Conservation Status In Europe Research Articles

Habitat use and niche overlap of ground-nesting steppic birds

Steppic habitats host an extremely high proportion of birds with unfavourable conservation status in Europe, such as larks. This research aims to both investigate habitat-lark relationships and assess the niche overlap among larks in southern Italy during the breeding season. Studied in particular were the Eurasian Skylark ( Alauda arvensis), the Greater Short-toed Lark ( Calandrella brachydactyla), the Calandra Lark ( Melanocorypha calandra), the Crested Lark ( Galerida cristata) and the Woodlark ( Lullula arborea). During the 2012 breeding season, 301 point counts were carried out, and these were randomly placed in the study area according to a stratified sampling design. Resource selection probability functions were used to build two models for each species: (i) a binary logistic regression using the presence units as the dependent variable and (ii) a GLM with Poisson’s error distribution using the abundance of larks in each sampling point as the dependent variable. In the first model, the land cover in the cells of a 100-m-grid superimposed onto the study area was used as a covariate, whereas in the second model, the same covariate was measured, but in a 300-m-buffer around the sampling points. Finally, niche overlap was measured by Hurlbert’s Index with bootstrap resampling. Results showed that the Skylark, Short-toed Lark, Calandra Lark and Crested Lark are tightly associated with both non-irrigated crops and dry grasslands, with these species selecting areas in which both habitats are present in particular. Furthermore, there is a strong niche overlap at macrohabitat level among the species, with the exception of the Woodlark, which is an ecotonal species.

An index of ecological value for European arable plant communities

The value of arable plant communities from a natural and environmental perspective was recognized only recently. Human-dependent arable plant assemblages are acknowledged to support biodiversity in agroecosystems and to provide numerous ecosystem services. The conservation of such communities relies on low-input, traditional agriculture, which is vanishing worldwide. Both agricultural intensification and land abandonment negatively affected arable plant biodiversity, with a remarkable loss of species and communities of great conservation and ecological interest. In this paper, we introduce a floristic-ecological monitoring tool aiming at the quantification of the ecological value of arable plant communities, named ArEco. Starting from presence-absence community data, the index returns a numerical value derived from species richness and six features of arable vascular plants: life form, Ellenberg nutrient value, alien status, conservation status in Europe, support to pollinator insects, and support to feeding birds. A program for the calculations was written in Java, with a database of about 400 arable plant species. The effectiveness of the tool was tested on 270 arable vegetation plots of different crop types in Italy, a European hotspot of arable plant diversity. The results show that, in the study area, winter arable vegetation has a higher ecological value than summer arable vegetation. In a similar way, extensively managed arable land hosts communities of higher ecological value than those hosted by intensively managed arable land. In view of the present results, ArEco will be a useful tool for monitoring, conservation, and restoration activities of arable plant communities in Europe.

The state of breeding birds in Greece: trends, threats, and implications for conservation

SummaryBirds are suffering from steep population declines on a global scale and they are one of the few taxonomic groups for which these declines are well documented by long-term monitoring data. This study provides a synthesis of the status of the breeding birds of Greece. To this aim, we retrieved population size estimates from six sources spanning 22 years (1992–2014) and calculated species’ trends in Greece. Using the IUCN Red List assessments for each species we assessed whether ecological traits including habitat and diet preferences were associated with species’ trends and conservation status in Europe and determined major threats affecting birds in Greece. Moreover, we assessed the importance of Important Bird & Biodiversity Areas (IBAs) in terms of declining trigger species. Results showed that almost one fifth of the breeding birds in Greece have declining populations. Raptors were found to be the most threatened group of birds whereas the highest declines by dietary group were observed in scavengers, with 60% of species showing a decreasing trend. The most common threats were those that cause habitat alteration and degradation as well as more direct effects such as poisoning. Our results suggest that restoration of habitat and ecosystem functions along with the management of protected areas and improvement of legislation should be the main conservation actions undertaken and pinpointed the IBAs where they should be prioritized for implementation. Finally, further research, especially on specific drivers of population change, along with further examination of current and past population trends, will increase the power and accuracy of future regional Red List assessments especially concerning the breeding species for which the country bears the greatest responsibility.

