Fire and herbivores as long-term drivers of grass-dominated systems in Central and Eastern Europe

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Grass-dominated ecosystems (grasslands and forest-steppe) in central and eastern Europe play a critical role in biodiversity, climate, livelihoods, and offer many ecosystem services. In terms of their ecology, these systems differ significantly from forests and face different threats. They often do not conform to standard biodiversity concepts such as naturalness and the concept of climax vegetation. Human impact, combined with limited knowledge of their origins and past dynamics, has contributed to the degradation and loss of grass-dominated temperate ecosystems. Their reforestation is still actively promoted to mitigate climate change through enhanced carbon fixation. Approaches with broad temporal and spatial scales are needed to fill knowledge gaps about these ecosystems. This project will use multi-proxy Lateglacial and Holocene records from locations in natural steppe grasslands and forest-steppe in central and eastern Europe (Serbia and Romania) to determine their origin and past dynamics and identify the factors that maintain them and their biodiversity. I will explore the role of two consumers, fire, and herbivores on vegetation against the background of changing climate conditions over time. I expect interactions and feedbacks between these drivers, with additional alterations where human influence became relevant. In an interdisciplinary approach, I will combine a range of paleoecological methods (charcoal metrics, pollen, plant macrofossils, coprophilous spores, testate amoebae, and stable isotopes) and with quantitative pollen-based vegetation reconstruction. Using information from archaeozoological and paleontological databases and sources on population dynamics will help to explore more comprehensive changes in the vegetation composition and diversity associated with the dynamics of herbivory type, diversity, and intensity change. Statistical approaches will help reveal critical thresholds and transitions in system states. Understanding the processes that shape and maintain grass-dominated systems and their extraordinary diversity will advance their scientific recognition and improve conservation strategies. This is essential to mitigate future impacts from climate, consumers, and people on grass-dominated ecosystems in this region and conserve natural resources, human livelihoods, biodiversity, and ecosystem functions and services.