De moeilijke balans tussen duinbeheer en bescherming van de Harkwesp: Valt begrazing in de duinen te verzoenen met het behoud van ongewervelden?
Batsleer, F.; Maes, D.; Van Uytvanck, J.; Provoost, S.; Lamaire, J.; Bonte, D. (2021). De moeilijke balans tussen duinbeheer en bescherming van de Harkwesp: Valt begrazing in de duinen te verzoenen met het behoud van ongewervelden? Natuur.Focus 20(3): 100-108
Large-scale sand dynamics are generally lacking in North-Western European dunes. Dune management in nature areas is therefore focused on restoration of typical habitat types and conservation of dune-specific species. Grazing with large herbivores is a crucial tool to protect and create dynamic open dune landscapes. In an altered landscape (urbanisation, fragmentation, fixated and shrub-dominated dunes, dikes, water extraction, etc.) the impact of grazers is expected to be altered compared to the historical agro-pastoral use. Especially dune-specific arthropods are vulnerable to grazing impacts, an often neglected species group in nature management, but an important one for typical biodiversity of dynamic dunes. As such disturbance by grazers cannot be used as an alternative for natural wind dynamics and needs to be reconciled with arthropod conservation in the current landscape context. We use the digger wasp Bembix rostrata, a progressive provisioner with a high level of site fidelity, as an example to illustrate this contradiction and conceive possible solutions. Grey dunes are the ideal habitat of this species. We propose the framework of a landscape mosaic to rotate grazers, preferably sheep, in time and in space to ensure open sand areas are proactively created and source populations and expansion areas are sustained
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