Abstract ID: 3.11854 | Accepted as Poster | Poster | TBA | TBA

LIVEMOUNT tackles the nexus of grazing-biodiversity-climate change in Mediterranean mountains. In compliance with the European Green Deal, the project contributes to sustainable livestock farming, through the maintenance of biodiversity and ecosystem function. We sampled 32 sites along a gradient of pasture quality (LAI-Leaf Area Index) and humidity (NDII-mean Normalized Difference Infrared Moisture Index) in 32 mountainous pastures (>1500m asl) across nine mountains (Natura 2000 network) of Pindos Mountain Range in Greece. We present here the methods employed and preliminary results obtained. We adopted a nested sampling, including a butterfly transect (300 m X 5 m) and four quadrats (5 m X 5 m) along it (75-100 m distance). Sampling took place in June 2024 (August for Orthoptera) and was repeated three times (June-August) for butterflies and microhabitat parameters. To assess biodiversity patterns, we recorded (i) 14 microhabitat parameters of topography, soil cover, vegetation structure and flowerheads(128 quadrats), (ii) 227 vascular plant taxa (2680 individuals) using the Braun Blanquet method (128 quadrats), (iii) 104 butterfly species (96 Pollard transects) out of which four protected species, and (iv) 47 Orthoptera species, out of which six red-listed/endemic species (128 quadrats). To assess ecosystem function, we measured (v) eleven soil parameters related to the physico-chemical properties and soil bulk density by collecting four soil samples per transect (0-20cm depth), (vi) the photosynthetic efficiency, the gas exchange capacity and the ecophysiological stress in 956 individuals of 49 plant species (74 quadrats) (vii) 408 functional traits of 46 dominant plant species (64 quadrats), and (viii) the above-ground biomass in three 50cmX50cm quadrats per plot (384 samples along all transects) by clipping vegetation at 1-2 cm height above ground to estimate the forage material and the grazing capacity of each site. At each site, we assessed the current stocking rate through semi-structured interviews with 55 livestock farmers, with values ranging from 0.0 to 1.8 Livestock Units per hectare. We will proceed in a combinative analysis of the above datasets to define the optimal range of stocking rate ensuring both biodiversity and ecosystem function maintenance and livestock farming sustainability under climate change. This study was funded by H.F.R.I.