Bee Abundance More Than Tripled Thanks to Restoration of Pasture Forest
Pasture forests were a common part of the cultural landscape as early as the Middle Ages. In our region, this type of forest, known as the Pannonian Grove, is today part of the Šúr National Nature Reserve. The area is characterized by the presence of large, old oaks, under which cattle grazed until the mid-20th century. With the declaration of the reserve in 1952, the area received stronger protection, but this also brought a ban on grazing and led to gradual overgrowth of the Pannonian Grove.
A zoologist from the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAS) supervised a student project that studied pollinator communities in the area near Svätý Jur. "Together with my student Laura Beráková from the Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University, we collected 676 bee specimens in 2023 and 2024 using malaise traps. Of these, as many as 547 – over 80% – came from the restored part of the pasture forest," says Marek Semelbauer from the Institute of Zoology of SAS.
Both the restored and unrestored parts of the Pannonian Grove were sampled in the same way to ensure comparability. Thanks to the reintroduction of grazing, the abundance of wild bees increased more than threefold.
"In 2017, a unique restoration of the pasture forest began on part of its original area. Some invasive woody plants were cleared, and a small herd of about 25 cattle was introduced. The restoration was a collaboration between BROZ (a conservation organization), the town of Svätý Jur, the Little Carpathians Protected Landscape Area Administration, and local farmer Vladimír Pažitný. This was the first restoration of a pasture forest in Slovakia," added Marek Semelbauer.
Pasture forests are grazing lands where solitary trees and shrubs are present – unlike grazing in managed or primeval forests. This arrangement is now referred to as a silvopastoral system. From a biodiversity standpoint, these are extremely valuable ecosystems. Scientists are increasingly warning about the decline of wild pollinators, which are crucial for the reproduction of both wild and cultivated plants. The research results show that restoring pasture forests can significantly increase the abundance of wild bees.
Source and contact person: Marek Semelbauer, Institute of Zoology, SAS, Marek.Semelbauer@savba.sk