Biodiversity Features Research Articles

Spatial conservation planning under uncertainty: adapting to climate change risks using modern portfolio theory.

Climate change and urban growth impact habitats, species, and ecosystem services. To buffer against global change, an established adaptation strategy is designing protected areas to increase representation and complementarity of biodiversity features. Uncertainty regarding the scale and magnitude of landscape change complicates reserve planning and exposes decision makers to the risk of failing to meet conservation goals. Conservation planning tends to treat risk as an absolute measure, ignoring the context of the management problem and risk preferences of stakeholders. Application of risk management theory to conservation emphasizes the diversification of a portfolio of assets, with the goal of reducing the impact of system volatility on investment return. We use principles of Modern Portfolio Theory (MPT), which quantifies risk as the variance and correlation among assets, to formalize diversification as an explicit strategy for managing risk in climate-driven reserve design. We extend MPT to specify a framework that evaluates multiple conservation objectives, allows decision makers to balance management benefits and risk when preferences are contested or unknown, and includes additional decision options such as parcel divestment when evaluating candidate reserve designs. We apply an efficient search algorithm that optimizes portfolio design for large conservation problems and a game theoretic approach to evaluate portfolio trade-offs that satisfy decision makers with divergent benefit and risk tolerances, or when a single decision maker cannot resolve their own preferences. Evaluating several risk profiles for a case study in South Carolina, our results suggest that a reserve design may be somewhat robust to differences in risk attitude but that budgets will likely be important determinants of conservation planning strategies, particularly when divestment is considered a viable alternative. We identify a possible fiscal threshold where adequate resources allow protecting a sufficiently diverse portfolio of habitats such that the risk of failing to achieve conservation objectives is considerably lower. For a range of sea-level rise projections, conversion of habitat to open water (14-180%) and wetland loss (1-7%) are unable to be compensated under the current protected network. In contrast, optimal reserve design outcomes are predicted to ameliorate expected losses relative to current and future habitat protected under the existing conservation estate.

Current situation of DNA Barcoding data in biodiversity and genomics databases and data integration for museomics

The museomics activity regards museum-preserved specimens as rich resources for DNA studies by extracting and analyzing DNA from these specimens in conjunction with their biodiversity information. Also in biodiversity field, DNA sequence data such as DNA barcoding has become essential as evidence for species identification and phylogenetic analysis as well as occurrence and morphological information. To accelerate biodiversity informatics, it is important to utilize both biodiversity occurrence and morphology data, and bioinformatics sequencing data. There are many databases for biodiversity domain such as GBIF (The Global Biodiversity Information Facility) for species occurrence records, EoL (The Encyclopedia of Life) as a knowledge base of all species, and BOLD (The Barcode of Life Data) for DNA barcoding data. In genomics science, molecular data involving DNA and protein sequences have been captured by the DNA Data Bank in Japan (DDBJ), the European Bioinformatics Institute (EBI, UK), and the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI, US) under the International Nucleotide Sequence Database Collaboration (INSDC) for more than 30 years. Recently, NCBI launched a new database called BioCollections, including 7,930 culture collections, museums, herbaria, and other natural history collections. In addition, we can submit biodiversity information such as specimen voucher IDs, BOLD IDs, and latitude/longitude with DNA sequences. To find out the current situation, I downloaded GenBank (Nucleotide) files (updated at 22 Feb 2019) from the NCBI FTP (file transfer protocol) site and extracted biodiversity features including specimen voucher IDs and BOLD IDs. For Insecta, there are 2,427,343 sequence entries with specimen voucher ID and 1,766,142 entries with BOLD ID of 3,389,495 total entries. The most abundant species with voucher IDs is “Cecidomyiidae sp. BOLD−2016” (Diptera) (35,861 sequence entries). The most frequently referred voucher ID is “USNMENT00921257” (1510 sequence entries), indicating Stenamma megamanni (Hymenoptera, Formicidae, Myrmicinae). For flowering plants (Magnoliophyta), of 3,094,140 total entries, 1,109,420 sequence entries are assigned with voucher IDs and 73,409 entries with BOLD IDs. Additionally, 79,891 matK entries and 63,821 rbcL entries are submitted with voucher IDs, without BOLD IDs. I also retrieved BOLD data for Insecta and flowering plants. The 2,368,801 GenBank entries are referred from 4,176,481 BOLD total entries for Insecta, and the 259,245 GenBank entries from 345,706 BOLD entries for flowering plants. Some DNA barcoding data exist redundantly in BOLD database because BOLD imports sequences from NCBI submitted as DNA barcoding data in BOLD. These entries have different BOLD IDs but same BIN_URL is assigned. Recently, high-throughput sequencing technology, also called next-generation sequencing technology (NGS), has made a great impact in genomic science. Biodiversity researchers became to perform not only DNA barcoding but also RNA-Seq with NGS. NGS also accelerates museomics activity. NGS data are archived to the Sequence Read Archive (SRA) database, and sample information is described in BioSample database in INSDC. To utilize NGS data for biodiversity field, we will need to integrate such databases and other biodiversity databases. We, Database Center for Life Science, tackle to integrate life science data with Semantic Web technology. We held annual meetings to integrate life science data, called BioHackathons, in which researchers from all over the world participated. We began to RDFize BioSample data, but we should import existing schemes used in the biodiversity field including Darwin Core.

