Quantitatively defining the conservation status of Natura 2000 forest habitats and improving management options for enhancing biodiversity

The small-sized gametophytes and sporophytes of the green shield-moss Buxbaumia viridis (Moug.) Brid. make it difficult to study. However, in Europe, there has been increasing interest in this species in the past few years, mostly as a result of the implementation of the Natura 2000 network. In Poland, B. viridis has only been reported in isolated studies that have been limited in terms of area and the number of participating workers. One of the Polish regions where B. viridis was recently recorded is the Bieszczady Mountains, but there have been no large-scale surveys of that region to date. The objective of the current work was to describe the B. viridis population in the Bieszczady Mountains in terms of its spatial distribution and abundance, investigate its selected microhabitat preferences, and evaluate the conservation status of this moss species within the Natura 2000 site Bieszczady PLC180001. The studied region encompassed 93,490.44 ha, including 69,056.23 ha of managed forests and 24,434.21 ha of forests belonging to the Bieszczady National Park. A preliminary survey was conducted in the Cisna Forest District (forest area of 19,555.82 ha) on 15–17 November 2017, while the main survey was performed in selected forest subcompartments of four forest districts—Baligród, Komańcza, Lutowiska, and Stuposiany—as well as the Bieszczady National Park from 5 to 16 November 2018. The field work consisted of searching for B. viridis sporophytes and setae and recording selected population and locality characteristics. The study led to the discovery of 353 new B. viridis localities in 202 study areas, with 9197 diploid individuals (sporophytes or setae only) growing in 545 microhabitats. The number of B. viridis localities discovered in the Bieszczady Mountains during 17 days of survey in 2017 and 2018 was two times higher than the combined number of localities previously found in Poland over more than 150 years (159 localities). Additionally, the number of sporophytes and setae identified was two times greater than their overall number in previous records. In addition, this study provides information about selected microhabitat preferences and the conservation status of this moss in the Bieszczady Natura 2000 site.

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Natura 2000 forest habitats: climatic debt in lowlands and thermophilization in highlands

Biodiversity and Conservation ◽

10.1007/s10531-020-02044-z ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 29 (13) ◽

pp. 3689-3701

Author(s):

Lise Maciejewski ◽

Emilien Kuhn ◽

Anne Gégout-Petit ◽

Jean-Claude Gégout

Keyword(s):

Natura 2000 ◽

Forest Habitats

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Natura 2000 sites and fisheries in German offshore waters

ICES Journal of Marine Science ◽

10.1093/icesjms/fsn193 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 66 (1) ◽

pp. 155-169 ◽

Cited By ~ 44

Author(s):

Søren Anker Pedersen ◽

Heino Fock ◽

Jochen Krause ◽

Christian Pusch ◽

Anne L. Sell ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Marine Mammals ◽

Fishery Management ◽

Conservation Status ◽

Natura 2000 ◽

Management Measures ◽

Favourable Conservation Status ◽

Management Plans ◽

Natura 2000 Site ◽

Environmentally Sound ◽

Fishing Impacts

Abstract Pedersen, S. A., Fock, H., Krause, J., Pusch, C., Sell, A. L., Böttcher, U., Rogers, S. I., Sköld, M., Skov, H., Podolska, M., Piet, G. J., and Rice, J. C. 2009. Natura 2000 sites and fisheries in German offshore waters.–ICES Journal of Marine Science, 66: 155–169. The principal objective of sites selected as part of Natura 2000 is to achieve or maintain a favourable conservation status of habitats and species named in the EU Birds and Habitats directives. In the German exclusive economic zone, the habitat types protected by this legislation are sandbanks and reefs; protected species include marine mammals, seabirds, and specific migratory fish species. The ICES project Environmentally Sound Fishery Management in Protected Areas (EMPAS) aims to answer two questions: (i) To what extent do specific fishing activities significantly threaten attainment of the conservation objectives of the Natura 2000 sites? (ii) What management measures would reduce these conflicts and how effective would they be at helping to ensure the favourable condition of these sites? Assessments of fishing impacts on Natura 2000 sites require basic data on the conservation status of individual habitats and species, as well as data for fine-scale distributions of ongoing fishing activities. This paper describes and discusses the process used by the EMPAS project in developing fishery-management plans for each Natura 2000 site in German offshore waters.

