Maes, Joachim... et. al.-- 10 pages, 2 figures, 3 tables, supplementary material https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoser.2015.10.023In the EU, the mapping and assessment of ecosystems and their services, abbreviated to MAES, is seen as a key action for the advancement of biodiversity objectives, and also to inform the development and implementation of related policies on water, climate, agriculture, forest, marine and regional planning. In this study, we present the development of an analytical framework which ensures that consistent approaches are used throughout the EU. It is framed by a broad set of key policy questions and structured around a conceptual framework that links human societies and their well-being with the environment. Next, this framework is tested through four thematic pilot studies, including stakeholders and experts working at different scales and governance levels, which contributed indicators to assess the state of ecosystem services. Indicators were scored according to different criteria and assorted per ecosystem type and ecosystem services using the common international classification of ecosystem services (CICES) as typology. We concluded that there is potential to develop a first EU wide ecosystem assessment on the basis of existing data if they are combined in a creative way. However, substantial data gaps remain to be filled before a fully integrated and complete ecosystem assessment can be carried outBalint Czúcz was supported by the Bolyai Grant of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences under grant number BO/00138/12/8Peer Reviewe

A list of plant species used for food in Hungary and among Hungarian ethnic groups of the Carpathian Basin during the 19th and 20th centuries was compiled from 71 ethnographic and ethnobotanical sources and a survey among contemporary Hungarian botanists. Species used as food, spice, beverage or occasional snacks were collected. Sources mention 236 plant species belonging to 68 families. Most wild fleshy fruits (mostly Rosa, Rubus, Cornus, Ribes, Vaccinium spp.), dry fruits and seeds (Fagus, Quercus, Corylus, Castanea, Trapa spp.), several green vegetables (e.g. Rumex, Urtica, Humulus, Chenopodiaceae spp., Ranunculus ficaria), bulbs and tubers (Lathyrus tuberosus, Helianthus tuberosus, Chaerophyllum bulbosum, Allium spp.) used for food in Europe, are also known to be consumed in Hungary. A characteristic feature of Hungarian plant use was the mass consumption of the underground parts of several marsh (e.g. Typha, Phragmites, Sagittaria, Alisma, Butomus, Bolboschoenus spp., as well as the endemic Armoracia macrocarpa) and steppe species (e.g. Crambe tataria, Rumex pseudonatronatus). Consuming wild food plants is still important among Hungarians living in Transylvania: even nowadays more than 40 species are gathered and used at some locations.

Abandoned agricultural fields are potential sites for the regeneration of natural vegetation, and land abandonment is a widespread phenomenon in the developed world. We studied the vegetation of 161 old-fields in the Kiskunság, central Hungary. Old-fields were categorized into three age groups based on historical aerial photographs: fields abandoned 1–7, 8–20, and 21–57 years ago. Old-field vegetation was compared to potential target communities (open and closed grassland and forest) based on the richness and cover of predefined species groups (all species, neophytes, characteristic species of natural habitats). In general, the medium- and old-aged old-fields only slightly differed from each other, and were more similar to open natural grasslands than to closed ones, although they occupied environments that were intermediate between open and closed grasslands. Forest species establishment was limited in the old-fields; therefore, forest regeneration seems to be unlikely on old-fields at a decadal time scale. The dominance of alien species only slightly declined with old-field age and was much higher than in natural grasslands. The finding that open grassland communities recovered on these old-field sites, but were accompanied by stable alien components, suggests that these communities could be regarded as a new combination of species, or novel communities, with a considerably high conservation value.