Conflicts between biodiversity conservation and other human activities are intensifying as a result of growing pressure on natural resources and concomitant demands by some for greater conservation. ...Approaches to reducing conflicts are increasingly focusing on engaging stakeholders in processes that are perceived as fair, i.e. independent and where stakeholders have influence, and which in turn can generate trust between stakeholders. Hitherto, there has been limited empirical research supporting the claim that conservation conflicts can be reduced by building trust through fair participation. Using quantitative and qualitative empirical data from three case studies, we analysed whether fair participation processes were directly related to conflict resolution and if this relationship was mediated by trust. Our research provided empirical quantitative evidence that increased trust through fair processes makes conflict resolution more likely. The qualitative analysis revealed caveats to this finding, including the different understandings of the definition of conflict by stakeholders, the complex nature of trust in conservation conflicts where most stakeholders have high levels of ecological knowledge, and the atypical nature (i.e. presence of a local champion) of one of the case studies. Building and maintaining trust with landowners and managers may be central to conserving biodiversity. Such trust-building requires effort and resources, opportunities for appropriate dialogue between stakeholders and a willingness to share power in terms of knowledge and policy implementation, especially when local stakeholders are dependent on and knowledgeable about natural resources.
•Bird assemblages of oak-dominated forests of the Western Carpathians were compared.•Overall bird diversity was found to be similar in managed and protected stands.•Shelterwood systems sustained the ...overall biodiversity of birds.•Species in annex 1 of the Birds Directive are mostly restricted to nature reserves.•Unmanaged oak-dominated forests are important for Carpathian bird diversity.
Forest management practices have varying impacts on biodiversity because the treatments and their outcomes do not always reflect the natural processes that maintain biodiversity. These management activities can be assessed using indicator species, among which birds are most frequently used. In 2018 we compared bird assemblages in oak (Quercus spp.)-dominated forests with admixtures of European beech (Fagus sylvatica), hereafter referred to as oak-beech forests, between managed and natural forest stands on opposite sides of the Carpathian range (south-facing in Slovakia and north-facing in Poland). The aim was to quantify and model the relationships between the quantitative parameters of bird assemblages and the main habitat parameters, as influenced by differing intensities of forest management. The point-count method with limited distance was applied to census birds (N = 100). Overall forest bird assemblages were found to be similar in respect to diversity indexes in managed and protected areas, as well as between southern and northern slopes of the Western Carpathian range, but all these types of forest differed in respect to bird species composition. However, both geographic location and management intensity, altogether with forest complexity contributed the mostly in explanation of bird diversity. The greatest differences were recorded for rare species, particularly those annexed in the Birds Directive of the European Union (mainly woodpeckers and flycatchers), as these birds were found either exclusively or in much greater numbers in nature reserves. Management intensity, forest complexity, and topography best explained the diversity of rare birds. Silvicultural systems applied in management of the Carpathian oak-beech forests, particularly the shelterwood system, seem to be sufficient for the preservation of overall bird diversity. However, decreased forest fragmentation and increased deadwood amounts are necessary measures to provide more close-to-nature stand structures, which will help support higher diversity of most bird species associated with mature forests. Because the oak-beech forests comprises only about 15% of the total forest area in the Western Carpathians, creating a network of natural or close-to-nature forest patches is recommended for the conservation of forest birds (and whole forest communities), including species annexed in the Birds Directive. Conservation priorities should be focused mainly in areas of harsh topography, where reduced wood production in these forests would have a less detrimental effect on the local forestry communities. These actions should also greatly improve the nature conservation system in the Carpathians and more generally throughout Central Europe.
Hydropower is currently experiencing a boom in southeast Europe. For Romania, the number of hydropower plants is estimated to be between 545 and 674, but little has been published about their ...environmental impact. We provide the first overview of the geographical distribution of hydropower plants in Romania, supplemented by a review of current knowledge about their environmental impact, and present case study evidence on the effects of small hydropower plants on fish in headwater streams of the Carpathian Mountains.