Diversity of medicinal plant species in Puxailaileng mountain area, Nghe An Province

Puxailaileng is an area with the most unique characteristics of biodiversity, with the highest peak in the Truong Son range of 2,711 m, so there are many unique factors here that other regions do not have. With an area of only nearly 50 thousand hectares, the research area has recorded 726 species of higher plants, of which 126 species belong to 28 genera in Nghe An. The endemism is also very high, due to the difference in terrain and climate, there are only 408/726 common species in Nam Can and Na Ngoi communes, 320 species are only found in one of two communes. In the Puxailaileng area, this study has recorded 588 medicinal plant species in 155 families in 5 divisions of vascular plants. Characteristics of diversity of habitat, stem type, collection and diversity of rare and precious species were also assessed, including 27 species listed in the Vietnam's Red Data Book (2007).

Species-area uncertainties impact the setting of habitat conservation targets and propagate across conservation solutions

Systematic Conservation Planning (SCP) is a widely-used approach to develop networks of protected areas. A crucial step in the SCP process is to set conservation targets for biodiversity features (explicit goals that quantify the minimum amount of each biodiversity feature to be covered by the protected areas). When the biodiversity features are different habitats occurring in the planning region, a relevant approach, based on the Species-Area Relationship (SAR), defines targets so as to maximize biodiversity representation within each habitat type. While many formulations of the SAR exist, their application remains dominated by the log-transformation of Power-law model. However, documented habitat-related and taxonomic idiosyncrasies in the shape of the SAR question the effectiveness of a given ubiquitous model in fitting data compared to others. Here, using 13 SAR functional forms, we investigate whether the habitat-related SAR uncertainties propagate across the entire conservation planning process and lead to both divergent conservation targets and conservation solutions for six habitats in the Mediterranean sea. Results revealed uncertainties in model selection across habitats, which leads to different SAR habitat-targets. Constraining a systemic conservation planning tool (Marxan) with those targets provided contrasted sets of priority areas for different SAR scenario. Our study demonstrated that restraining to one particular SAR model is inappropriate at fitting all SAR datasets, providing consequently conservation targets diverging markedly from data-driven SAR inferences. More importantly, corresponding reserve networks are either inefficient or overstated for the protection of habitats, leading to waste of scarce conservation resources that should be used sparingly. Therefore, we suggest to evaluate different SAR models and, when appropriate to carry out a multi-model inference to provide robust habitat-specific conservation targets.

Human activity and climate change as determinants of spatial prioritization for the conservation of globally threatened birds in the southern Neotropic (Santa Fe, Argentina)

Conservation area networks (CAN) must overlap spatial patterns of conservation priorities in order to ensure their persistence. Threatened species are among the least controversial biodiversity features taken into account to guide conservation policies. Due to growing human pressure and climate change worldwide, chances of planning an effective CAN may be reduced. Santa Fe province is located in the center-east of Argentina and encompasses four bioregions highly threatened of the subtropical temperate South America. Intensive agriculture, livestock and hunting have led to the loss and degradation of its natural habitats and the current CAN fails on the coverage of bioregions. Our aim was to find out areas that enhance the persistence of threatened bird species in the Santa Fe province. We defined spatial conservation priorities that overlap environmentally suitable areas of species over time and overcome the likely impacts of human activity. Conservation priorities (top 20%) belonged mainly to Dry Chaco and Atlantic bioregions and will remain the same in the province. The current CAN mismatches spatial patterns of environmental suitability of threatened species. Sporophila hypochroma, Asthenes hudsoni and Spartonoica maluroides may lose more than half of their current environmentally suitable area in the future. Human activity will lead to a CAN which will require a great number of patches and a large perimeter. Searching for the most environmentally suitable areas of species over time while minimizing conflicts with human activities is a useful conservation strategy regardless the biogeographical context considered.

