Changing European meadows: A comparative study on the historical development of meadow use and definitions across eight countries

Hay meadows have played a crucial role in European agricultural history, evolving from leaf collection to scythe-mown grasslands integral to manure-based arable farming systems. While once widespread, traditional meadows have largely been replaced by fodder crops and are now valued primarily for their biodiversity. This paper examines the historical development and shifting definitions of hay meadows across eight European countries – Norway, Sweden, Estonia, Latvia, Poland, Switzerland, Italy, and Spain – highlighting how linguistic, ecological, and socio-political factors have shaped their meaning and use over time. Drawing on historical sources, national dictionaries, and agricultural literature, it traces regional trajectories from the Iron Age to the present. The study reveals a general trend towards broader, less management-specific definitions, reflecting a shift from practice-based agricultural functions to vegetation-focused and conservation-oriented perspectives, albeit with important regional variation. This semantic shift risks obscuring the management processes underpinning meadow biodiversity and contributes to a growing decoupling from agricultural systems. Meadows today increasingly form part of a policy-driven landscape, where their persistence depends on subsidies rather than production, highlighting the need for policies that prioritise management practices and account for regional historical legacies.