Traditional farming landscapes have evolved as tightly coupled socioecological systems that support high biodiversity. However, land-use change severely threatens the high biodiversity of these landscapes. Navigating nature conservation in such landscapes requires a thorough understanding of the key drivers underpinning biodiversity. Through empirical research on mammals, birds, butterflies, and plants in a traditional cultural landscape in Romania, we revealed seven hypothesized drivers

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... ating biodiversity conservation. Similar proportions of three main land-use types support the landscape species pool, most likely through habitat connectivity and frequent spillover between land-use types. Landscape complementation and supplementation provide additional habitat for species outside their core habitats. Gradients of woody vegetation cover and gradients in land-cover heterogeneity provide mosaic landscapes with wide ranges of resources. Traditional land-use practices underpin landscape heterogeneity, traditional land-use elements such as wood pastures, and human-carnivore coexistence. Top-down predator control may limit herbivore populations. Lastly, cultural ties between humans and nature have a central influence on people's values and sustainable use of natural resources. Conservation approaches should aim to maintain or restore these socioecological drivers by targeting the heterogeneous character of the forest-farmland mosaic at large scales through "broad and shallow" conservation measures. These large-scale measures should be complemented with "deep and narrow" conservation measures addressing specific land-use types, threats, or species. In both cases, conservation measures should integrate the entire socioecological system, by recognizing and strengthening important links between people and the environment. Citation: Dorresteijn, I., J. Loos, J. Hanspach, and J. Fischer. 2015. Socioecological drivers facilitating biodiversity conservation in traditional farming landscapes. Ecosystem Health and Sustainability 1(8):28. http://dx.