Hemiboreal and boreal wooded pasture and meadow

These are open wooded landscapes of lowlands, hills and mountains of northern Europe, created and maintained to a significant degree through traditional grazing, hay-making and woodland (tree) management, mainly by pollarding. Variation in land use and disturbance regime as well as in their abiotic environment make wooded pastures very diverse and dynamic. The species composition and structure are strongly influenced by the conscious management by the owner/herder. Traditional wooded pastures express part of the local social and economic history and are therefore of considerable cultural significance and are considered as high nature value farmland areas. These are threatened by various factors, most of them related to land-use change (abandonment due to lack of grazing or hay-making, and tree cutting because of CAP rules, e.g. trees with higher than 3 meter crone diameter are not regarded as pasture).

The hemi-boreal and boreal wooded pastures and meadows occur in Fennoscandia and in Estonia. They are grazed mainly by cattle and sheep. The type also includes (particularly in Finland) deciduous forests established after slash-and-burn cultivation, that was a characteristic feature of the former land use in Finland. Wooded meadows were once abundant in northern Europe. The most common type of the wooded meadows are Kratt wood and deciduous leaf meadows. Wooded meadows are among the most diverse habitats of Europe. Some of the current wooded meadows in Estonia are amongst ecosystems with the world record in plant species diversity (up to 76 species of vascular plants on a square meter). However, not all occurrences of the habitat type are particularly rich in species.

Characteristic plant species of the canopy layer include Betula spp., Quercus robur, Fagus sylvatica, Tilia cordata, Alnus incana, Corylus avellana and conifers (Pinus sylvestris, Picea abies). The canopy cover typically varies between 10 and 35 %, and in the field layer meadow-like vegetation is more abundant compared to forest vegetation. Old, large oaks also occur in some pastures. Typically the shrub layer is missing or scarce, but Juniperus communis is rather common. Dominant plant species of the herb layer include graminoids like Agrostis capillaris, Deschampsia spp., Festuca ovina, Luzula campestris and Poa pratensis, and herbs like Alchemilla spp., Fragaria vesca, Geranium sylvaticum and Trifolium repens. The species composition is a mixture of meadow and forest species and therefore includes also many fringe species. Typical forest species are among others Vaccinium myrtillus, Anemone nemorosa and Maianthemum bifolium. Epiphytes may form an important added value, especially if there is oak, ash, elm or maple present among the trees.

Indicators of quality:

High presence and abundance of old-growth, veteran trees; Presence and abundance of epiphytes lichens; Forest regrowth, shrub encroachment, forest succession decrease the quality through the loss of the typical physiognomy; No land-use abandonment (e.g. high enough grazing pressure); No land-use intensification (e.g. too high livestock densities or fertilization); No spread of any non-native species  from planted stock or naturally invasive sources.

Synthesis of Red List assessment

Confidence in the assessment

Pressures and threats