Favourable Conservation Status Research Articles

The Conservation Measures of NATURA 2000 "Someşul Rece" Site Management Plan

Natura 2000 is a European network of protected natural areas including a significant number of natural habitats and wild species for the interest of comunnity. Natura 2000 ROSCI 0233 "Someşul Rece" Site is situated in the south-western county of Cluj, on the administrative territory of Măguri-Răcătău and Ierii Valley. It has an area of 8529 ha and is a framed area of the Apuseni Mountains Alpine bioregions. The site preserves the following natural habitats: Rough mountain beech forests Asperulo-Fagetum, beech forests of Luzulo-Fagetum, forests acidophilous Picea Abies mountain region and protect important species and active fish fauna, flora and fauna of the Apuseni Mountains. It is also home for several species (mammals, amphibians, fish and beetles) like: lynx, wolf or otter. The conservation measures of Natura 2000 Somesul Rece Site, elaborated in order to protect the habitats and the species are part of the management plan. These measures were developed in close connection with the conservation status of habitats and species, but also taking into account the needs of local communities. These measures include: maintaining habitats in favorable conservation status; maintain the current habitat areas; preventing and combating poaching and overfishing;ensuring peace in areas of rock (for large mammals).

Flyway population delineation in Taiga Bean Geese Anser fabalis fabalis revealed by multi‐element feather stable isotope analysis

Fundamental to effective management of migratory waterbird populations is an understanding of their flyway delineation. Taiga Bean Geese Anser fabalis fabalis wintering in NW Denmark, Scotland and England are considered to originate from northern and central Sweden, southern and central Norway (‘Western flyway’), those wintering in southern Sweden, NE and southern Denmark are considered to originate from northern Fennoscandia and western Russia (‘Central flyway’), and those wintering in eastern Germany and Poland (which show far less favourable conservation status) are thought to come from western Siberia (‘Eastern 1 flyway’), although evidence to demonstrate this has largely been lacking. Evidence for different natal and moult origins of Taiga Bean Geese was investigated using stable isotope analyses of feathers of four elements (δ2H, δ13C, δ15N and δ34S). There were significant differences in isotopic composition of feathers from Swedish (Central) and German (Eastern 1) wintering populations and those moulting in Sweden in late summer (Western), which validated the three proposed major management flyway units above. The strong continental gradient in the stable hydrogen isotope ratios in precipitation (δ2Hp) across the region was used to assign wintering birds geospatially to natal and moulting origin, indicating separate natal and moulting areas for German (n = 37, from western Siberia) and Swedish (n = 20, Fennoscandia and more western Russia) wintering birds. These results confirm the largely discrete nature of these three flyways and contribute significantly to our ability to deliver effective targeted and appropriate research, monitoring and management actions throughout the ranges of these flyways.

Population estimates and geographical distributions of swans and geese in East Asia based on counts during the non-breeding season

SummaryFor the first time, we estimated the population sizes of two swan species and four goose species from observations during the non-breeding period in East Asia. Based on combined counts from South Korea, Japan and China, we estimated the total abundance of these species as follows: 42,000–47,000 Whooper SwansCygnus cygnus; 99,000–141,000 Tundra SwansC. columbianus bewickii; 56,000–98,000 Swan GeeseAnser cygnoides; 157,000–194,000 Bean GeeseA. fabalis; 231,000–283,000 Greater White-fronted GeeseA. albifrons; and 14,000–19,000 Lesser White-fronted GeeseA. erythropus.While the count data from Korea and Japan provide a good reflection of numbers present, there remain gaps in the coverage in China, which particularly affect the precision of the estimates for Bean, Greater and Lesser White-fronted Geese as well as Tundra Swans. Lack of subspecies distinction of Bean Geese in China until recently also limits our ability to determine the true status ofA. f. middendorffiithere, but all indications suggest this population numbers around 18,000 individuals and is in need of urgent attention. The small, highly concentrated and declining numbers of Lesser White-fronted Geese give concern for this species, as do the major declines in Greater White-fronted Geese in China (in contrast to numbers in Japan and Korea, considered to be a separate flyway). In the absence of any demographic data, it is impossible to interpret the causes of these changes in abundance. Improved monitoring, including demographic and tracking studies are required to provide the necessary information to retain populations in favourable conservation status.

