Natura 2000 (N2k) is a multinational and coordinated conservation network designated to support the long-term survival of Europe's most valuable species and habitats. It is the key conservation tool ...in the European Union. We reviewed 510 peer-reviewed publications (period 1998–2014) focusing on ecological aspects of N2k, with the aims of identifying key research gaps and proposing future research priorities for improved conservation success. We categorized the articles by spatial scale, biogeographical regions, taxonomic groups, habitat types, and the analytical methods used. The majority of studies were performed in single N2k sites or at the regional level within countries. The Mediterranean region had the greatest number of publications and the terrestrial Black Sea, Macaronesia, Pannonian and Steppic regions were overrepresented in relation to their total area and to the area of N2k sites that they comprised. Grasslands, freshwater and wetland habitats were overrepresented in comparison to their area within N2k. Plants were the most commonly studied taxonomic group and quantitative empirical studies dominated. Future N2k research should address knowledge gaps by directing more efforts towards: 1) the Boreal region, 2) alpine, agricultural, forest and marine habitats, and 3) underrepresented taxonomic groups such as reptiles, amphibians, lichens and fungi. For enhanced evaluation and realization of the conservation potential of N2k, more studies will need to encompass large spatial scales and utilize modelling approaches to effectively address future climate and land-use changes.
•We conducted a review of ecological research on Natura 2000 network.•Regional or single-site studies, and those from the Mediterranean region dominate.•Research gaps include alpine, agricultural, forest and marine habitats.•Underrepresented were reptiles, amphibians, lichens, fungi and Boreal region.•Future studies should focus on larger spatial scales and use modelling approaches.
The last report on the State of the Nature in the European Union (EU), a periodic monitoring exercise at continental scale, shows that biodiversity continues to decline, despite the efforts done in ...the last decades. Urgent action is, therefore, needed to reverse this trend. Effective conservation must rely on careful planning and strategic investment of limited resources to maximise efficiency of conservation efforts.
Here, we carry out a gap analysis to identify pressures and threats with no reported management action over the period 2013–2018 and identify priorities to close this gap. We use information from the State of Nature report to identify combinations of species/habitats × pressures/threats affecting them with no management action reported. We finally prioritise the selection of pressures and threats to be addressed for all species and habitats collectively.
We found that 2/3 of all combinations of species/habitat × pressure/threat did not have management actions reported. Management gaps were especially large for birds, amphibians and reptiles and marine bioregions in northern EU. This management gap affects 98 % of Natura 2000 sites, with at least one species/habitat with no management action reported for one or more pressures/threats. The spatial prioritisation analyses showed that all species and habitats could benefit collectively from a reduction in 30 % of pressures/threats incidence by targeting a small proportion of pressures/threats and Natura 2000 sites.
The prioritisation approach that we demonstrate here could be valuable to plan investment to close the current management gap and inform conservation across the EU.
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The identification of the onset of prenuptial migration is fundamental in defining the closing date of the hunting season in compliance with the EU Birds Directive. Here, we describe the process and ...country‐by‐country approach currently followed by the European Commission to define the onset of prenuptial migration for each huntable bird species and Member State, highlighting the resulting discrepancies and inconsistencies in the starting dates of prenuptial migration between neighbouring countries. To overcome these issues, we propose the adoption of a flyway approach with a shared, analytically and biologically sound method for defining the onset of migration.
The Natura 2000 (N2k) is a network of protected areas, established to implement the Birds and the Habitats Directives of the European Union (EU) with the goal of conservation irrespective of national ...boundaries. We provide the first assessment of the whole terrestrial N2k using spatial prioritizations, and high-resolution vertebrate species distribution data. First, we quantified species' representation in the network, and compared it against outcomes of hypothetical optimal planning scenarios at the EU, member state, and biogeographical levels. Second, we examined the spatial configuration of N2k sites and same-sized hypothetical top priority sites based on the three planning scenarios. We found that N2k covered all vertebrate directive species, and the coverage was significantly better than with a random allocation of sites. We observed substantial differences in representation between taxa, followed by the fact that N2k succeeded better in covering threatened and directive species than non-directive species. The current species representation in N2k was closer to optimal allocations done at member states' or biogeographical levels than the EU-wide allocation. Furthermore, the N2k sites overlapped more with the EU-wide allocation and they were more evenly distributed across the EU compared to sites in all hypothetical optimal allocations. Finally, we found that the biogeographical scenario covered well the ranges of habitats directive species, following the biogeographical approach taken by the EU in the Habitats Directive. Our results show that despite N2k being moderately successful, there is substantial effectiveness to be gained from member state collaboration via potential expansions or complementary conservation policies.
