Contribution of cultural heritage values to steppe conservation on ancient burial mounds of Eurasia.

Civilizations, including ancient ones, have shaped the global ecosystems in many ways through a co-evolution of landscapes and humans. However, the cultural legacies of ancient and lost civilizations are rarely considered in the conservation of the Eurasian steppe biome. Here using a dataset containing more than 1,000 data records on localities, land cover, protection status, and cultural values related to ancient steppic burial mounds (so-called 'kurgans'), we evaluated how these iconic and widespread landmarks can contribute to grassland conservation in the Eurasian steppes, which is one of the most endangered biomes on Earth. Using Bayesian logistic generalized regressions and proportional odds logistic regressions, we aimed to reveal the potential of mounds in preserving grasslands considering landscapes with different levels of land use transformation. We also compared the conservation potential of mounds located inside and outside protected areas and assessed whether the presence of cultural values supports the maintenance of grasslands on them. We revealed that kurgans are of great importance in preserving grasslands in transformed landscapes outside protected areas, where they can act as habitat islands that contribute to habitat conservation and improve habitat connectivity. We found that in addition to the steep slopes that hinder ploughing, the existence of cultural values could almost double the chance of grassland occurrence on kurgans due to the extensive land use related, and the respect of local communities. As the estimated number of steppic mounds is about 600,000 and similar historical features exist in all continents, our results can be upscaled to a global level. Our results also suggest that an integrative socio-ecological approach in conservation might support the positive synergistic effects of conservational, landscape, and cultural values. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.