Habitat mapping of coastal wetlands using expert knowledge and Earth observation data

Summary Long‐term habitat mapping and change detection are essential for the management of coastal wetlands as well as for evaluating the impact of conservation policies. Earth observation (EO) data and techniques are a valuable resource for long‐term habitat mapping. Although the use of EO data is well developed for the automatic production of land cover (LC) maps, this is not the same for habitat maps, which are highly related to biodiversity. In a previous paper, we used the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) Land Cover Classification System (LCCS) environmental attributes (e.g. water quality, lithology, soil surface aspect) for LC‐to‐habitat class translation. However, these environmental attributes are often not openly available, not updated or are missing. This paper offers an alternative, knowledge‐based solution to automatic habitat mapping. When only expert rules and EO data are used, the final overall map accuracy, which is obtained by comparing reference ground truth patches to the ones depicted in the output map, is lower (75·1%) than the accuracy obtained using environmental attributes alone (97·0%). Some ambiguities that still remain in habitat discrimination are resolved by integrating the use of LCCS environmental attributes (if available) and expert rules. In this paper, we use very high‐resolution (VHR) satellite data and LIDAR data. LC classes are labelled according to the LCCS taxonomy, which offers a framework to integrate EO data with in situ and ancillary data. Output habitat classes are labelled according to the European Habitats Directive (92/43 EEC Directive) Annex I habitat types and Eunis habitat classification. Two Natura 2000 coastal wetland sites in southern Italy are considered. Synthesis and applications. In this paper, we study the exploitation of ecological rules on vegetation pattern, plant phenology and habitat geometric properties for automatic translation of land cover (LC) maps to habitat maps in coastal wetlands. The methodology is useful for relatively inaccessible sites (e.g. wetlands) as it does not require in‐field campaigns (generally costly) but only the elicitation of ecological expert rules. This can support site (e.g. Natura 2000) managers in long‐term automatic habitat mapping. Habitat changes can be automatically detected by comparing map pairs, and trends can be quantified. This is particularly useful to satisfy the commitments of the European Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC), which requires Member States to take measures to maintain as, or restore to, favourable conservation status those natural habitat types and species of community interest that are listed in the Annexes to the Directive.

How to support the effective management of Natura 2000 sites?

In Europe, biodiversity conservation relies on the Natura 2000 network. However, it is often difficult to ensure the favourable conservation status of species and habitats due to scarce financial resources. Therefore, we examined the current management strategies and conditions of three Italian Natura 2000 sites based on a questionnaire and stakeholder meetings. Additionally, we qualitatively assessed the potential of ecosystem services provision. Then an A'WOT analysis was carried out to identify and highlight internal and external factors affecting natural and semi-natural ecosystems and the socio-economic context, aiming to propose new instruments and approaches for effective management. The analysis revealed opportunities for developing tourism and the high potential of regulating services, whereas the bureaucratic burden and a lack of funding threaten the attainment of biodiversity conservation goals. Thus, we propose that payments for ecosystem services should be considered to support the effective management of Natura 2000 sites.

Favourable Conservation Status for Species: Examining the Habitats Directive’s Key Concept through a Case Study of the Swedish Wolf

One of the key issues in the current controversy over the hunting of wolves in Sweden is whether the wolf population has reached favourable conservation status (FCS). FCS is a legal concept, create ...