Influence of environmental variability on harbour porpoise movement

The harbour porpoisePhocoena phocoenais a small marine predator with a high conservation status in Europe and the USA. To protect the species effectively, it is crucial to understand its movement patterns and how the distribution of intensively used foraging areas can be predicted from environmental conditions. Here, we investigated the influence of both static and dynamic environmental conditions on large-scale harbour porpoise movements in the North Sea. We used long-term movement data from 57 individuals tracked during 1999-2017 in a state-space model to estimate the underlying behavioural states, i.e. whether animals used area-restricted or directed movements. Subsequently, we assessed whether the probability of using area-restricted movements was related to environmental conditions using a generalized linear mixed model. Harbour porpoises were more likely to use area-restricted movements in areas with low salinity levels, relatively high chlorophyllaconcentrations and low current velocity, and in areas with steep bottom slopes, suggesting that such areas are important foraging grounds for porpoises. Our study identifies environmental parameters of relevance for predicting harbour porpoise foraging hot spots over space and time in a dynamic system. The study illustrates how movement patterns and data on environmental conditions can be combined, which is valuable to the conservation of marine mammals.

Reproductive success of Whiskered Tern Chlidonias hybrida in eastern Spain in relation to water level variation.

BackgroundA study on the Whiskered Tern Chlidonias hybrida was carried out between 2002 and 2009 in wetlands of eastern Spain to evaluate how water level fluctuation affects its reproductive success (hatching, fledgling and breeding success). This species is catalogued as Vulnerable in Spain and has an unfavorable conservation status in Europe.MethodsOur study includes 18 sampling areas from five wetlands, covering a total of 663 nests, 1,618 eggs, 777 nestlings and 225 fledglings. The colonies were visited at least twice per week in breeding period. The number of eggs and/or nestlings present in each nest were annotated each time the colonies were visited with the aim to compare the evolution of these parameters with time. Hatching success was calculated as the proportion of egg that hatched successfully. Fledgling success and breeding success were calculated as the proportion of chicks that fledged successfully and the proportion of eggs that produced fledglings. We used the Kruskal–Wallis test to analyze the differences in the dependent variables hatching, fledgling and breeding success among the wetlands and the sampling areas. We explored the relationship between the different reproductive success with the average fluctuation rate and the anchoring depth of nests, using statistics of the linear regression.ResultsIt was observed that the reproductive success varied significantly in the interaction among the different categories of water level fluctuation and the different areas (using the Kruskal–Wallis test). Our records showed that pronounced variations in water level destroyed several nests, which affected the Whiskered Tern reproductive success. Considering all events that occurred in 18 areas, the mean (±SD) of nests, eggs and nestlings that were lost after water level fluctuations were of 25.60 ± 21.79%, 32.06 ± 27.58% and 31.91 ± 21.28% respectively, also including the effects of rain and predation.DiscussionUnfavorable climatic events, such as strong wind, rain or hail, also caused the loss of nests, eggs and nestlings, even when wetland water levels remained constant. The influence of the anchorage depth of the nest and the water level fluctuation rate were analyzed and did not provide statistically significant results. It was not possible to establish a clear pattern on these latter variables, so further studies are needed to obtain more significant results. We propose to undertake similar studies in wetlands where the water level can be regulated, with the range of nest anchorage depth on the emergent vegetation being between 30 and 60 cm, which could improve the reproductive success in this kind of habitats. As recommendation, in water level controlled wetlands (that use sluices), it should not vary more than ±6 cm in a short time (1–2 days) once the nests are established since it negatively affects their reproductive success.

