Does Protection Really Matter? A Case Study from Central European Oak Forests

Kamila Reczyńska,Krzysztof Świerkosz

doi:10.3390/d12010006

Abstract

In the face of a rapidly changing global environment, detailed research into the actual role of protected areas (PAs) in preventing the destruction of ecosystems and the loss of biodiversity became particularly important. Using 304 phytosociological relevés of oak forests from SW Poland, we monitored their state of preservation reflected by the share of synanthropes (Ws-c index) in relation to (i) duration of protection, (ii) status of protected area, (iii) main topographic factors, and (iv) bedrock type. We show that the Ws-c index of studied forests depends primarily on the habitat conditions, especially bedrock type, while both the duration and status of protection are not relevant. The most disturbed are forests developing on serpentine substrates regardless of whether they are protected or not. Within the rest of the investigated sites, the Ws-c index is significantly lower and does not meaningfully differ between protected and unprotected areas. On the one hand, our results suggest that the fact of establishing protection does not ensure a favourable state of conservation of forest communities. On the other hand, well-preserved forest communities can also be expected outside PAs what makes them an important target for nature protection in the future.

Highlights

It is considered that protected areas are of the particular importance of conservation biology due to their role in reducing the decline in biodiversity in various types of ecosystems and species extinction rates [1,2]
It is assumed that the protected areas (PAs) network is efficient when it comes to the protection of forest communities, at least in terms of protecting their already existing area [8,14] and is positively correlated with the date of establishment of PA [15]
The obtained results reveal that the percentage share of synanthropes is mainly connected with the type of bedrock and with heat load index (HL) index (Table 1)

Summary

Introduction

It is considered that protected areas (hereafter PAs) are of the particular importance of conservation biology due to their role in reducing the decline in biodiversity in various types of ecosystems and species extinction rates [1,2]. It is assumed that the PAs network is efficient when it comes to the protection of forest communities, at least in terms of protecting their already existing area [8,14] and is positively correlated with the date of establishment of PA [15]. We wondered whether the PAs network was effective in protecting the quality of preserved communities expressed in the combination of native plant species, especially since the location within

Objectives

Methods

Conclusion