Abstract
The projekt is cross-disciplinary merging geography and plant ecology. Present-day plant species diversity and patterns in the rural landscape is investigated. The species patterns are analysed with regard to past land-use change as well as physical properties of the landscape (bedrock, soil, landscape type etcet.). Twelve landscapes have been chosen in southestern Sweden representing different landscape change in the past, such as afforestation, abandonment or intesification. Historical data on land-use change is interpreted from old cadastral maps from the 17th and 18th century. Present-day vegetation is interpreted from aerial photographs and field inventories. The goal is to explain the effects on species diversity of fragmentation, landuse change and habitat loss in grassland and small grassland habitats. Based on the geographical data future landcape scenarios is going to be used to model plant spieces survival and pattern depending on landuse intensity and landscape configuration. The models will be developeded in collaboration with researchers in Australia and France. The results will contribute to the understanding of the effects of landscape configuration, both in space and time, on plant species patterns. Further, it can provide relevant conservation plans for protecting species diversity in a landscape context for the future. This project will also contribute to bridging some of the gaps between landscape ecology and the more empirical ecology.
Sweden