Treeline Plants
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Increase diversity of herbaceous vegetation, shrubs and trees in restored treelines
Data collection in progress
Iron Curtain to Green Belt
Bulgaria
Problem: Land conversion and intensification of agriculture, including ploughing of grasslands and removal of trees and shrubs, has led to habitat fragmentation and the loss of the natural mosaic of habitats across this landscape. This has had negative impacts on the unique fauna and flora found in treelines.
Action: The project will created 20 treelines or patches, that will act as corridors and stepping stones for a wide range of species.
Indicator: The community composition and abundance of plants at restored treelines will together indicate a recovery of the key habitats plant species provide. Data from this indicator will also be combined with the indicator on treeline birds to provide a multispecies biodiversity index of changes in community.
An example of shrub-height vegetation in a treeline supporting wildlife. This is the Eurasian blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla). Photo: Svetoslav Spasov
An example of a mature tree in a treeline, supporting wildlife. These are imperial eagle chicks in their nest. Photo: Dimitar Gradinarov
Methods
Plant surveys will be carried out before and after treeline restoration will take place, each time between March and July. The first survey will be carried out in 2024, and the follow-up survey is planned for 2027.
Because the growth of trees is much slower than the timeframe of the ELSP project, it is likely to be difficult to detect changes in the plant community associated with the trees during this period. The project will therefore collect data using the same methodology in four different habitat types: arable lands; arable lands under conversion to grassland; permanent pasture; and abandoned grasslands with some shrubs and trees present. These comparison plots are located within 1 km of each of the restoration plots and within the project area. Comparing the plant communities across each of these four habitat types will allow the project to demonstrate the biodiversity change that can be expected after grassland restoration, and track the restoration sites’ progress as they hopefully approach the target condition.
Plants will be surveyed using two methods. Plant composition, particularly rare species and species of conservation concern, will be surveyed along a 1 km x 2 m transect in each habitat type. The relative abundance and richness of plant species will also be surveyed in ten 2 x 2 m sampling plots in each habitat type.
Results
This page will be updated once the project the baseline data has been collected and analysed.
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