**3.2 Case scenario 2: status of the grassland habitats with the optimal livestock density for biodiversity conservation (OLD\_B)**

For the grasslands included in N2000 ROSCIs, a lower livestock density might be recommendable that has been shown to maintain and enhance biodiversity in similar contexts from Central and Southeastern Europe [21, 50–54]. For the analysis, the value of 0.45 LU/ha was tested, the recommended LD for biodiversity conservation being under 0.5 [21, 50–54]. However, the large range of elevations and ecological conditions from Romania might require more specific values for different grassland types and altitude belts if a more accurate evaluation is desired. In the perspective of this lower optimum LD (**Table 2**), an 8% increase in the proportion of degraded N2000 grasslands appears (to 58.49%), the major impact source being overgrazing, 50.46%, while abandonment contributes with only 8.03% to degradation. The percentage of partially impacted grassland areas is lower than in the previous scenario by 33.35%, while overgrazing and abandonment have almost equal importance in this case (17.91% and 15.44%, respectively). In this scenario, the percentage of the area not impacted is 8.15%, very similar to the nationwide figure for all the grasslands. Of this area, 4.41% is lightly overgrazed, while 3.74% is used slightly below the optimal intensity.

It appears that in the case of the grasslands from N2000 sites, which are important for biodiversity conservation, under the existing LD conditions, a lower optimal LD can be proposed without generating widespread conflicts between the socioeconomical activities and nature conservation. Since the major impacts include both overexploitation and abandonment, in some neighboring TAUs that experience opposite tendencies, sharing the grassland resources and a better distribution of the livestock may be a first, easier step to improve grassland degradation status (**Figure 6**). Our results regarding the areas free from overgrazing are consistent with other studies which revealed that the spatial (geographical) distribution of grazing may be as important as the LD [24, 57, 58]. This means that, beyond good local management of grazing, an optimized, larger scale of grazing management is needed as well. When viewed at a regional scale such as TAUs, where we graze may be as important as how we graze.


#### **Table 2.**

*Comparison of DEVOLD percentages between the socioeconomic and biodiversity-focused scenarios in ROSCIs.*

*Habitats of the World - Biodiversity and Threats*

of the permanent grassland area is not impacted with regard to the carrying capacity, the LD being within the interval of 10% over to 10% under the optimal value, 3.37% being partly overgrazed, while 4.91% of this area being used slightly below the optimal intensity. Although the obtained results concerning the LD distribution and deviation from OLD are consistent with other studies that evaluate the grassland status from Romania [31, 32, 48, 56], they are only supported by the livestock statistical reports, field data regarding the habitat status not being available yet. Validation by grassland experts in the field was only performed for one TAU (Zăvoi) [48] for a model that used the same dataset (livestock units within the permanent grassland polygons of a TAU)

When analyzing the situation of the grassland polygons that are within N2000 ROSCIs, the percentage of the degraded area is 50.33%, slightly lower than at the national level (**Figure 5**). Of this, 30.52% represents areas prone to degradation from intense overgrazing (the current LD being far over the OLD), while in 19.81% of the area degradation is caused by abandonment. The proportion of partially impacted grasslands is slightly larger within the N2000 sites than at the national level, reaching 42.99% of the total area. Most of these grasslands are undergoing moderate abandonment (28.86%), while moderate overgrazing affects an area only half as large (14.13%). A smaller proportion of the ROSCI grasslands—6.68%—are not impacted with regard to this criterion than at the national level. Of these grasslands, those experiencing minor overgrazing and the ones with slight abandonment

*The spatial distribution of impact and degradation within the N2000 ROSCIs caused by the deviations from grazing optimum for the socioeconomic production scenario; the deviation classes, status, their percentage, and* 

to extract the livestock density classes and evaluate the grassland status.

have similar percentages, 3.22% and 3.46%, respectively.

**38**

**Figure 5.**

*area at the national level.*

#### **Figure 6.**

*The spatial distribution of impact and degradation within the N2000 ROSCIs caused by the deviations from grazing optimum for the biodiversity conservation scenario; the deviation classes, status, their percentage, and area at the national level.*

However, most grasslands in the Eastern European socioeconomic region, similarly to other regions of Europe, within or outside the protected areas, were created and are maintained (along with their biodiversity) by an extensive form of management [4, 21, 59].
