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

Materials and methods The data for testing the study hypotheses was gathered from the information sources on the state of nature in the Pannonian biogeographical region over a 300-year period. Plants, insect pollinators (wild bees and hoverflies), and birds were selected as model organisms, with the view that, while all taxa differ greatly in their resource use and mobility, they are equally important for the sustainability of grassland ecosystems [26]. Study area Subotica Sands which served as the study site is located in the far north of the Republic of Ser- bia, along the state border with Hungary (Fig 1). It is the southernmost part of sandy areas between the Danube and Tisa rivers [27] characterised by forest-steppes as the main native Fig 1. Location of the study area and specific sites (blue square− mowing, black square − control, red square −grazing) within the Subotica Sands (Serbia). Land-use data were obtained from Copernicus Land Monitoring Service (https://land.copernicus.eu/). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0301391.g001 PLOS ONE Effects of habitat management on biodiversity PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0301391 March 28, 2024 3 / 19