Assessing the conservation status of Mediterranean temporary ponds using biodiversity: a new tool for practitioners

The assessment of the habitat condition is the first step of conservation actions and several tools are available to assess wetlands. However, only a few tools are adapted to the priority habitat Mediterranean temporary ponds. Thus, our objectives were (i) to identify biological indicators associated with the different conservation status of Mediterranean temporary ponds and (ii) to create an efficient evaluation tool for non-experts using indicators of conservation status. A total of 87 ponds were sampled in southwest Portugal to assess the presence of plants, large branchiopods, amphibians, threatened voles and bats. Ponds with favourable conservation status showed higher species richness of plants, large branchiopods and amphibians. We identified eighteen indicators for favourable ponds: 15 plants, one large branchiopod and two amphibian taxa. We propose a new tool to assess the conservation status of Mediterranean temporary ponds based on the presence of these indicators. This tool is an alternative to other common, but time-consuming, methods and can be readily used by trained practitioners. The replication and adaptation of this tool to other regions and habitats enables the collection of comparable data and the geographical scaling-up of the assessments.

Deux systèmes d’évaluation du statut de conservation des espèces en France : complémentarité ou redondance ? Cas de la Liste rouge et du rapport sur l’état de conservation pour la directive Habitats-faune-flore

Two systems to assess species conservation status in France : complementarity or redundancy ? The case of the Red List and of the Habitats Directive report on species conservation status.— The Red List of threatened species initiative and Member State reporting under the European "Nature" Directives both provide regular assessments of species conservation status at a national level. Focusing on Habitats Directive species within metropolitan France, this study investigates complementarity and redundancy of both assessment systems. In terms of concepts and classification, the two approaches cover both ends of the conservation status “gradient” (from extinction to favourable conservation status). The national Red List is an alert and monitoring system which measures the risk of extinction for each species within a given taxonomic group. The Habitats Directive assessment measures the gap between current status and “favourable status” for 312 species and subspecies. Despite their different spatial scales (administrative vs biogeographical boundaries), the two assessment systems are broadly similar in terms of methods, organization, data and experts involved. For example, for the studied groups, half of the 140 experts mobilized for the national Red List initiative also contributed to the latest assessment of Habitats Directive species in France. Our study compares the conservation status of over 140 taxa assessed by both methods. The results show a strong consistency between the two systems (63 % of cases), especially for extreme status categories. However, our analysis also highlights conceptual and methodological differences, mainly regarding the definition of thresholds and the concept of favourable reference values. Given limited data and restricted human resources, we suggest several ways to promote their convergence. For example, the mutual comparison of assessments results during the validation phase could provide useful information about inconsistencies ; moreover, the two assessments processes could be synchronized in order to gather expert advice and data more efficiently.

The Gulf of Ambracia's Common Bottlenose Dolphins, Tursiops truncatus: A Highly Dense and yet Threatened Population.

The common bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) is the only cetacean present in the semiclosed waters of the Gulf of Ambracia, Western Greece. This increasingly degraded coastal ecosystem hosts one of the highest observed densities in the Mediterranean Sea for this species. Photo-identification data and tissue samples collected through skin-swabbing and remote biopsy sampling techniques during boat-based surveys conducted between 2006 and 2015 in the Gulf, were used to examine bottlenose dolphin abundance, population trends, site fidelity, genetic differentiation and toxicological status. Bottlenose dolphins showed high levels of year-round site fidelity throughout the 10-year study period. Dolphin population estimates mostly fell between 130 and 170 with CVs averaging about 10%; a trend in population size over the 10 years was a decline of 1.6% per year (but this was not significant). Genetic differentiation between the bottlenose dolphins of the Gulf and their conspecifics from neighbouring populations was detected, and low genetic diversity was found among individuals sampled. In addition, pesticides where identified as factors posing a real toxicological problem for local bottlenose dolphins. Therefore, in the Gulf of Ambracia, high dolphin density does not seem to be indicative of favourable conservation status or pristine habitat.

Expert Elicitation Methods in Quantifying the Consequences of Acoustic Disturbance from Offshore Renewable Energy Developments.

There are many developments for offshore renewable energy around the United Kingdom whose installation typically produces large amounts of far-reaching noise, potentially disturbing many marine mammals. The potential to affect the favorable conservation status of many species means extensive environmental impact assessment requirements for the licensing of such installation activities. Quantification of such complex risk problems is difficult and much of the key information is not readily available. Expert elicitation methods can be employed in such pressing cases. We describe the methodology used in an expert elicitation study conducted in the United Kingdom for combining expert opinions based on statistical distributions and copula-like methods.