Prioritizing the protection of climate refugia: designing a climate-ready protected area network

Protected areas are the primary strategy for maintaining natural landscapes and separating biodiversity features from preventable anthropogenic threats. The Convention on Biological Diversity calls for the coverage of at least 17% of land by protected areas, and the strategic prioritization of important biodiversity areas. Using the spatially explicit reserve design software, Marxan, this study combines climate refugia modelled under future climates in the year 2070 and bioregions to identify priority sites for protected area expansion under climate change in the state of New South Wales (NSW), Australia. Priority sites for new protected areas that meet bioregion and climate refugia targets were identified in central-western, northeast and patches of southeast NSW. Seven existing parks, including Kosciuszko National Park, overlapped with regions identified repeatedly as climate refugia under 12 future climate scenarios. The recommendations from this study support policy-makers in prioritizing the protection of biodiversity under a changing and uncertain climate.

Towards a sampling design for characterizing habitat-specific benthic biodiversity related to oxygen flux dynamics using Aquatic Eddy Covariance.

The Aquatic Eddy Covariance (AEC) technique has emerged as an important method to quantify in situ seafloor metabolism over large areas of heterogeneous benthic communities, enabling cross-habitat comparisons of seafloor productivity. However, the lack of a corresponding sampling protocol to perform biodiversity comparisons across habitats is impeding a full assessment of marine ecosystem metabolism. Here, we study a range of coastal benthic habitats, from rocky-bed communities defined by either perennial macroalgae or blue mussel beds to soft-sediment communities comprised of either seagrass, patches of different macrophyte species or bare sand. We estimated that the maximum contribution to the AEC metabolic flux can be found for a seafloor area of approximately 80 m2 with a 5 meter upstream distance of the instrument across all the habitats. We conducted a sampling approach to characterize and quantify the dominant features of biodiversity (i.e., community biomass) within the main seafloor area of maximum metabolic contribution (i.e., gross primary production and community respiration) measured by the AEC. We documented a high biomass contribution of the macroalgal Fucus vesiculosus, the seagrass Zostera marina and the macroinvertebrate Mytilus edulis to the net ecosystem metabolism of the habitats. We also documented a significant role of the bare sediments for primary productivity compared to vegetated canopies of the soft sediments. The AEC also provided insight into dynamic short-term drivers of productivity such as PAR availability and water flow velocity for the productivity estimate. We regard this study as an important step forward, setting a framework for upcoming research focusing on linking biodiversity metrics and AEC flux measurements across habitats.

An interactive atlas for marine biodiversity conservation in the Coral Triangle

Abstract. An online atlas of the Coral Triangle region of the Indo-Pacific biogeographic realm was developed. This online atlas consists of the three interlinked parts: (1) Biodiversity Features; (2) Areas of Importance for Biodiversity Conservation; (3) recommended priorities for Marine Protected Area (MPA) Network Expansion (http://www.marine.auckland.ac.nz/CTMAPS). The first map, Biodiversity Features, provides comprehensive data on the region's marine protected areas and biodiversity features, threats, and environmental characteristics. The second provides spatial information on areas of high biodiversity conservation values, while the third map shows priority areas for expanding the current Coral Triangle MPA network. This atlas provides the most comprehensive biodiversity datasets that have been assembled for the region. The datasets were retrieved and generated systematically from various open-access sources. To engage a wider audience and to raise participation in biodiversity conservation, the maps were designed as an interactive and online atlas. This atlas presents representative information to promote a better understanding of the key marine and coastal biodiversity characteristics of the region and enables the application of marine biodiversity informatics to support marine ecosystem-based management in the Coral Triangle region.