Remote sensing for mapping natural habitats and their conservation status – New opportunities and challenges

Safeguarding the diversity of natural and semi-natural habitats in Europe is one of the aims set out by the Habitats Directive (Council Directive 92/43/EEC on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora) and one of the targets of the European 2020 Biodiversity Strategy, and is to be accomplished by maintaining a favourable conservation status. To reach this aim a high-level understanding of the distribution and conditions of these habitats is needed. Remote sensing can considerably contribute to habitat mapping and their observation over time. Several European projects and a large number of scientific studies have addressed the issue of mapping and monitoring natural habitats via remote sensing and the deriving of indicators on their conservation status. The multitude of utilized remote sensing sensors and applied methods used in these studies, however, impede a common understanding of what is achievable with current state-of-the-art technologies. The aim of this paper is to provide a synthesis on what is currently feasible in terms of detection and monitoring of natural and semi-natural habitats with remote sensing. To focus this endeavour, we concentrate on those studies aimed at direct mapping of individual habitat types or discriminating between different types of habitats occurring in relatively large, spatially contiguous units. By this we uncover the potential of remote sensing to better understand the distribution of habitats and the assessment of their conservation status in Europe.

Applying red lists to the evaluation of agricultural habitat: regular occurrence of threatened birds, vascular plants, and bryophytes in field margins of Poland

Using the assessments of conservation status of flora and fauna, we discuss declining species in semi-natural field margins and stress the importance of these vanishing habitats. Seventy field margins in the diverse farmland of SW Poland were investigated with regard to their vascular plants, bryophytes and breeding birds. We checked the occurrence of threatened and conservation concern species, i.e. those listed in local, national or European threatened species lists, and birds with an unfavorable conservation status in Europe. Of a total of 673 species, 18 classified as threatened were recorded: 12 vascular plants (2.2 % of the total number of species), five bryophytes (5.6 %), and one bird species (2.0 %). Threatened plants occurred in 18.6 % of study plots, bryophytes in 20.0 % and birds in 12.9 %. Eleven bird species, noted in 95.7 % of study plots, had an unfavorable conservation status in Europe. Increasing volumes of trees and shrubs significantly increased the overall richness in each taxa. In percentage terms the occurrence of focal species in all three taxa tended to be higher in shrubby than in herbaceous and tree-lined margins. Our data demonstrate that field margins in Central European arable farmland regularly support rare and threatened species, and therefore deserve greater conservation efforts. Red lists along with alternative listing approaches can be employed to evaluate the biodiversity of fine-scale habitats, but their applicability depends on the taxonomic group and geographical scale of the lists, reflecting different conservation priorities.

The importance of hunting pressure, habitat preference and life history for population trends of breeding waterbirds in Finland

Populations of migratory species have undergone dramatic changes in recent decades, but little is known about the factors actually driving those changes. Of particular concern are quarry species such as migratory ducks (Anatidae), many of which have an unfavourable conservation status in Europe. By including both quarry and non-quarry species, as well as habitat preference and life history characteristics of the species, we investigated the relative importance of hunting pressure, both in Finland and at the European level, in explaining population changes of 16 species of migratory waterbirds in Finland during 1986–2011. Ban of lead shot in 1996 resulted in considerably lower annual hunting bags in Finland thereafter. Species which had the highest hunting pressure had the most negative slopes in population trends from 1986 up to 1997, suggesting that hunting probably limited those populations. However, in general population trends of the species were not strongly associated with hunting pressure in Finland or in Europe. Nor were basic life history characteristics (body mass and clutch size) associated with population trends of the species. In contrast, recent population declines were associated with habitat preferences of the species: those breeding mainly in eutrophic lakes had more negative population trends than those breeding in oligotrophic lakes or generalist species. Reasons for the relatively poor status of species preferring eutrophic lakes probably include over-eutrophication of nutrient-rich lakes, resulting in less abundant food resources, and increased nest depredation.