•We assess the terrestrial Natura 2000 (N2k) network by spatial prioritizations.•N2k covers on average 33.6% of the ranges of vertebrate directive species.•N2k covers less of directive species' ranges than optimal allocation at the EU level.•Species representation in N2k reflects optimal allocation done at member state level.•N2k, EU-wide and national spatial priorities for vertebrates coincide only partially.
Protected areas are important to support biodiversity and endangered species. However, they are often too small to fulfill the resource requirements of many large and mobile wildlife species, ...especially when congregating in large numbers. In such cases, wildlife may overflow onto surrounding human-dominated land and cause impacts. The aim of the EU Natura 2000 network is to increase supranational connectivity between protected areas for migratory and protected species such as the common crane (Grus grus). The crane population along the Western European flyway has been increasing rapidly in recent decades, with peaks of 200,000 cranes at specific Natura 2000 sites. We studied 32 GPS-tagged cranes over four migration periods, to test the use of the network by cranes and the potential for impacts on adjacent farmland. During the nighttime, the probability that roosting cranes were located on Natura 2000 sites was 97%. During daytime, the probability of foraging cranes being located on arable land was 68%. The probability of foraging cranes occurring on agricultural fields close to Natura 2000 sites decreased with distance. Such foraging patterns may fuel conflicts between conservation and agricultural objectives. To resolve these conflicts we suggest improved cross-boundary collaboration and policy development among involved states, combined with stakeholder participation to implement effective compensation and damage prevention strategies which are focused upon networks of protected areas.
•Protection of important habitats is a common measure to preserve biodiversity.•We show that the Natura 2000 network successfully targets cranes for night roost.•During daytime cranes spill over to farmland surrounding the Natura 2000 sites.•These patterns may fuel conflicts between conservation and agricultural objectives.•Enhanced stakeholder involvement is suggested to reduce crop damage and conflicts.
The European Union has made extensive biodiversity conservation efforts with the Habitats and Birds Directives and with the establishment of the Natura 2000 network of protected areas, one of the ...largest networks of conservation areas worldwide. We performed a gap analysis of the entire Natura 2000 system plus national protected areas and all terrestrial vertebrates (freshwater fish excluded). We also evaluated the level of connectivity of both systems, providing therefore a first estimate of the functionality of the Natura 2000 system as an effective network of protected areas. Together national protected areas and the Natura 2000 network covered more than one‐third of the European Union. National protected areas did not offer protection to 13 total gap species (i.e., species not covered by any protected area) or to almost 300 partial gap species (i.e., species whose representation target is not met). Together the Natura 2000 network and national protected areas left 1 total gap species and 121 partial gap species unprotected. The terrestrial vertebrates listed in the Habitats and Birds Directives were relatively well covered (especially birds), and overall connectivity was improved considerably by Natura 2000 sites that act as stepping stones between national protected areas. Overall, we found that the Natura 2000 network represents at continental level an important network of protected areas that acts as a good complement to existing national protected areas. However, a number of problems remain that are mainly linked to the criteria used to list the species in the Habitats and Birds Directives. The European Commission initiated in 2014 a process aimed at assessing the importance of the Birds and Habitats Directives for biodiversity conservation. Our results contribute to this assessment and suggest the system is largely effective for terrestrial vertebrates but would benefit from further updating of the species lists and field management.
Riverine ecosystems are among the most impacted ecosystems worldwide since they are exposed to multiple stressors. Land Use/Land Cover (LULC) changes is the main human imprint on those ecosystems ...whose spatiotemporal habitat destructions pose a threat to biodiversity, ecosystem integrity and ecological processes. The most important statutory instruments for riverine ecosystem protection, conservation and restoration in the European Union are the Water Framework Directive (WFD) and the Habitats and Birds Directive (HBDs). In this study, we develop a methodological framework to spatially link the ecological integrity of river sub-basins with the protected areas therein, taking into account the influence of land use as expressed in the WFD. We combined a multi-criteria evaluation approach using six of the most frequently applied criteria for conservation evaluation to assess river basin integrity (RBI) index at the sub-basin level, and used as a proxy for functional connectivity categories. In addition, we used the distance of every sub-basin from the surrounding Natura 2000 sites as a measure of structural connectivity. Using ecological network design principles (i.e. Core areas; Corridors; Stepping Stones; Buffer areas; and Restoration areas), we incorporated the two aspects of connectivity into a framework, which links river management at the basin level with the site level assessment as dictated by the HBDs. We implemented this framework in a Mediterranean river basin located in Southern Tuscany, which is part of the Natura 2000 network. Six of the sub-basins (20%) have high functional connectivity, 14 sub-basins (47%) medium and 10 sub-basins (33%) low functional connectivity. Structural connectivity of the study area followed the same tendency as that of functional connectivity, with the majority of the sub-basins having medium connectivity (57%; 17 sub-basins), and 23% (7 sub-basins) and 20% (6 sub-basins) high and low structural connectivity respectively. As a result, six of the sub-basins were characterised as corridor areas while the majority of the sub-basins were identified as buffer areas (57%). Two sub-basins were characterised restoration areas and one as stepping stone (SS). Our approach is one of many plausible ecological networks, which although analytically simple, can be enriched with data on species and stakeholders’ involvement.
