European permanent grasslands (PG) vary widely in their environment, agricultural management and botanical composition. This diversity affects their potential for delivering ecosystem services, shapes the opportunities and challenges of their agricultural management, and determines the threats they face. This Atlas aims to capture this diversity, using a typology that is based on grassland management. The typology distinguishes 18 PG types. Each type is described in a brief portrait and illustrated with one or more case studies from across Europe.
All portraits share the same structure. The PG type is described in terms of its distribution across Europe, its agricultural management, the character of its vegetation, and the threats it faces. A second paragraph summarises the potential of each PG type to deliver ecosystem services. These descriptions are supplemented by a map and a diagram quantifying the average delivery of each specific ecosystem service.
Each type is described in a brief portrait and illustrated with one or more case studies from across Europe. Cases can be accessed directly by clicking on the map.
Below you find separate links to all 18 portraits and their cases. A complete pdf with all portraits can be downloaded here.