Assessing biodiversity and conservation status of the Natura 2000 forest habitat types: Tools for designated forestlands stewardship

The maintenance of biodiversity in forestlands has become one of the major concerns of forestry in the European Union (EU) as well as globally. The EU and its member states implement it through the Forest Europe process, which promotes sustainable forest management, and the EU Council Habitats Directive (HDirective). Within the Forest Europe process, indicators and management concepts are developed for forests in general, whereas the HDirective is concerned with the forest habitats and forest habitat types of the Natura 2000 network. Although the HDirective helps to tackle a broad range of biodiversity problems, there remain some open issues, including the vaguely defined concept of a forest habitat type, conservation status of a forest habitat type, lack of defined indicators of conservation status and undeveloped concepts for the stewardship of forest habitat types. This study addressed most of these open problems. The methods were tested in three habitat types in Slovenia: 9110 – Luzulo-Fagetum beech forests, 91K0 – Illyrian Fagus sylvatica forests (Aremonio-Fagion) and 91L0 – Illyrian oak–hornbeam forests (Erythronio-Carpinion). To make the definition of a forest habitat type more concrete, a hierarchical order was introduced into the current concept of forest habitat types. A hierarchal relation between forest habitat types and their subtypes was established by employing a bottom-up strategy and classification key. This key was developed through exploring the vegetation and eco-geographical characteristics of the forest habitat subtypes. An assessment of the conservation status of forest habitat types was performed using 18 indicators. Only the indicators supporting the favorable conservation status definition outlined in the HDirective were selected. The stewardship of forest habitat types was demonstrated through assessment points depicting the present, ideal and desired states of the indicators. The points were constructed through a basic statistical analysis, vegetation and forest planning models and literature review. The results showed that dividing the three forest habitat types produced less heterogeneous forest habitat subtypes. The indicators and the assessment points performed well as they suggested the preferred course of development of the three forest habitat types. Because of their applicability in different environments, the methods can be used in other European countries and regions and beyond.

A Legal-Ecological Understanding of Favorable Conservation Status for Species in Europe

Legislation for the preservation of biodiversity has been instrumental to the recovery of multiple species and habitats. The European Habitats Directive 92/43/EEC is one of the strongest legal tools in nature conservation. This Directive seeks to achieve its biodiversity goals by requiring EU Member States to take measures to reach or maintain favorable conservation status (FCS) of natural habitats and species in Europe. FCS is a legal concept, but must be understood and applied by scientists, managers, and policy makers, and therefore a proper interpretation of this concept is crucial for biodiversity conservation and wildlife management. However, its definition contains several aspects that can lead to misinterpretation, forming the core of controversies in determining whether or not populations have reached FCS. In this review, we provide legal and ecological clarifications of the most contested aspects of FCS that have not yet been conclusively settled by analyzing and weighing a variety of sources.

AVALIAÇÃO QUALI-QUANTITATIVA DA ARBORIZAÇÃO URBANA NA BACIA HIDROGRÁFICA CÓRREGO DO SAPATEIRO, SÃO PAULO – SP

This vegetation in urban environments can cause numerous ecological, economic and social contributions. This research aimed to valuate qualitative and quantitatively urban forest in a watershed Corrego do Sapateiro the city of Sao Paulo (SP). Thus, were surveyed every shrub and tree individuals and were collected physical, biological and plant health. We found 532 individual trees, over 54 species belonging to 22 families. There was a predominance of native species and most of the trees have a favorable conservation status (67%). Was also evaluated the need for some actions to improve the quality of urban trees, some examples pruning of construction magnification, fertilizer, removal of interfering vegetation, among others.