Studies of mezozooplankton in the Zmiinyi Island coastal waters in 2016-2017

Purpose. To study the state of mezozooplankton in the Zmiinyi Island coastal waters in 2016-2017. Methods. Standard methods of mezozooplankton sampling, determination, number and biomass assessment. Results. Based on the data received, analysis of biodiversity and structural characteristics of mezozooplankton in the Zmiinyi Island coastal waters has been made. Taxonomic composition, number and biomass have been determined for each species; dynamics of number and biomass presented season by season. Marine environment quality assessment has been performed on the metrics of mezozooplankton. Conclusions. Altogether 32 taxa of 9 main mezozooplankton groups were identified in 2016-2017. It was shown that the dominating groups were Copepoda, Rotatoria, Protozoa, Cladocera and Harpacticoida. Shannon’s biodiversity index of mezozooplankton varied from 0.41 (20.06.2016) to 3.29 (24.07.2016) with average values 2.32 in 2016 and 1.64 in 2017. Mezozooplankton number and biomass varied in 2016-2017 within broad limits from 645 to 55829 ind/m³ and 1.385 to 2597.248 mg/m³ respectively (with average values 10129 ind/m³ and 154.82 mg/m³ in the period IV-XII, 2016 and 21563 ind/m³ and 466.30 mg/m³ in the period IV-VI, 2017). Water quality in the coastal waters of the Zmiinyi Island on the state of mezozooplankton was «Bad» in 18 cases out of 68 (26.4%) and was assessed in general as «Poor». On total mezozooplankton biomass the state was assessed as «Poor» and «Bad» (68.2%). «Good» (10.6%) and «High» (9.1%) quality was found in 19.7% of cases, which evidenced unsatisfactory state of mezozooplankton – the main component of food reserve for pelagic larvae and pelagic species of the Black Sea fish.

Vegetation Recovery of Logged-over Dipterocarp Forests In Central Kalimantan, Indonesia

ABSTRACT Forest utilization usually has an impact on changes in forest structure and species composition. The species of trees selected and ecosystem management system that refer to biodiversity characteristics will be explained by better knowledge of Functional Species Group (FSG). The purpose of this study was to determine the composition of vegetation recovery based on FSG in production forest managed with silvicultural system known as Selective Cutting and Line Planting System (SCLP) and undisturbed forest known as Germplasm Preservation Areas (GPCA) in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. The results showed that the proportion of climax group in the entire observation plots was greater than pioneer species group, i.e. climax 100 species and pioneer 59 species. Stand structure both climax and pioneer species group has inverse J shape curve. It means that the species composition of logged-over forest is still in balance condition, characterized with high index of diversity (H' > 3).

Jogos interpretativos e palestras: ferramentas de educação ambiental do Parque Nacional dos Campos Gerais (Paraná)

A Educação Ambiental pode integrar atividades lúdicas, ao apostar na sensibilização da sociedade para a conservação e proteção dos recursos naturais. Este artigo tem como objetivo apresentar o jogo interpretativo e resultados do Projeto de Educação Ambiental desenvolvido no Parque Nacional dos Campos Gerais – Paraná, intitulado “ICMBio vai às escolas: conhecendo as Unidades de Conservação da Natureza”. O projeto apresenta as características relevantes de geodiversidade e biodiversidade local que levaram à criação dessa unidade, buscando o apoio da comunidade para a conservação da região. O projeto tem como foco escolas dos municípios do entorno do Parque. A metodologia englobou pesquisa bibliográfica e documental, apresenta os resultados dos questionários de avaliação da atividade e dados sobre a elaboração e a aplicação do jogo. Conclui-se que o resultado dessas ações contribui para a sensibilização dos estudantes e para mostrar a importância da conservação do patrimônio natural do Parque Nacional dos Campos Gerais.

