwide digital land-use database. Further, the occurrence of traditional rural biotopes and selected butterfly and bird species living in different grassland habitats was investigated in relation to agricultural landscape mosaic. The results showed that grasslands were typically abundant in versatile agricultural regions, land uplift shores as well as in agriculturally marginal landscapes experiencing decrease of agricultural activities. Grasslands were generally scarce in intensively cultivated agricultural landscapes. The occurrence and siting of traditional rural biotopes in grassland networks vary greatly regionally, abundant and wellconnected traditional rural biotopes being found e.g. in river valleys and few isolated biotopes in intensively cultivated or agriculturally marginal, forested regions. Furthermore, the nationwide occurrence of selected butterfly and bird species was positively related to the abundance of grasslands. Overall, grasslands enrich the Finnish agricultural landscape both at the habitat and species level. In addition to species-rich semi-natural grasslands, other low-productive grasslands also hold significant potential in the maintenance of diverse agricultural environments.