EU protected area network did not prevent a country wide population decline in a threatened grassland bird.

João P Silva,Marcello D’Amico,Francisco Moreira,Ana Delgado,Ricardo Correia,Carlos Godinho,Hany Alonso,Ricardo C Martins,Hugo Sampaio

doi:10.7717/peerj.4284

Abstract

BackgroundFew studies have assessed the effectiveness of the Protected Area networks on the conservation status of target species. Here, we assess the effectiveness of the Portuguese Natura 2000 (the European Union network of protected areas) in maintaining a species included in the Annex I of the Bird Directive, namely the population of a priority farmland bird, the little bustard Tetrax tetrax.MethodsWe measured the effectiveness of the Natura 2000 by comparing population trends across time (2003–2006 and 2016) in 51 areas, 21 of which within 12 Special Protection Areas (SPA) that were mostly designated for farmland bird conservation and another 30 areas without EU protection.ResultsOverall, the national population is estimated to have declined 49% over the last 10–14 years. This loss was found to be proportionally larger outside SPA (64% decline) compared to losses within SPA (25% decline). However, the absolute male density decline was significantly larger within SPA .DiscussionIn spite of holding higher population densities and having prevented habitat loss, we conclude that Natura 2000 was not effective in buffering against the overall bustard population decline. Results show that the mere designation of SPA in farmland is not enough to secure species populations and has to be combined with agricultural policies and investment to maintain not only habitat availability but also habitat quality.

Highlights

Protected areas constitute key tools for conserving biodiversity (Marton-Lefèvre, 2014; Watson et al, 2014)
Most research evaluating the effectiveness of the Natura 2000 protected area network has focused on assessing its spatial coverage of biodiversity values (e.g., Cabeza, 2013; Abellán & Sánchez-Fernández, 2015), but much less is known about its effect on species persistence or population trends due to a lack of temporal data (e.g., Pellissier et al, 2013)
This study reported that species listed in Annex I of the Birds Directive had higher population growth rates in countries with a higher proportion of land designated as Special Protection Areas (SPA)

Summary

Introduction

Protected areas constitute key tools for conserving biodiversity (Marton-Lefèvre, 2014; Watson et al, 2014). Even for taxa with abundant information on population sizes, such as birds, few studies have assessed the effectiveness of the SPA network on the conservation status of target species (Orlikowska et al, 2016). Few studies have assessed the effectiveness of the Protected Area networks on the conservation status of target species. We assess the effectiveness of the Portuguese Natura 2000 (the European Union network of protected areas) in maintaining a species included in the Annex I of the Bird Directive, namely the population of a priority farmland bird, the little bustard Tetrax tetrax. We measured the effectiveness of the Natura 2000 by comparing population trends across time (2003–2006 and 2016) in 51 areas, 21 of which within 12 Special Protection Areas (SPA) that were mostly designated for farmland bird conservation and another 30 areas without EU protection. Results show that the mere designation of SPA in farmland is not enough to secure species populations and has to be combined with agricultural policies and investment to maintain habitat availability and habitat quality

Methods

Results

Conclusion