Abordagem multicritério de apoio a decisões estrategicamente sustentáveis nas organizações

Manter as condições socioambientais em um estado de conservação favorável para que a sociedade se desenvolva sem restrições é a ideia que embasa o conceito de Sustentabilidade. Diversas esferas como as mídias, a academia e as organizações passaram a dar maior importância para o estudo da sustentabilidade, uma vez que ela impacta diretamente em aspectos que influenciam a economia no mundo. Organizacionalmente, o uso de estratégias sustentáveis é capaz de trazer retornos em prol de um desenvolvimento saudável e de uma cultura consciente quanto aos desperdícios, além de refletir na forma como as organizações mantém seu relacionamento com a sociedade e o meio ambiente. O objetivo deste trabalho é propor um modelo para a priorização de estratégias que apoiem a criação de um ambiente e uma cultura baseados em sustentabilidade nas organizações. Tal modelo possui quatro etapas, iniciando-se com a estruturação de problemas, passando pela definição de critérios e alternativas, aplicação de método multicritério para priorização e, por fim, chegando à implementação das alternativas de acordo com o que o decisor julgue adequado, tomando por base o resultado da priorização.

Management intensification in Ethiopian coffee forests is associated with crown habitat contraction and loss of specialized epiphytic orchid species

The moist evergreen Afromontane forest of SW Ethiopia has become extremely fragmented and most remnants are intensively managed for cultivation of coffee (Coffea arabica). We investigated the distributions of epiphytic orchids in shade trees and their understory in forests with contrasting management intensity to determine biodiversity losses associated with coffee cultivation and to determine the capacity of coffee shrubs to act as refugia for orchid species. We studied epiphytic orchids in managed forests and natural forests and recorded orchid diversity and abundance in different tree zones of 339 trees and in the understory. Coffee management was associated with a downward shift of orchid species as orchid species were occurring in significantly lower tree zones in managed forest. The number of shrubs in the understory of managed forest was not higher than in natural forests, yet orchid abundance was higher in the understory of managed forests. Local extinctions of epiphytic orchids and species losses in the outer tree zones (a contraction of habitat) in managed forests are most likely driven by losses of large, complex-structured climax trees, and changes in microclimate, respectively. Coffee shrubs and their shade trees in managed forests are shown here to be a suitable habitat for only a limited set of orchid species. As farmers continue to convert natural forest into managed forest for coffee cultivation, further losses of habitat quality and collateral declines in regional epiphytic orchid diversity can be expected. Therefore, the conservation of epiphytic orchid diversity, as well as other components of diversity of the coffee forests, must primarily rely on avoiding coffee management intensification in the remaining natural forest. Convincing farmers to keep forest-climax trees in their coffee forest and to tolerate orchids on their coffee shrubs may also contribute to a more favorable conservation status of orchids in Ethiopian coffee agroecosystems.

Science, statistics and surveys: a herpetological perspective.

Science, statistics and surveys: a herpetological perspective.

Conceptual and operational perspectives on ecosystem restoration options in the European Union and elsewhere: a response to Kotiaho & Moilanen

Kotiaho & Moilanen (2015) highlighted what they call a conceptual flaw in our study (Egoh et al. 2014) and some operational flaws. Here, we respond to these. According to Kotiaho & Moilanen (2015), the conceptual flaw is that we supposedly neglect both the magnitude of degradation and the magnitude of improvement of the ecosystem condition expected due to restoration in the original paper (Egoh et al. 2014). However, we took magnitude of degradation into account in the paper (Egoh et al. 2014) by not including areas with habitats and species in favourable conservation status and also excluding artificial surfaces such as urban areas. We argue that the operational flaws, the authors cite (specifically with respect to the inclusion of restoration cost), were taken out of context and the calculations on the effective area requiring restoration within a grid cell were not well understood by the authors. In the original paper (Egoh et al. 2014), restoration cost was only included in one analysis to investigate the effects of including different criteria on the area selected. Also, each grid cell selected contained only areas defined as restorable in our analysis. Synthesis and applications. The points raised by Kotiaho & Moilanen (2015) are surely relevant and pertinent to the general discussion on restoration efforts, but when applied to our study, these points are out of context. Areas identified for restoration should consider magnitude of degradation as in our study. However, the inclusion of cost should be carefully considered; in our case, we used a proxy for cost only to understand the implication of including many criteria in identifying priority areas.