Habitat characteristics assessmen of the wetlands with breeding Ferruginous Duck Aythya nyroca and Pochard A. ferina in Bulgaria / Ocena habitatnih značilnosti mokrišč z gnezdečimi kostanjevkami Aythya nyroca in sivkami A. ferina v Bolgariji

Abstract The Ferruginous Duck Aythya nyroca and Pochard A. ferina are both regular breeders in Bulgaria. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, the Ferruginous Duck was a widely distributed and abundant breeding species in Bulgaria, while Pochard was first confirmed to breed in the country only in the 1950s. Breeding habitat characteristics of Ferruginous Duck and Pochard were assessed in 2002 during a national census of the former species in 30 and 23 wetlands, respectively, where the species were present. Preferred habitat characteristics were determined based on vegetation cover, water depth, and the presence of mosaic vegetation, bank side vegetation, floating vegetation, shallow or steep banks, shallow mudflats, shallow vegetated areas and woodland along the banks. In 2002, the Ferruginous Duck population in Bulgaria was restricted more to artificial wetlands, like fishponds and micro-reservoirs, while Pochard preferred more natural wetlands, predominantly natural marshes. The altitude of wetlands with Ferruginous Ducks varied markedly, with breeding recorded up to 880 m a.s.l., while Pochard bred at lower altitudes, mostly below 300 m a.s.l. Analysis revealed that Ferruginous Ducks preferred well-vegetated, comparatively shallow wetlands with well-structured mosaic vegetation and a diversity of microhabitats, like shallow mudflats and floating vegetation. The Pochard was found to be more of a generalist in wetland selection, significantly correlated with fewer wetland parameters, and showed preference only for larger, open-water bodies. These results could help explain and give some insight into the reasons for the differences in range size, numbers and distribution of the two species and their respective conservation status in Europe and worldwide. The Pochard, whilst close to the limits of the breeding range in Bulgaria, expands its range in Europe, occupying a variety of wetlands and thus having a favourable status. The Ferruginous Duck is more of a habitat specialist, which limits its distribution and makes it more susceptible to habitat changes. These habitat preferences and the deterioration of the wetland habitats in many parts of its range could probably explain the Ferruginous Duck decreasing population and shrinking breeding range, and thus its current unfavourable conservation status.

Synergies and trade-offs between ecosystem service supply, biodiversity, and habitat conservation status in Europe

In the European Union (EU) efforts to conserve biodiversity have been consistently directed towards the protection of habitats and species through the designation of protected areas under the Habitats Directive (92/43/ECC). These biodiversity conservation efforts also have the potential to maintain or improve the supply of ecosystem services; however, this potential has been poorly explored across Europe. This paper reports on a spatial assessment of the relationships between biodiversity, ecosystem services, and conservation status of protected habitats at European scale. We mapped at 10km resolution ten spatial proxies for ecosystem service supply (four provisioning services, five regulating services and one cultural service) and three proxies for biodiversity (Mean Species Abundance, tree species diversity and the relative area of Natura 2000 sites). Indicators for biodiversity and aggregated ecosystem service supply were positively related but this relationship was influenced by the spatial trade-offs among ecosystem services, in particular between crop production and regulating ecosystem services. Using multinomial logistic regression models we demonstrated that habitats in a favourable conservation status provided more biodiversity and had a higher potential to supply, in particular, regulating and cultural ecosystem services than habitats in an unfavourable conservation status. This information is of utmost importance in identifying regions in which measures are likely to result in cost-effective progress towards both new biodiversity conservation and ecosystem services targets adopted by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2020.

Dos and Don’ts for butterflies of the Habitats Directive of the European Union

Twenty-nine butterfly species are listed on the Annexes of the Habitats Directive. To assist everyone who wants or needs to take action for one of these species, we compiled an overview of the habitat requirements and ecology of each species, as well as information on their conservation status in Europe. This was taken from the recent Red List and their main biogeographical regions (taken from the first reporting on Article 17 of the Directive). Most important are the Dos and Don`ts, which summarize in a few bullet points what to do and what to avoid in order to protect and conserve these butterflies and their habitats.

