Exploring the effects of habitat management on grassland biodiversity: A case study from northern Serbia

territory, they are difficult to analyse without extensive support from latest technological tools. With the advent of artificial intelligence and machine learning, these drawbacks have been mitigated, and in this study, we adopted the Decision Tree Machine Learning Model, as we hope that such innovative approaches will soon become the norm in the ecological restoration process and will be used by decision makers in the design of different management strategies. This particular model allows researchers to visualise scientific data and propose explainable relationships between species, which could be further incorporated into management policies. From a conservation perspective, this model was particularly useful in establishing that gener- alist and disturbance-tolerant species are habitat builders, thus confirming their vital role in the restoration of a particular habitat type. Furthermore, this analysis has shown that, although different species occur at different sites, they all have the same ecological preferences, and are well known and easily recognised in the field. Since woody species were found mostly within unmanaged sites (which in this study correspond to forest-steppes) and specialists were recorded only at individual locations (mainly within managed sites, i.e., restored open grass- lands), the decision tree model was appropriate for the analyses, as it allowed us to focus on herbaceous and shrubby species only. Conclusions The present study has confirmed that clear differentiation of grazing areas (in terms of struc-

ture and number of species) remains the most important management measure, as it leads to the formation of the desired habitat types (open grass habitats of the Pannonian biogeographi- cal region). We also conclude that the cattle used for habitat management today are an ade- quate substitute for the former cattle species (Bos primigenius, Bos taurus) that colonised the Pannonian Plain together with humans in the Anthropocene. Therefore, modern management measures should follow this practice, i.e., depending on the type of habitat and the desired out- come, focus should be given to measures that are a modern substitute for former natural activi- ties if these are not feasible. Supporting information S1 Table. List of recorded species at Subotica sand (Serbia). (PDF) Acknowledgments The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of Sandra Čokić Reh, Tamas Vinko, Otto Sze- keres, Ivan Laslo Pajić, and Sasˇa Vujić from Outstanding natural landscape Subotica sands during fieldtrips. We also wish to thank Zsolt Molna´r from Centre for Ecological Research, Institute of Ecology and Botany, Va´cra´to´t, Hungary, for his assistance with botany research, and express our gratitude to Kla´ra Szabados from Institute for Nature Conservation of Vojvo- dina province for her endorsement of this research project. Author Contributions Conceptualization: Dubravka Milić, Milica Rat, Dimitrije Radisˇić. Data curation: Dubravka Milić, Milica Rat, Bojana Bokić, Sonja Mudri-Stojnić, Dusˇan Jakovetić, Boris Radak, Tamara Tot, Dimitrije Radisˇić. Formal analysis: Dubravka Milić. PLOS ONE

Effects of habitat management on biodiversity PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0301391 March 28, 2024 15 / 19