Political systems affect mobile and sessile species diversity--a legacy from the post-WWII period.

ABSTRACT: Political ideologies, policies and economy affect land use which in turn may affect biodiversity patterns and future conservation targets. However, few studies have investigated biodiversity in landscapes with similar physical properties but governed by different political systems. Here we investigate land use and biodiversity patterns, and number and composition of birds and plants, in the borderland of Austria, Slovenia and Hungary. It is a physically uniform landscape but managed differently during the last 70 years as a consequence of the political "map" of Europe after World War I and II. We used a historical map from 1910 and satellite data to delineate land use within three 10-kilometre transects starting from the point where the three countries meet. There was a clear difference be

SUBMITTER: Cousins SA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4118865 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature