Authors: Balazs, Deak; Valkó, Orsolya;

Due to the intensive land transformation activities during the past centuries, grassland habitats suffered a dramatic area loss, the remaining fragmented stands became isolated and often degraded due to intensification or abandonment. In continental Eurasia the millennia-old burial mounds called ‘kurgans’ are among the most widespread manmade landmarks, which besides verges and river balks can also maintain remnants of grassland biodiversity. By using a series of case studies, we aim to reveal the conservation role of kurgans and the ecological processes and socio-economic factors that support their biodiversity potential. Based on a continental-scale survey we revealed that 61.5% of kurgans situated outside protected areas held grassland vegetation. Focusing on Central-Europe we showed that kurgans held similarly high diversity of grassland specialist plant and arthropod taxa inside and outside protected areas, thus functioned as safe havens. We showed that in Central- and South-Europe high plant diversity on kurgans was supported by high environmental heterogeneity of the mounds enhancing species co-existence within a small area and 'island-specific' plant traits supporting persistence in habitat islands. Cultural, historical and religious values associated with kurgans also had a considerable role in the maintenance of grassland vegetation by suppressing intensive land use and ensuring extensive management.