Identifying restoration priorities for wetlands based on historical distributions of biodiversity features and restoration suitability

Wetland restoration is a major objective of environmental management worldwide. We present a frameworkat the regional level that prioritizes historical biodiversity and restoration suitability. The goal of the framework is to maximize biodiversity gains from restoration while minimizing the cost. We used C-Plan, a prioritization tool for systematic conservation planning (SCP), to balance the biodiversity gains withthe costs of restoration, or restoration suitability. We overlaid historical spatial data from 1995 to estimate historical distributions of 91 biodiversity features. These features were used to conduct an irreplaceability analysis to assess the restoration value of historical biodiversity. We then modelled restoration suitability based on environmental data of six criteria. Finally, we applied a complementarity analysis to achieve the quantitative targets of all biodiversity features while minimizing the cost of restoration. We tested this framework in the highly degraded wetlands ofSanjiang Plain, China. By applying our framework to Sanjiang Plain, we successfully identified areas with both high restoration value and high restoration suitability. The area of this cost-effective plan was an extension of 4620 km2, covering 80% of the disappearing wetlands and 4% of the total Sanjiang Plain. Compared to the restoration value-only plan, which had an extension of 4486 km2, the cost-effective plan covered a little more area to achievethe targets forall biodiversity features but with lower implementation costs where the proportion of high restoration suitability increases from 43% to 50%.Our prioritization framework can be used to analyse regional restoration efforts in other regions and ecosystems, and inform planners on how to maximize biodiversity gains while minimizing costs.

Designating Spatial Priorities for Marine Biodiversity Conservation in the Coral Triangle

To date, most Marine Protected Areas (MPA) have been designated on an ad hoc basis. However, a comprehensive regional and global network should be designed to be representative of all aspects of biodiversity, including populations, species, and biogenic habitats. A good exemplar would be the Coral Triangle (CT) because it is the most species rich area in the ocean but only 2% of its area is in any kind of MPA. Our analysis consisted of five different groups of layers of biodiversity features: biogenic habitat, species richness, species of special conservation concern, restricted range species, and areas of importance for sea turtles. We utilized the systematic conservation planning software Zonation as a decision-support tool to ensure representation of biodiversity features while balancing selection of protected areas based on the likelihood of threats. Our results indicated that the average representation of biodiversity features within the existing MPA system is currently about 5%. By systematically increasing MPA coverage to 10% of the total area of the CT, the average representation of biodiversity features within the MPA system would increase to over 37%. Marine areas in the Halmahera Sea, the outer island arc of the Banda Sea, the Sulu Archipelago, the Bismarck Archipelago, and the Malaita Islands were identified as priority areas for the designation of new MPAs. Moreover, we recommended that several existing MPAs be expanded to cover additional biodiversity features within their adjacent areas, including MPAs in Indonesia (e.g., in the Birds Head of Papua), the Philippines (e.g., in the northwestern part of the Sibuyan Sea), Malaysia (e.g., in the northern part of Sabah), Papua New Guinea (e.g., in the Milne Bay Province), and the Solomon Islands (e.g., around Santa Isabel Island). An MPA system that covered 30% of the CT would include 65% of the biodiversity features. That just two-thirds of biodiversity was represented by one-third of the study area supports calls for at least 30% of the ocean to be in no-fishing MPA. This assessment provides a blueprint for efficient gains in marine conservation through the extension of the current MPA system in the Coral Triangle region.

Not all data are equal: Influence of data type and amount in spatial conservation prioritisation

Abstract Decisions about land use significantly influence biodiversity globally. The field of spatial conservation prioritisation explores allocation of conservation effort, including for reserve network expansion, targeting habitat restoration, or minimising ecological impacts of development. Inevitably, the utility of such planning depends on the quantity and quality input data, including spatial information on biodiversity, threats, and cost of action. In this work we systematically develop understanding about the significance of these different data types in spatial conservation prioritisation. We clarify the common ways different data types enter an analysis, develop mathematical models to understand the effects of data in spatial prioritisation, and survey literature to establish typical quantities of different types of data used. We use Jackknife analysis to derive the expected change in site values, when a single new data layer is added to a prioritisation. We validate mathematical formulae for expected impacts using simulations. A survey of scientific literature reveals that typical spatial prioritisation analyses include hundreds of biodiversity feature layers (species, habitat types, ecosystem services), but the count of cost, threat or habitat condition layers is typically 0–5. Due to these differences, and the mathematical formulations commonly used to combine data types, the influence of a single cost, threat, or habitat condition data layer can be an order or two higher than the influence of a single biodiversity feature layer. In a classical cost‐effectiveness formulation (benefits divided by costs, B/C) the influence of a single cost layer can even be as large as the joint influence of thousands of species distributions. We also clarify how changes in data impact site values and spatial priority rankings differently, with the latter being further influenced by data correlations, the spread of numeric values inside data layers and other data characteristics. For example, costs influence priorities significantly if cost is positively correlated with biodiversity, but the correlation is the other way around for biodiversity and habitat condition. This work helps conservation practitioners to direct efforts when collating data for spatial conservation planning. It also helps decision makers understand where to focus attention when interpreting conservation plans and their uncertainties.