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Long-term monitoring for the surveillance of the conservation status of Tursiops truncatus in an EU Natura2000 site in the Mediterranean Sea. A pilot study in the Tuscan Archipelago

Mediterranean Marine Science ◽

10.12681/mms.24562 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

ANTONELLA ARCANGELI ◽

ROBERTO CROSTI ◽

ILARIA CAMPANA ◽

LARA CAROSSO ◽

MARTINA GREGORIETTI ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Pilot Study ◽

Mediterranean Sea ◽

Bottlenose Dolphin ◽

Tursiops Truncatus ◽

Conservation Status ◽

Natura 2000 ◽

Research Network ◽

Habitats Directive ◽

Common Bottlenose Dolphin ◽

The Mediterranean

A pilot study, using the dataset from the research network ‘FLT Med Net’, which regularly monitors transborder regions in the Mediterranean Sea using ferries as platform for systematic surveys, was undertaken to assess common bottlenose dolphin range and population trends within the Natura 2000 EU marine site “Tutela del Tursiops truncatus”. The site was recently designated by the Tuscany Region (Italy) within the requirement of the EU Habitats Directive. In order to evaluate the conservation status of bottlenose dolphin according to the surveillance scheme of the Directive, two six-year periods (2007-2012; 2013-2018) were compared to assess trends in distribution-occurrence (range); Sightings Per Unit of Effort and Density (population). In total, 18146 NM were surveyed along two fixed transects, recording 90 sightings of Tursiops truncatus and a total of 268 specimens. Between the two periods, slight but not statistically significant differences were assessed, with decreasing trend in range and population of the species; no variation was detected in mean group sizes. Travelling was the most common behaviour, and juveniles were present in 20% of the sightings, concentrated during spring and summer. The consistent FLT Med Net dataset was found to be appropriate to evaluate important parameters for the assessment of trends in the conservation status of Tursiops truncatus at the Natura2000 site scale.

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Artificial Wetlands as Breeding Habitats for Colonial Waterbirds within Central Romania

Diversity ◽

10.3390/d12100371 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (10) ◽

pp. 371

Author(s):

Dan Traian Ionescu ◽

Călin Vasile Hodor ◽

Ion Cătălin Petritan

Keyword(s):

Conservation Status ◽

Bird Species ◽

Natura 2000 ◽

Positive Trend ◽

Phalacrocorax Carbo ◽

Artificial Wetlands ◽

Nycticorax Nycticorax ◽

Ardea Alba ◽

Colonial Waterbirds ◽

Population Sizes

The historical loss of natural wetlands in Romania is significant. The building of lakes, ponds, and dams has compensated for some of these losses, as was the case in the study area, the artificial wetlands designated as the Natura 2000 (special protection area, SPA) and Ramsar sites. In this context, to evaluate the conservation status of colonial waterbirds (cormorants, herons, and egrets), we analyzed actual distributions, habitat selection, features, and population sizes. Standardized counting of colonial species was used, supplemented by nest counting and colony-area estimation during winter, and drone footage. All species and their colonies were built in artificial or anthropically influenced habitats. Concerning distribution and population sizes, Phalacrocorax carbo and Microcarbo pygmeus were found to nest only in central Romania. The pair numbers of Ardea alba, Ardea purpurea, Ardea cinerea, and Nycticorax nycticorax in the area exceeded 1% of the national minimum breeding population. There was a statistically significant positive trend of breeding populations for Ardea alba, Nycticorax nycticorax, and Egretta garzetta. In conclusion, these artificial wetlands offer optimal breeding conditions for a relatively large diversity of colonial bird species over areas that are not very large.

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Biodiversity in (the Natura 2000) forest habitats is not static: its conservation calls for an active management approach

Journal for Nature Conservation ◽

10.1016/j.jnc.2017.07.004 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 43 ◽

pp. 250-260 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Marko Kovac ◽

David Hladnik ◽

Lado Kutnar

Keyword(s):

Natura 2000 ◽

Active Management ◽

Management Approach ◽

Forest Habitats

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A simple method for assessing preliminary conservation status of plants at a national level: a case study using the ferns of El Salvador

Oryx ◽

10.1017/s0030605310000967 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 44 (4) ◽

pp. 523-528

Author(s):

Sandra Knapp ◽

Jorge Monterrosa Salomón

Keyword(s):

El Salvador ◽

Protected Areas ◽

Conservation Status ◽

National Level ◽

Field Studies ◽

Global Scale ◽

Simple Method ◽

Conservation Concern ◽

Forest Habitats

AbstractAssessments of conservation status are usually carried out on a global scale but national priorities often necessitate a more focused approach. Using a typology of rarity first articulated in the early 1980s by Deborah Rabinowitz, coupled with presence/absence from protected areas, preliminary conservation status at the national level was assessed for 397 species of ferns and fern allies from El Salvador in Central America. Of these, 43 lacked sufficient data, 175 were considered not of conservation concern, 106 were considered to be at risk and 73 to be threatened. The majority of the threatened species were from cloud or montane forest habitats but aquatics and species restricted to pine–oak forests are also rare and occur outside protected areas. The utility of this simple methodology is discussed and the importance of field studies by local experts with local knowledge emphasized.

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