•An integrated framework can link spatially the WFD with HBDs.•Ecological network design may build resilience at the river basin level.•Resilient riverscapes increase coherence of protected areas network.•HBDs and WFD may act complementary on river basin management.
The Natura 2000 (N2K) protected area (PA) network is a crucial tool to limit biodiversity loss in Europe. Despite covering 18% of the European Union's (EU) land area, its effectiveness at conserving ...biodiversity across taxa and biogeographic regions remains uncertain. Testing this effectiveness is, however, difficult because it requires considering the nonrandom location of PAs, and many possible confounding factors. We used propensity score matching and accounted for the confounding effects of biogeographic regions, terrain ruggedness, and land cover to assess the effectiveness of N2K PAs on the distribution of 1769 species of conservation priority in the EU's Birds and Habitats Directives, including mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles, arthropods, fishes, mollusks, and vascular and nonvascular plants. We compared alpha, beta, and gamma diversity between matched selections of protected and unprotected areas across EU's biogeographic regions with generalized linear models, generalized mixed models, and nonparametric tests for paired samples, respectively, for each taxonomic group and for the entire set of species. PAs in N2K hosted significantly more priority species than unprotected land, but this difference was not consistent across biogeographic regions or taxa. Total alpha diversity and alpha diversity of amphibians, arthropods, birds, mammals, and vascular plants were significantly higher inside PAs than outside, except in the Boreal biogeographical region. Beta diversity was in general significantly higher inside N2K PAs than outside. Similarly, gamma diversity had the highest values inside PAs, with some exceptions in Boreal and Atlantic regions. The planned expansion of the N2K network, as dictated by the European Biodiversity Strategy for 2030, should therefore target areas in the southern part of the Boreal region where species diversity of amphibians, arthropods, birds, mammals, and vascular plants is high and species are currently underrepresented in N2K.
Análisis multitaxonómico de la efectividad de Natura 2000 en las regiones biogeográficas de Europa
Resumen
La red de áreas protegidas (AP) de Natura 2000 (N2K) es una herramienta importante para reducir la pérdida de biodiversidad en Europa. A pesar de que cubre el 18% del área terrestre de la UE, todavía es incierta la efectividad que tiene para conservar la biodiversidad en los taxones y las regiones biogeográficas. Sin embargo, es complicado analizar esta efectividad porque requiere considerar la ubicación no azarosa de las AP y la posibilidad de muchos factores confusos. Usamos el pareamiento por puntaje de propensión y consideramos los efectos confusos de las regiones biogeográficas, lo accidentado del terreno y la cobertura del suelo para analizar la efectividad de las AP de N2K en la distribución de 1,769 especies (mamíferos, aves, anfibios, reptiles, artrópodos, peces, moluscos y plantas vasculares y no vasculares) con prioridad de conservación en las Directivas de Aves y Hábitats de la UE. Comparamos la diversidad alfa, beta y gamma entre las selecciones pareadas de las áreas protegidas y no protegidas en las regiones biogeográficas de la UE con los modelos generalizados lineales, mixtos y pruebas no paramétricas de las muestras pareadas, respectivamente, para cada grupo taxonómico y para el conjunto completo de especies. Las áreas protegidas en N2K tuvieron una mayoría significativa de especies prioritarias en comparación con el suelo no protegido, pero esta diferencia no fue coherente entre los taxones y las regiones biogeográficas. La diversidad alfa total y la diversidad alfa de anfibios, artrópodos, aves, mamíferos y plantas vasculares fue significativamente mayor dentro de las AP que fuera de ellas, excepto en la región biogeográfica boreal. La diversidad beta fue significativamente más alta dentro de las AP de N2K que fuera de ellas. De forma similar, la diversidad gamma tuvo los valores más altos dentro de las AP, salvo algunas excepciones en las regiones boreal y atlántica. Por lo tanto, la expansión planeada de la red N2K, como dicta la Estrategia de la UE sobre Biodiversidad para 2030, debería enfocarse en las áreas del sur de la región boreal, donde es alta la diversidad de especies de anfibios, artrópodos, aves, mamíferos y plantas vasculares y cuyas especies están poco representadas dentro de N2K.