Biodiversity conservation development based on Systematic Conservation Planning in urban areas

The purpose of this study is to apply the commonly used biodiversity conservation method, Systematic Conservation Planning, to identify the priority conservation areas in Harbin, China, using the conservation planning software C-Plan. Biodiversity features, spatial distributions and respective targets were compiled into C-Plan and built a database to calculate the irreplaceability index which represents the conservation value of sites. Results showed that about 30% of the study area has moderate or higher biodiversity conservation value. This process enables conservation planning and prioritizing work to be more scientific providing a feasible and effective framework for the establishment of urban conservation systems.

UAV Remote Sensing for Biodiversity Monitoring: Are Forest Canopy Gaps Good Covariates?

Forest canopy gaps are important to ecosystem dynamics. Depending on tree species, small canopy openings may be associated with intra-crown porosity and with space among crowns. Yet, literature on the relationships between very fine-scaled patterns of canopy openings and biodiversity features is limited. This research explores the possibility of: (1) mapping forest canopy gaps from a very high spatial resolution orthomosaic (10 cm), processed from a versatile unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) imaging platform, and (2) deriving patch metrics that can be tested as covariates of variables of interest for forest biodiversity monitoring. The orthomosaic was imaged from a test area of 240 ha of temperate deciduous forest types in Central Italy, containing 50 forest inventory plots each of 529 m2 in size. Correlation and linear regression techniques were used to explore relationships between patch metrics and understory (density, development, and species diversity) or forest habitat biodiversity variables (density of micro-habitat bearing trees, vertical species profile, and tree species diversity). The results revealed that small openings in the canopy cover (75% smaller than 7 m2) can be faithfully extracted from UAV red, green, and blue bands (RGB) imagery, using the red band and contrast split segmentation. The strongest correlations were observed in the mixed forests (beech and turkey oak) followed by intermediate correlations in turkey oak forests, followed by the weakest correlations in beech forests. Moderate to strong linear relationships were found between gap metrics and understory variables in mixed forest types, with adjusted R2 from linear regression ranging from 0.52 to 0.87. Equally strong correlations in the same forest types were observed for forest habitat biodiversity variables (with adjusted R2 ranging from 0.52 to 0.79), with highest values found for density of trees with microhabitats and vertical species profile. In conclusion, this research highlights that UAV remote sensing can potentially provide covariate surfaces of variables of interest for forest biodiversity monitoring, conventionally collected in forest inventory plots. By integrating the two sources of data, these variables can be mapped over small forest areas with satisfactory levels of accuracy, at a much higher spatial resolution than would be possible by field-based forest inventory solely.

Test of the efficiency of environmental surrogates for the conservation prioritization of ponds based on macrophytes

Ponds are recognized as habitats of high biodiversity hosting many threatened freshwater species. They comprise a major part of the continental waters in Europe. Conservation strategies for abundant habitats like ponds inevitably call for the prioritization of the sites with the highest conservation value. In conservation planning, environmental surrogates are frequently used as proxies, providing readily available environmental information that adequately represents the biodiversity features of target systems. However, environmental surrogacy has mostly been tested in the terrestrial realm. Here, we provide a first attempt to test the efficiency of environmental surrogates for the conservation prioritization of pond communities. Native and alien helophytes and hydrophytes were surveyed in 92 ponds in Central Europe. We combined the flexible regression tree approach with predictive modelling to test the efficiency of local and regional environmental surrogates in targeting pond habitats with a high conservation value. Among the candidate variables, the trophic state and connectivity emerged as the most promising surrogates for native species diversity. However, the predictive performance of the surrogate schemes was relatively weak, providing low support for use of environmental surrogacy in pond conservation planning. If the preservation of hydrophyte diversity is considered a legitimate conservation goal, easily accessible GIS data on connectivity may save costs and effort during the prioritization of hydrophyte hotspots. In the cases of other groups, detailed botanical surveys are necessary to make informed decisions on pond conservation. The occurrence and diversity of alien macrophytes was difficult to predict using the native species diversity or habitat characteristics of the ponds. A failure to identify surrogates for alien species and their strong potential impact on resident ecosystems implies that further monitoring of exotic plants in ponds is urgently needed, especially now, as the number of alien aquatic plant species steeply increases in Europe.