Important Bird Areas in Macedonia: Sites of Global and European Importance

Important Bird Areas in Macedonia: Sites of Global and European Importance

Distribution of breeding birds in the Gediz Delta, Western Turkey

Atlas mapping of breeding birds in Gediz Delta Ramsar Site on the western coast of Turkey was performed in 2002. The study area of 305 km2 was divided into 305 1x1 km square UTM grids. Breeding evidence was obtained for 92 species in 291 UTM squares; 47 were classified as confirmed breeding, 22 as probable breeding, and 23 as possible breeding. Among the breeding species, three were European species of global conservation concern (Falco naumanni, Pelecanus crispus, Emberiza cineracea), 12 were species with a concentrated population and with unfavourable conservation status in Europe, and 34 were species with their population not concentrated in Europe but with unfavourable conservation status in the region. Among those with a threatened status, 7 species were vulnerable, 4 were rare, 2 were localised, 18 were declining, and 18 were depleted species. During the study, various threats were identified in 173 UTM squares out of 291 (59.5%). Among these, the most frequently observed were pollution observed in 30% of the squares, overgrazing in 22% and illegal hunting in 22%.

The Conservation Status and Trends of Raptors and Owls in Europe

To conserve biodiversity efficiently, an international framework is needed to ensure that national priorities take into account regional and global priorities. BirdLife International has published five comprehensive assessments of the global status of the world's birds and two evaluations of the status of Europe's birds at a continental level. This paper analyzes the results of these assessments in relation to Europe's 56 species of raptors and owls, 18% of which are of global conservation concern, and 64% of which have an unfavorable conservation status in Europe. The European Union (EU) holds half of the total estimated European breeding population of raptors and owls, and European Russia supports another third, but every European country has a responsibility for at least two species of European conservation concern. During the 1990s, more raptors increased than decreased in most EU member states, but the opposite was true in eastern Europe, where many of the most threatened species are concentrated. Given the popularity of these species with the public, and the political commitment to halt the loss of biodiversity by 2010, much more action is needed to monitor and conserve birds of prey.

Bird assemblages in a mixed woodland–farmland landscape: The conservation value of silviculture-dependant open areas in plantation forest

Although considered by some as a less “ecologically suitable” forestry model than “near-natural” stand management, even-aged plantation forest management, with regeneration procedure involving clearcutting, creates temporary habitat for many early-successional birds. The present study addresses the question of the conservation value for birds of clearcutting-related open areas in European temperate forest, in the context of a mixed woodland–farmland landscape. The point count technique was used to census the breeding birds on 300 sampling plots, distributed in the eight main habitat types of the Ardenne region (southern Belgium), including agricultural land, edge habitats, closed forest habitats and open areas in forest. Most of these open areas in forest derive from clearcutting practices, rapidly planted with young Norway Spruce ( Picea abies). We quantified the conservation value of a given habitat type by using a “conservation value index”, integrating the frequency of occurrence of each species in the considered habitat and their conservation status in Europe or in southern Belgium. Both conservation value index and species richness were higher for edge habitats and open areas in forest, compared to forest interior and agricultural land. Detrended Correspondence Analysis of the plot species lists showed that bird assemblages from open area in forest are not intermediate between forest and agricultural open land, as opposed to external edge habitats. Hence, open areas in forest do not contain bird assemblages composed of forest species mixed with colonizing agricultural species but rather shelter specific bird assemblages. An Indicator Species analysis further emphasized this specificity and identified seven species, which, in the Ardenne context, form a group of species specific to open areas in forest. Due to major changes of land use in the Ardenne during the 20th century, which leads to a tremendous decrease of moor, heath and fallow land areas, clearcut openings in the plantation forest progressively gained high conservation value at the regional scale. Further studies about habitat requirement of the conservation interest species inhabiting these open areas is needed, including a better understanding of how early-successional species react to forest planning. If plantation forestry evolves to an uneven-aged and more permanently closed forest, then other options, including semi-natural habitat restoration, are urgently required to save early-successional bird communities.

Grey partridge Perdix perdix population status in central northern France: spatial variability in density and 1994–2004 trend

Abstract The grey partridge Perdix perdix is an important management concern in the European farmland. Pair numbers severely declined during the 20th century. As a result, the species has been listed in SPEC category 3, i.e. ‘Unfavourable’ conservation status in Europe. The largest population of western Europe occurs in France. Its status there is, therefore, decisive for the European conservation status of the species as well as for the future of the species. Populations of partridges in central northern France have been routinely surveyed since the 1980s for hunting management purposes. In this paper, we use this long-term and wide-scale survey to portray the demographic status of partridge populations. We emphasise the amplitude of spatiotemporal variations in breeding densities. In the 2000s, a number of areas where agriculture is intensive and where the species is hunted still sustain > 50 pairs/km2, whereas densities are < 5 pairs/km2 in other areas. These low densities are, however, higher than tho...

