**4. Conclusions**

Since grassland habitats are very important for both socioeconomical and biodiversity reasons, their continuous degradation is a significant and urgent matter. Of the degradation factors, their use for forage/fodder and particularly the livestock density within the grasslands are highly relevant. This is also true for Romania, which hosts grassland habitats that are among the most extensive and diverse from the EU and where data regarding the impact of livestock density that deviates from the optimal value are not available. By combining environmental conservation data and agricultural statistics within a GIS, this paper assessed the grazing livestock density and the subsequent deviations from the optimal grassland carrying capacity within and outside the N2000 sites in order to highlight the areas with higher risk of impact and degradation and help monitor them. The extensive area analyzed, 33529.42 km<sup>2</sup> , corresponds to all the permanent grasslands from Romania. The results indicate that more than half of this area is subject to a major impact and degraded, most of it from overgrazing. Only less than 10% of the permanent grassland area is not impacted by grazing livestock. Of the total

**41**

be published.

*Deviation from Grazing Optimum in the Grassland Habitats of Romania Within...*

situated within N2000 Sites of Community Importance, indicating the substantial presence within these protected areas of agricultural activities that are supported within the rural and regional European development policies. The major impact degraded area—is slightly lower than at the national level by 50.34%, and within the N2000 grasslands abandonment is more important as an impact factor than at the national level. Given the high percentage of N2000 grassland habitats that are prone to major impact and degradation, the use of the lower, conservationoriented optimal LD (of 0.45 LU/ha) is recommendable in their case. In this scenario, although the proportion of the strongly impacted-degraded N2000 is very similar (49.82%), the cause of degradation shifts toward a predominance of overgrazing, implying a need to reduce the livestock density in these areas. The simplest and most straightforward solution therein is to optimize the spatial distribution of the LD, particularly where neighboring TAUs experience opposite

As a further approach, the spatial patterns of grazing intensity presented in the study allow to identify the areas where the intensity of agricultural practices is divergent from optimum and particularly where these and nature conservation efforts overlap. The detailed statistics obtained may serve as a basis for the design of optimized grazing and protection measures to prevent grassland degradation. This insight could further support policies aiming at a future conflict-free combination of agricultural production and nature conservation. The developed GIS toolbox can be used for environmental conflict anticipation and subsequent management of the grassland habitats so that both socioeconomic and conservation targets are achieved, being particularly useful in the case of protected areas. Although the analysis is focused on the Romanian grasslands, the model can be easily adapted to

This study was supported by the following projects: SIPOCA22-Developing the administrative capacity of the Ministry of Environment to implement the biodiversity policies; PN-III-P4-ID-PCE-2016-0711 and Ctr. No. 22 PDI-PFE/2018 financed by the Ministry of Research and Innovation through UEFISCDI, and PN2019-

Anamaria Roman, Tudor-Mihai Ursu, Irina Onțel, and József Pál Frink substantially contributed to the conception and design of this work. Teodor Marușca,

Gheorghe, Sorin Avram, and Sorina Fărcaș contributed to the data acquisition and interpretation. Anamaria Roman, Tudor-Mihai Ursu, and Irina Onțel performed the analysis and prepared the first draft of the manuscript. All authors participated in the final drafting of the work. All authors approve the final version of the work to

Oliviu Grigore Pop, Sretco Milanovici, Alexandru Sin-Schneider, Carmen

(17.34%) of grasslands were determined to be

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.85734*

tendencies, abandonment vs overgrazing.

be used for similar situations abroad.

2022/19270201-Ctr. No. 25N BIODIVERS 3-BIOSERV.

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

**Notes/thanks/other declarations**

**Acknowledgements**

**Conflict of interest**

national grassland area, 5815.75 km<sup>2</sup>

#### *Deviation from Grazing Optimum in the Grassland Habitats of Romania Within... DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.85734*

national grassland area, 5815.75 km<sup>2</sup> (17.34%) of grasslands were determined to be situated within N2000 Sites of Community Importance, indicating the substantial presence within these protected areas of agricultural activities that are supported within the rural and regional European development policies. The major impact degraded area—is slightly lower than at the national level by 50.34%, and within the N2000 grasslands abandonment is more important as an impact factor than at the national level. Given the high percentage of N2000 grassland habitats that are prone to major impact and degradation, the use of the lower, conservationoriented optimal LD (of 0.45 LU/ha) is recommendable in their case. In this scenario, although the proportion of the strongly impacted-degraded N2000 is very similar (49.82%), the cause of degradation shifts toward a predominance of overgrazing, implying a need to reduce the livestock density in these areas. The simplest and most straightforward solution therein is to optimize the spatial distribution of the LD, particularly where neighboring TAUs experience opposite tendencies, abandonment vs overgrazing.

As a further approach, the spatial patterns of grazing intensity presented in the study allow to identify the areas where the intensity of agricultural practices is divergent from optimum and particularly where these and nature conservation efforts overlap. The detailed statistics obtained may serve as a basis for the design of optimized grazing and protection measures to prevent grassland degradation. This insight could further support policies aiming at a future conflict-free combination of agricultural production and nature conservation. The developed GIS toolbox can be used for environmental conflict anticipation and subsequent management of the grassland habitats so that both socioeconomic and conservation targets are achieved, being particularly useful in the case of protected areas. Although the analysis is focused on the Romanian grasslands, the model can be easily adapted to be used for similar situations abroad.

## **Acknowledgements**

*Habitats of the World - Biodiversity and Threats*

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

*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* 

Since grassland habitats are very important for both socioeconomical and biodiversity reasons, their continuous degradation is a significant and urgent matter. Of the degradation factors, their use for forage/fodder and particularly the livestock density within the grasslands are highly relevant. This is also true for Romania, which hosts grassland habitats that are among the most extensive and diverse from the EU and where data regarding the impact of livestock density that deviates from the optimal value are not available. By combining environmental conservation data and agricultural statistics within a GIS, this paper assessed the grazing livestock density and the subsequent deviations from the optimal grassland carrying capacity within and outside the N2000 sites in order to highlight the areas with higher risk of impact and degradation and help monitor them. The

lands from Romania. The results indicate that more than half of this area is subject to a major impact and degraded, most of it from overgrazing. Only less than 10% of the permanent grassland area is not impacted by grazing livestock. Of the total

, corresponds to all the permanent grass-

**40**

management [4, 21, 59].

*area at the national level.*

extensive area analyzed, 33529.42 km<sup>2</sup>

**4. Conclusions**

**Figure 6.**

This study was supported by the following projects: SIPOCA22-Developing the administrative capacity of the Ministry of Environment to implement the biodiversity policies; PN-III-P4-ID-PCE-2016-0711 and Ctr. No. 22 PDI-PFE/2018 financed by the Ministry of Research and Innovation through UEFISCDI, and PN2019- 2022/19270201-Ctr. No. 25N BIODIVERS 3-BIOSERV.