We show that 49% of the documented 545 hydropower plants in Romania are located in Natura 2000 or other protected areas, 5% are located in water bodies with ‘very good’ ecological status, and another 12% in water bodies with ‘good’ ecological status and ‘very good’ hydromorphological status according to the EU Water Framework Directive. Second, we demonstrate that hydropower plants significantly impact fish populations in several ways, both in upstream and downstream reaches, e.g. by water abstraction, dam construction and other hydromorphological alterations. Following the construction of hydropower plants in headwater streams, trout (Salmo trutta fario) and bullhead (Cottus gobio) populations often disappeared completely, and only remained in 38% of the stream reaches either upstream or downstream of the respective hydropower plants.
In conclusion, the significant environmental impacts of each individual hydropower plant combined with the large number of them as well as the relative lack of effort to mitigate environmental impacts together represent a significant threat to aquatic biodiversity in Romania. The impacts exerted by hydropower plants are often unjustifiable by public interest according to EU directives, as small hydropower plants account for only around 3% of Romania's total electricity production. Better availability and access to environmental monitoring data are needed, as this would greatly support the development of more integrative management approaches to Romanian rivers.
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•The first map of the 545 known hydropower plants in Romania.•49% of Romanian HPPs are located in Natura 2000 and other nature protection areas.•Data from 32 hydropower plants sheds light on the impacts of hydropower plants on fish communities.•The many small HPPs severely threaten aquatic biodiversity in Romania, while they produce only c. 3% of total electricity.
Invasive and expansive plant species are considered a threat to natural biodiversity because of their high adaptability and low habitat requirements. Species investigated in this research, including ...Solidago spp., Calamagrostis epigejos, and Rubus spp., are successfully displacing native vegetation and claiming new areas, which in turn severely decreases natural ecosystem richness, as they rapidly encroach on protected areas (e.g., Natura 2000 habitats). Because of the damage caused, the European Union (EU) has committed all its member countries to monitor biodiversity. In this paper we compared two machine learning algorithms, Support Vector Machine (SVM) and Random Forest (RF), to identify Solidago spp., Calamagrostis epigejos, and Rubus spp. on HySpex hyperspectral aerial images. SVM and RF are reliable and well-known classifiers that achieve satisfactory results in the literature. Data sets containing 30, 50, 100, 200, and 300 pixels per class in the training data set were used to train SVM and RF classifiers. The classifications were performed on 430-spectral bands and on the most informative 30 bands extracted using the Minimum Noise Fraction (MNF) transformation. As a result, maps of the spatial distribution of analyzed species were achieved; high accuracies were observed for all data sets and classifiers (an average F1 score above 0.78). The highest accuracies were obtained using 30 MNF bands and 300 sample pixels per class in the training data set (average F1 score > 0.9). Lower training data set sample sizes resulted in decreased average F1 scores, up to 13 percentage points in the case of 30-pixel samples per class.
The Mediterranean basin is a global hotspot of biological diversity and the most rich biodiversity region in Europe. Nevertheless, climate-driven habitat loss is one of the most serious concerns for ...biodiversity conservation in this region. We assess Mediterranean habitat loss and conversion into arid habitat under scenarios of climate change and evaluate protected areas, including Natura 2000 sites, which will be affected by these changes. We mapped shifts of Mediterranean and arid domains using four bias-corrected simulations from Regional Climate Models for two emission scenarios over this century, disaggregated to a 1 km grid size. Our results indicate that by the end of the century the Euro-Mediterranean domain is projected to shift into other climatic domains by an area equivalent to 53–121% of its current size. However it is projected to lose 11–25% of its current extent, which represents an area close to the size of Greece and Portugal combined. The loss is entirely due to shifts of the arid domain. Additionally, our results indicate that the extent of the arid domain is projected to increase by 228–450% of its current size in the European region. The shrinking of the current Euro-Mediterranean domain is projected to affect 15–23% of the Mediterranean Natura 2000 sites, and the loss in these sites is projected at 13–30% of its current area. Loss is projected to occur in central and southern areas of the Iberian Peninsula, southern Italy and the island of Sicily, south-eastern Greece, Cyprus, Malta and central Turkey. Computed changes in projected climatic parameters indicate that current areas of the Euro-Mediterranean domain will be hotter and drier. Temperature increase and precipitation decrease are projected to be more marked in the summer half of the year. As early as in the 2020s annual temperature is projected to increase by 0.9–1.4 °C with respect to the present reference climate, reaching an increase of 2.2–3.6 °C by the end of the century. By this period, summer precipitation is projected to decrease by 24–46% and annual precipitation by 14–23%. We provide insight into several aspects of adaptation and management of Mediterranean protected areas. A proactive approach taking into consideration landscape connectivity and the concomitant threats triggered by climate change is a priority. Proactive adaptation and management promoting investments in Green Infrastructure and a denser network of interconnected protected areas are necessary instruments for preserving Mediterranean biodiversity from the threats of habitat loss.