【摘要】
Natura 2000 (N2K) 保护地网络是阻止欧洲生物多样性丧失的重要工具。该网络已覆盖欧盟 18% 的陆地面积, 但其在保护不同类群和生物地理区的生物多样性方面的有效性仍不明确。然而, 由于需要考虑保护地的非随机分布以及许多可能的混杂因素, 检验这些保护地网络的有效性仍面临困难。本研究利用倾向得分匹配法, 同时考虑了生物地理区、地形崎岖性和土地覆盖类型的混杂因素, 评估了 N2K 保护地对于保护欧盟《鸟类指令》和《栖息地指令》中 1769 种优先保护物种分布区的有效性, 涉及的物种包括哺乳动物、鸟类、两栖类、爬行类、节肢动物、鱼类、软体动物以及维管植物和非维管植物。我们用广义线性模型、广义混合模型和配对样本非参数检验, 分别比较了每个类群和所有物种在欧盟生物地理区内保护地和非保护地配对位点之间的α、β和γ多样性。结果显示, 与未受保护的土地相比, N2K 保护地中明显存在更多的优先保护物种, 但这一差异在不同生物地理区或类群之间并不一致。总α多样性和两栖动物、节肢动物、鸟类、哺乳动物及维管植物的α多样性都在保护地内显著高于保护地外, 但在北欧生物地理区除外。 N2K 保护地内的β多样性总体上显著高于保护地外。同样地, 保护地内的γ多样性最高, 但在北欧和大西洋地区存在例外。因此, 《欧盟2030年生物多样性战略》中提到的 N2K 网络的扩展计划应针对北欧南部的区域, 那里两栖动物、节肢动物、鸟类、哺乳动物和维管植物的物种多样性较高, 而在当前的 N2K 中的物种代表性不足。【翻译: 胡怡思; 审校: 聂永刚】
Globally, intensive forestry has led to habitat degradation and fragmentation of the forest landscape. Taking Sweden as an example, this development is contradictory to international commitments, EU ...obligations, and to the fulfillment of the Parliament's environmental quality objective "Living Forests", which according to Naturvårdsverket (The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency) will not be achieved in 2020 as stipulated. One important reason for the implementation deficit is the fragmented forestry management. In a forest landscape, felling and other measures are conducted at different times on separate forest stands (often relatively small units) by different operators. Consequently, the authorities take case by case decisions on felling restrictions for conservation purposes. In contrast, conservation biology research indicates a need for a broad geographical and strategical approach in order to, in good time, select the most appropriate habitats for conservation and to provide for a functioning connectivity between different habitats. In line with the EU Commission, we argue that landscape forestry planning could be a useful instrument to achieve ecological functionality in a large area. Landscape planning may also contribute to the fulfilment of Sweden's climate and energy policy, by indicating forest areas with insignificant conservation values, where intensive forestry may be performed for biomass production etc. Forest owners should be involved in the planning and would, under certain circumstances, be entitled to compensation. As state resources for providing compensation are scarce, an alternative could be to introduce a tax-fund system within the forestry sector. Such a system may open for voluntary agreements between forest owners for the protection of habitats within a large area.
Climate change is one of the strongest biodiversity threats. Worse still, the impact of multiple anthropic stressors on species dynamics could complicate adaptation to temperature increase. ...International conservation policies aim to protect ecosystems against anthropic pressures, but their ability to facilitate adaptation to climate change has yet to be assessed. Using wetland bird monitoring surveys, we evaluated the differences at the country scale of community adjustment to temperature increase of wintering waterbird communities (145 species) according to the implementation of the two main western Palearctic international conservation policies (Bern Convention and Birds Directive) in the Mediterranean basin (2786 sites, 22 countries) over a 22-year period. We showed that thermic community composition increases over time in countries which have enforced conservation policies. We found that strictly protected species under the Birds Directive and the Bern Convention contributed more to this community adjustment than the not strictly protected species. The mechanism results from a population increase in protected warm-dwelling species but not from a decline in cold-dwelling species. This study supports the ability of international conservation policies to mitigate the effect of climate change on animal communities.
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