Millennial-scale perspective on biodiversity conservation of the forest-steppe ecotone in Europe

Abstract

Paleoecological studies document that grasslands with a high conservation value in the European forest-steppe ecotone are often anthropogenically derived, requiring management to avoid woodland recovery. Nevertheless, naturally open areas often persisted within this ecotone, explaining the high richness of these grasslands.

Keywords

• forest-steppe ecotone
• millennial-scale
• biodiversity conservation