Hay meadows; Arthropods conservation; Mowing regimes; Species diversity; Agri-environmental schemes; Agricultural landscape

Agricultural intensification reduces the biodiversity of European farmlands. Hay meadows represent an important farmland habitat, traditionally used to produce hay. With decreased demand for hay, the continuation of hay harvest is supported by Agri-environmental schemes across European Union. Modern hay harvest techniques differ from traditional manual harvest by removing the grass instantaneously over large land areas. To minimize adverse effects on meadow invertebrates, diversifying harvest operations is time and space is often recommended, but effects of such diversification are little studied. We compared the impact of uniform hay harvests with harvests executed in patchy manners, using four arthropod groups (butterflies, ground beetles, orthopterans and spiders) at productive, species-poor meadows in the Czech Republic.