From Red Lists to Species of Conservation Concern

Abstract: National red lists of threatened animal and plant species prepared according to the criteria of the World Conservation Union (IUCN) adequately reflect the extinction risk of species within a country but cannot be used directly to set conservation priorities. In particular, the significance of national populations for the conservation of the species as a whole is not taken into account. We present a procedure that can be used to assess national responsibility based on the national red‐list status of a species, the international importance of the national population, and the species' “historical rarity” status. We distinguished five responsibility classes for breeding birds: B1, threatened species with internationally important populations in Switzerland; B2, threatened species with internationally less important populations; B3, nonthreatened species with internationally important populations; B4, nonthreatened species with internationally less important populations; and B5, species that have never been common in Switzerland. Two responsibility classes were distinguished for birds occurring in Switzerland as visitors: G1, species with large concentrations in Switzerland and an unfavorable conservation status in Europe, and G2, species with large concentrations in Switzerland and a favorable conservation status in Europe. Two additional classes (G3 and G4) for visiting species occurring in internationally less important numbers are possible but were not analyzed in detail. Responsibility classes B1, B2, B3, G1, and G2 were defined as species of national conservation concern. We developed the method for birds in Switzerland, but it can be used in other countries and for other taxonomic groups as well. It is particularly suitable where national red lists are established according to IUCN guidelines.

The effects of grassland management using fire on habitat occupancy and conservation of birds in a mosaic landscape

Prescribed burning is routinely used to improve grazing in Pyrenean rangelands affected by an overall trend of land abandonment. This study considers the environmental variables influencing habitat occupancy by birds and the consequences of the use of fire in range management for bird conservation. Bird use and habitat structure of 11 cover types, the result of specific management regimes, were monitored for two breeding seasons in a mosaic landscape. Three main gradients of avian composition, corresponding to tree cover, shrub volume and grazing intensity, were identified from canonical correspondence analysis. The structure of the bird community seemed more intensely affected by species-specific selection of cover types than by the birds' use of multiple patches. Out of a total of 10 bird species analysed by a simultaneous confidence intervals procedure, four species with an unfavourable conservation status in Europe (Emberiza cia, Lullula arborea, Saxicola torquata and Lanius collurio) preferred managed grassland. Three types of grassland with shrubs (derived from single or repeated burning) had the highest bird conservation index (taking into account specific status and abundance of the bird assemblage), whereas forests showed middle or low values. The relation (P = 0.054) of this index to the logarithm of the pastoral value (which includes density and grazing quality of grasses) in currently managed cover types suggests that the objectives of grassland recovery by appropriate management practices and those of bird conservation coincide in our study area.

Secondary rodenticide poisoning risk arising from winter farmyard use by the European polecat Mustela putorius

The polecat Mustela putorius is a carnivore of unfavourable conservation status in Europe. It is believed to be vulnerable to accidential secondary rodenticide poisoning through the consumption of farmyard rodents. To confirm the mechanism of exposure, radio-tracking was used to examine the species' use of agricultural premises during winter when rodenticides are mainly applied to control commensal rodents. Ten out of 11 polecats radio-tracked made some use of such premises, and compositional analysis indicated that these were the most preferred of all habitats utilised. Foraging for farmyard rodents (which comprised 65% of the diet of farmyard-using polecats in this study), rather than a response to cold weather, is believed to explain this behaviour. 45.4% of animals made heavy use of farmyards, and were thus vulnerable to secondary poisoning through ingestion of rodents contaminated with rodenticides. Current government monitoring does not reveal the true level of contamination because severely affected animals tend to die out of sight in farm buildings. Since polecats are commonly killed by motor vehicles, screening of liver tissue from winter/spring road casualty polecats is recommended as a means of monitoring background levels of rodenticides.