•The Mediterranean climate domain is projected to loss 11–25% of its current extent.•Projected losses of the Mediterranean climate are due to shifts of the arid domain.•The Mediterranean domain is projected to shift by 53–121% of its current size.•These changes are projected to affect 15–23% of the Mediterranean Natura 2000 sites.
Ecology Letters (2011) 14: 484–492
Europe has the world’s most extensive network of conservation areas. Conservation areas are selected without taking into account the effects of climate change. How ...effectively would such areas conserve biodiversity under climate change? We assess the effectiveness of protected areas and the Natura 2000 network in conserving a large proportion of European plant and terrestrial vertebrate species under climate change. We found that by 2080, 58 ± 2.6% of the species would lose suitable climate in protected areas, whereas losses affected 63 ± 2.1% of the species of European concern occurring in Natura 2000 areas. Protected areas are expected to retain climatic suitability for species better than unprotected areas (P < 0.001), but Natura 2000 areas retain climate suitability for species no better and sometimes less effectively than unprotected areas. The risk is high that ongoing efforts to conserve Europe’s biodiversity are jeopardized by climate change. New policies are required to avert this risk.
With growing global demand for food, the agriculture sector worldwide is under pressure to intensify and expand, risking acceleration of existing negative biodiversity impacts. Agriculture is the ...dominant source of ammonia (NH3) emissions, which can impact biodiversity directly through dry deposition as NH3 and by wet deposition following conversion to ammonium (NH4) in the atmosphere. Nitrogen deposition is one of the leading causes of global decline in biodiversity alongside changing land use and climate. Natura 2000 sites which are intended to protect important habitats and species across Europe, require strict levels of protection to ensure designated features achieve favourable conservation status. Many of these sites are nitrogen-limited, and/or contain sensitive species such as lichens or mosses. This project carried out ambient NH3 monitoring on selected Irish Natura 2000 sites, in order to establish potential impacts from agricultural NH3. Monitoring on twelve Natura 2000 sites observed concentrations ranging from 0.47 to 4.59 μg NH3 m−3, from which dry deposition was calculated to be 1.22–11.92 kg N ha−1 yr−1. European Monitoring and Evaluation Programme (EMEP) was used to quantify wet deposited NH4 and nitrogen oxides (NOx), in addition to dry deposited NOx on monitored sites. Estimated total nitrogen deposition ranged between 5.93 and 17.78 kg N ha−1 yr−1. On average across all monitored sites, deposition was comprised of 50.4%, 31.7%, 7.5%, and 10.3% dry NH3, wet NH4, dry NOx and wet NOx respectively. Implications for Irish agriculture are discussed in the light of both this monitoring and the European Commission Dutch Nitrogen Case (C 293/17 & C 294/17), highlighting a number of recommendations to aid compliance with the EU Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC).
