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Eurasian crane (Grus grus) as ecosystem engineer in grasslands ‒ conservation values, ecosystem services and disservices related to a large iconic bird species
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  • Orsolya Valkó,
  • Sándor Borza,
  • Laura Godó,
  • Zsolt Végvári,
  • Balázs Deák
Orsolya Valkó
Hungarian Academy of Sciences Centre for Ecological Research Institute of Ecology and Botany and National Botanical Garden

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Sándor Borza
Centre for Ecological Research
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Laura Godó
Centre for Ecological Research
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Zsolt Végvári
Centre for Ecological Research
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Balázs Deák
Centre for Ecological Research
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Abstract

Large bird species, such as cranes are involved in human-wildlife conflicts as they often forage in croplands. The Eurasian crane (Grus grus) is a large iconic bird species, protected across Europe, which, thanks to conservation programs and its ability to utilize croplands for foraging, shows a strongly increasing population trend. This exaggerates the already existing conflicts between crop farmers and cranes spilling over to natural habitats, where foraging by large flocks can lead to land degradation. To date, no studies have evaluated the effects of biopedturbation by cranes in grasslands, despite these habitats provide important feeding grounds for this large bird across its whole range. Here we evaluated the effect of biopedturbation by foraging Eurasian cranes on the vegetation of dry grasslands in Hungary. We used indicators of vegetation naturalness, forage quality and floral resource provision to evaluate the ecosystem state from multiple aspects. We sampled 100 quadrats in disturbed patches and 100 in intact grasslands in two seasons and two years (800 observations). We found that cranes created distinct habitat patches with different species composition compared to undisturbed areas. These early-successional patches that increased the plant diversity and floral resources but decreased the area of intact grasslands. Although crane-disturbed patches could provide forage for livestock early in the season, the forage quality of the vegetation became poor later in the year. Given the strong increase of the global crane population, monitoring the landscape-level extent of the disturbed areas, and developing a complex prevention and mitigation strategy would be important.
31 Jan 2022Submitted to Land Degradation & Development
01 Feb 2022Submission Checks Completed
01 Feb 2022Assigned to Editor
06 Feb 2022Reviewer(s) Assigned
16 Feb 2022Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
20 Feb 2022Editorial Decision: Revise Major
21 Mar 20221st Revision Received
22 Mar 2022Submission Checks Completed
22 Mar 2022Assigned to Editor
27 Mar 2022Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
27 Mar 2022Editorial Decision: Revise Minor
29 Mar 20222nd Revision Received
30 Mar 2022Submission Checks Completed
30 Mar 2022Assigned to Editor
02 Apr 2022Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
03 Apr 2022Editorial Decision: Revise Minor
12 Apr 20223rd Revision Received
14 Apr 2022Submission Checks Completed
14 Apr 2022Assigned to Editor
15 Apr 2022Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
16 Apr 2022Editorial Decision: Revise Minor
16 Apr 20224th Revision Received
20 Apr 2022Submission Checks Completed
20 Apr 2022Assigned to Editor
23 Apr 2022Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
23 Apr 2022Editorial Decision: Accept
30 Jul 2022Published in Land Degradation & Development volume 33 issue 12 on pages 2155-2165. 10.1002/ldr.4314