Historical analysis for nature conservation – the past three centuries of the Peszér Forest

Abstract

The Peszér Forest is one of the most valuable sand steppe forest habitat complexes in Hungary. It was once the habitat of valuable species such as the Austrian dragonhead (Dracocephalum austriacum), the Hungarian Marbled White (Melanargia russiae clotho), and the Southern Barbed-wire Bush-cricket (Onconotus servillei). Recent studies on vegetation dynamics and issues raised during conservation planning created the need for a historical analysis of the forest. The Peszér Forest is located in the Northern Kiskunság, northeast of Kunpeszér village, in the Danube–Tisza Interfluve. The undulating sand dune system under the forest creates heterogeneous habitat conditions for the vegetation. Sand grasslands and fens in the clearings of the Peszér Forest are still of outstanding conservation value. The Peszér Forest was part of the Ráckeve estate from the early 18th century until 1945. The forest was managed as a short-rotation coppice forest until the end of the 19th century. The clearings were afforested from the mid-19th century onwards so that the initial ca. 40% coverage of grasslands gradually decreased to 9.2% by the 1990s. Grassland management intensity was much lower in its territory than in the surrounding landscape during the 19^th and 20^th centuries. The diverse combination of heterogeneous habitat conditions, various grassland–forest mosaics, and low grassland management intensity may have resulted in the development and survival of a unique species composition until the end of the 19th century. The main cause of the extinction of some vulnerable species might have been the almost complete disappearance of clearings during the 20^th century. Based on the historical study, the valuable species composition of the Peszér Forest can be sustained in the long term by increasing the proportion of clearings and maintaining the structural diversity of the native forests.