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•Ambient ammonia across twelve Natura 2000 sites was 0.47–4.59 μg NH3 m−3.•Nitrogen deposition across twelve Natura 2000 sites was 5.93–17.78 kg N ha−1 yr−1.•Average nitrogen deposition comprised of 50.4% dry NH3 & 31.7% wet NH4.•Average nitrogen deposition comprised of 7.5% dry NOx & 10.3% wet NOx.•Agriculture is the primary source of biodiversity impacts from the more harmful NH3.
This study presents the results of seafloor habitat identification and mapping of a NE Atlantic deep seamount. An “assemble first, predict later” approach has been followed to identify and map the ...benthic habitats of the Galicia Bank (NW Iberian). Biotic patterns inferred from the survey data have been used to drive the definition of benthic assemblages using multivariate tools. Eight assemblages, four hard substrates and four sedimentary ones, have been described from a matrix of structural species. Distribution of these assemblages was correlated with environmental factors (multibeam and backscatter data) using binomial GAMs. Finally, the distribution model of each assemblage was applied to produce continuous maps and pooled in a final map with the distribution of the main benthic habitats. Depth and substrate type are key factors when determining soft bottom communities, whereas rocky habitat distribution is mainly explained by rock slope and orientation. Enrichment by northern water masses (LSW) arriving to GB and possible zooplankton biomass increase at vertical-steep walls by “bottom trapping” can explain the higher diversity of habitat providing filter-feeders at slope rocky breaks. These results concerning vulnerable species and habitats, such as Lophelia and Madrepora communities and black and bamboo coral aggregations were the basis of the Spanish proposal of inclusion within the Natura 2000 network. The aim of the present study was to establish the scientific criteria needed for managing and protecting those environmental values.
•Eight habitats identified and mapped in the Galicia Bank, four in hard substrates and four in sedimentary ones,•Depth, substrate type and water masses are key factors determining soft bottom habitats.•Rocky habitat distribution is mainly explained by rock slope and orientation.•Enrichment by (LSW and zooplankton bottom trapping explain the habitat providing filter-feeders diversity at slope rocky breaks.•Well developed vulnerable habitats of Lophelia and Madrepora colonies, black and bamboo coral and large sponge aggregations.
Protected areas (PAs) are intended to provide native biodiversity and habitats with a refuge against the impacts of global change, particularly acting as natural filters against biological invasions. ...In practice, however, it is unknown how effective PAs will be in shielding native species from invasions under projected climate change. Here, we investigate the current and future potential distributions of 100 of the most invasive terrestrial, freshwater, and marine species in Europe. We use this information to evaluate the combined threat posed by climate change and invasions to existing PAs and the most susceptible species they shelter. We found that only a quarter of Europe's marine and terrestrial areas protected over the last 100 years have been colonized by any of the invaders investigated, despite offering climatically suitable conditions for invasion. In addition, hotspots of invasive species and the most susceptible native species to their establishment do not match at large continental scales. Furthermore, the predicted richness of invaders is 11%–18% significantly lower inside PAs than outside them. Invasive species are rare in long‐established national parks and nature reserves, which are actively protected and often located in remote and pristine regions with very low human density. In contrast, the richness of invasive species is high in the more recently designated Natura 2000 sites, which are subject to high human accessibility. This situation may change in the future, since our models anticipate important shifts in species ranges toward the north and east of Europe at unprecedented rates of 14–55 km/decade, depending on taxonomic group and scenario. This may seriously compromise the conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem services. This study is the first comprehensive assessment of the resistance that PAs provide against biological invasions and climate change on a continental scale and illustrates their strategic value in safeguarding native biodiversity.
Protected areas are championed as refugia for native biodiversity and habitats, but we do not know how effective they are in shielding native taxa from biological invasions under projected climate change.
Here, we found that only a quarter of Europe's marine and terrestrial areas protected over the last 100 years have been colonized by 100 of the worst terrestrial, freshwater, and marine invaders, with long‐established areas showing the lowest richness of invaders (A).
This situation may change in the future, as models anticipate a shift in species distribution toward the north and east of Europe in response to climate change (B).
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