The ecosystem approach in ecological impact assessment: Lessons learned from windfarm developments on peatlands in Scotland

The Ecosystem Approach introduced in 1994 through the Convention on Biological Diversity, together with related Ecosystem-based Management and Landscape Approaches, are frequently called upon to improve ecological impact assessment. Current practice typically does not have such a systems focus and we explore the potential for explicitly adopting an Ecosystem Approach in the Environmental Impact Assessment process using wind energy development on peatland, in Scotland, as a case study. Based on a review of 21 windfarm projects (>50 MW) approved by the Scottish Government we provide an overview of current practice and identify and discuss how the 12 principles of the Ecosystem Approach can help identify options for more appropriate impact assessment. These include defining functional units of analysis that reflect the spatial and temporal linkages of peatland elements through hydrological connections, rather than a focus on individual vegetation types and simple distance buffers. Our conclusions are not limited to peatland and are relevant wherever meaningful functional management units can be defined, including in marine environments. Our results also show that environmental statements for wind energy development in Scotland largely ignore ecosystem services and the people that benefit from them. As for threatened species and other biodiversity features, an Ecosystem Approach is a prerequisite to the meaningful inclusion of ecosystem services in impact assessment.

Створення еколого-пізнавального туристичного маршруту "шляхами графа Володимира Дідушицького" у Бродівському районі Львівської області

З'ясовано еколого-географічні та історичні передумови створення природного заповідника на території північного Поділля. Проаналізовано сучасний стан НПП "Північне Поділля", зокрема територій комплексної пам'ятки природи місцевого значення "Пам'ятка Пеняцька" і Державного ботанічного заказника місцевого значення "Макітра"; ідентифіковано та проаналізовано біорізноманіття, ландшафтні та історико-культурні особливості цих територій, а також існуючі тут еколого-пізнавальні туристичні маршрути. Охарактеризовано природоохоронну діяльність графа В. Дідушицького, зокрема створення ним природного резервату "Пам'ятка Пеняцька" з метою збереження букового пралісу та охорони місця гніздування рідкісного виду птаха – орлана білохвостого, а також заснування ним Природознавчого музею у Львові. Обґрунтовано доцільність розроблення нового еколого-пізнавального туристичного маршруту на території північного Поділля для продовження природоохоронної діяльності в регіоні, яку започаткував В. Дідушицький. Запропоновано створення дводенного еколого-пізнавального туристичного маршруту "Шляхами графа Володимира Дідушицького" (Львів – Броди – Підкамінь – Пеняки – Пліснеське городище – Підгірці – Львів) та докладно охарактеризовано екскурсійні об'єкти, включені до цього маршруту. Проаналізовано значення новоствореного маршруту для збереження цінних природних та історико-культурних комплексів і об'єктів Бродівщини.

Vegetation type conservation targets, status and level of protection in KwaZulu-Natal in 2016

Background: Systematic conservation planning aims to ensure representivity and persistence of biodiversity. Quantitative targets set to meet these aims provide a yardstick with which to measure the current conservation status of biodiversity features and measure the success of conservation actions.Objectives: The conservation targets and current ecosystem status of vegetation types and biomes occurring in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) were assessed, and their level of formal protection was determined, to inform conservation planning initiatives in the province.Method: Land cover maps of the province were used to determine the amount of natural habitat remaining in KZN. This was intersected with the vegetation map and assessed relative to their conservation targets to determine the ecosystem status of each vegetation type in KZN. The proclaimed protected areas were used to determine the level of protection of each vegetation type.Results: In 17 years (1994–2011), 19.7% of natural habitat was lost to anthropogenic conversion of the landscape. The Indian Ocean Coastal Belt and Grassland biomes had the least remaining natural habitat, the highest rates of habitat loss and the least degree of formal protection.Conclusion: These findings inform conservation priorities in the province. Vegetation type targets need to be revised to ensure long-term persistence. Business-as-usual is no longer an option if we are to meet the legislative requirements and mandates to conserve the environment for current and future generations.