Authors: Napoleone, Francesca; Probo, Massimiliano;Mariotte, Pierre;Ravetto Enri, Simone;Lonati, Michele;Argenti, Giovanni;Burrascano, Sabina;

Semi-natural grasslands are among the species-richest European habitats. Their conservation, however, is not granted by the measures included in the European Union Common Agricultural Policy, and often requires specific conservation projects (e.g., LIFE projects). Here we link agri-environmental payments, grazing regimes and the conservation of the habitat composition and forage provisioning service, accounting also for site conditions.
We sampled 98 plots in 19 farms and unmanaged control areas in five regions across Italy and Switzerland, partly included in the LIFE ShepForBio project. We assessed habitat conservation state and forage yield and quality and fitted piecewise structural equation models to infer the direct and indirect effects of the payments.
Payments did not affect stocking rates, but increased the evenness of grazing intensity, and, in turn, habitat composition and functions. Site conditions had relevant influence, especially elevation, soil carbonates and slopes. Agri-environmental payments contributed to maintain grazing management and in turn to preserve the habitat biodiversity and functions. However, the effectiveness of payments largely depended on the scale of measures’ implementation. Farm-level grazing contracts and periodic field monitoring similar to the activities usually implemented in conservation projects would allow to influence the fine-scale grazing intensity and support a result-oriented approach.