Seed‐dispersal networks on the Canaries and the Galápagos archipelagos: interaction modules as biogeographical entities

AbstractAimMutualistic network parameters, such as modularity and nestedness, show non‐random linkage patterns. Both increase network stability in different ways. Modularity hampers extinction cascades, whereas nestedness resists network disassembly. We explore these parameters in seed‐dispersal networks in two archipelagos and the significance of life history, habitat, geography and phylogeny as drivers of linkage patterns and the applicability of modules as biogeographical entities.LocationCanaries (Atlantic Ocean) and Galápagos (Pacific Ocean).MethodsWe compiled data on plant–seed disperser interactions from own observations and the literature, estimated network parameters describing interaction patterns (connectance, nestedness and modularity) and constructed a backbone phylogeny for the analyses.ResultsThe Canarian network was highly nested but weakly modular, whereas the Galápagos network showed the opposite characteristics. Most key network species are native and have a favourable conservation status. Modularity in the Canaries is correlated with habitats (indirectly affected by altitude and orientation), whereas in the Galápagos it mainly reflects the functional roles of species.Main conclusionsThe divergent link patterns for the archipelagos imply that the highly nested Canarian network is stable against disassembly, whereas the modular Galápagos network may show strong resistance against extinction cascades. This difference may be driven by the specific evolutionary dynamics on the archipelagos.

Mitigating impacts of roads on wildlife: an agenda for the conservation of priority European protected species in Great Britain

Global increases in road networks have been matched by traffic flows and are implicated in declines of many sensitive species. Impacts on wildlife by linear development features such as roads include mortality due to vehicle collisions and secondary effects such as preventing traditional movements or severing links between populations. European legislation requires development activities to have ‘no detriment’ to the favourable conservation status of European protected species (EPS), including great crested newts (Triturus cristatus), hazel dormouse (Muscardinus avellanarius) and bats (Chiroptera). To protect these and other species, various mitigation measures are available. Within this review, we sought to identify best practice guidance for preventing and mitigating these impacts for EPS in Great Britain, evaluate the evidence underpinning these best practices and identity knowledge gaps that may impede progress in improving practices. Many current practices appear to be implemented at considerable cost despite limited evidence of their effectiveness. This is probably partly due to inadequate definition of effectiveness, which has most frequently been assessed as a reduction in absolute road mortality or increased frequency of safe road crossings. However, challenges in measuring benefits more appropriately, at spatial and temporal scales that are appropriate for population maintenance, may also have contributed. Evidence of the cost-effectiveness of mitigation works could underpin justification for the substantial investment required to implement many of the mitigation methods reviewed, could avoid the potentially wasteful use of ineffective methods and could better safeguard the conservation status of impacted EPS at local and national scales.

Implementing the Habitats Directive: How science can support decision making

The overall goal of the Habitats Directive is to maintain or restore natural habitats and species in a favourable conservation status. An important role in the implementation process is assigned to science. For three core elements, defining the favourable conservation status, development of best practice measures, and monitoring of the conservation status, we outline how science can support decision making. To do so, we use experiences from the ongoing process in Flanders (northern Belgium). First, when determining the favourable conservation status, information on reference values are embedded in a specifically developed calibration model where thresholds on range, area, and quality are set for habitats. Subsequently, socio-economical requirements are taken into consideration, without compromising the favourable conservation status. When it comes to conducting measures, science adds to the knowledge on developing and optimizing cost-effective conservation and restoration management measures. Finally, monitoring of the conservation status will be based on the principle of statistically sound methodologies, enabling the identification of reliability in the assessments made. For habitats, information on area will be gathered through a surface-covering mapping, while quality will be assessed via a sample-oriented monitoring scheme. For species, maximal collaboration with non-governmental organisations will be undertaken, with scientific support on data recording and processing. Overall, the obtained insights will help policy makers to define the framework and set priorities, take the appropriate measures, and keep a finger on the pulse through monitoring data.