scholarly journals How Effective Are the Protected Areas of the Natura 2000 Network in Halting Biological Invasions? A Case Study in Greece

Plants ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 2113
Author(s):  
Aikaterini Christopoulou ◽  
Anastasia Christopoulou ◽  
Nikolaos M. Fyllas ◽  
Panayiotis G. Dimitrakopoulos ◽  
Margarita Arianoutsou
Keyword(s):  
Biological Invasions ◽  
Protected Areas ◽  
Natura 2000 ◽  
Natura 2000 Network ◽  
Riparian Wetland ◽  
Alien Plant ◽  
Invasive Alien Plant ◽  
Naturalized Plant

Invasive alien plant species represent an important threat to various protected areas of the world, and this threat expected to be further enhanced due to climate change. This is also the case for the most important network of protected areas in Europe, the Natura 2000 network. In the current study we evaluated the distribution pattern of alien plant taxa across selected continental and insular Natura 2000 sites in Greece and their potential spread 15 years since first being recorded in the field. A total of seventy-three naturalized plant taxa were recorded in the 159 sites under study. At the site level and regardless of the habitat group, the ratio of invaded areas increased between the two monitoring campaigns. An increase in the ratio of invaded plots was also detected for all habitat groups, except for grassland and riparian—wetland habitats. Precipitation during the dry quarter of the year was the factor that mainly controlled the occurrence and spread of alien plant taxa regardless of the site and habitat group. It is reasonable to say that the characterization of an area as protected may not be sufficient without having implemented the proper practices for halting biological invasions.

scholarly journals Natura 2000 Network vs. Tourism and Investment Potential of Communes—A Case Study of Czarnkowsko-Trzcianecki County

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (21) ◽  
pp. 11668
Author(s):  
Marta Lisiak-Zielińska ◽  
Arlinda Cakaj ◽  
Anna Budka ◽  
Maria Drapikowska ◽  
Klaudia Borowiak ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Protected Areas ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Natura 2000 ◽  
Community Economic Development ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Natura 2000 Network ◽  
Technical Aspects ◽  
Future Potential ◽  
Eu Directives

The Natura 2000 is a network of protected areas established in the European Union on the basis of EU Directives. Simultaneously it is the youngest form of protected areas in Poland. Hence conflicts between conservation objectives and opportunities as well as needs of community economic development are quite common. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the tourism and investment potential of Czarnkowsko-Trzcianecki County and determine whether the Natura 2000 network is a factor in increasing the tourism and investment development of the commune or limiting it. We evaluated the tourism and investment potential based on modification of the Gołembski method (i.e., multidimensional comparative analysis) and measured the proportion of the Natura 2000 network in the total area of the commune. The Trzcianka commune was found to have the greatest tourism development and investment potential, but the Wieleń commune was the most attractive in terms of tourism, and Czarnków (municipal commune) was found to have the highest investment attractiveness. Moreover, there was no correlation between the Natura 2000 network and tourism and investment potential of communes. However, these areas had a negative impact on the investment attractiveness of communes, due to socio-economic and technical aspects, which may cause future potential limitation of development.

scholarly journals Is the Natura 2000 network effective to prevent the biological invasions?

2018 ◽  
Vol 16 ◽  
pp. e00497 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos Guerra ◽  
Rocío A. Baquero ◽  
Daniela Gutiérrez-Arellano ◽  
Graciela G. Nicola
Keyword(s):  
Biological Invasions ◽  
Natura 2000 ◽  
Natura 2000 Network

Integrating knowledge of ecological succession into invasive alien plant management: A case study from Portugal

2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 328-339
Author(s):  
Liliana Neto Duarte ◽  
Carlos Pinto Gomes ◽  
Hélia Marchante ◽  
Elizabete Marchante
Keyword(s):  
Ecological Succession ◽  
Plant Management ◽  
Alien Plant ◽  
Invasive Alien Plant

scholarly journals The geography of high-value biodiversity areas for terrestrial vertebrates in Western Europe and their coverage by protected area networks

Web Ecology ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-73 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. J. T. Assunção-Albuquerque ◽  
J. M. Rey Benayas ◽  
F. S. Albuquerque ◽  
M. Á. Rodríguez
Keyword(s):  
Protected Areas ◽  
Protected Area ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Natura 2000 ◽  
Area Network ◽  
Vertebrate Species ◽  
Natura 2000 Network ◽  
Study Region ◽  
Terrestrial Vertebrates ◽  
Major Taxon

Abstract. We identified high-value biodiversity areas (HVBAs) of terrestrial vertebrates according to a combined index of biodiversity (CBI) for each major taxon and a standardized biodiversity index (SBI) for all taxa in 2195 cells of 50 × 50 km in Western Europe to evaluate whether these areas are included in the current protected area networks. The World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA) and NATURA 2000 protected area network were used to assess the protected area cover in HVBAs. WDPA and NATURA 2000 were geographically quite complementary as WDPA is more densely represented in Central and Northern Europe and NATURA 2000 in the Mediterranean basin. A total of 729 cells were identified as HVBAs. From the total of these HVBA areas, NATURA 2000 network was present in more cells (660) than the WDPA network (584 cells). The sum of protected land percentages across all the HVBA cells was 28.8%. The identified HVBA cells according to the SBI included 603 or 78.2% of all vertebrate species in the study region, whereas the identified HVBA cells according to the SBI for individual taxa included 47 (90.4%) species of amphibians, 79 (74.5%) of reptiles, 417 (88.5%) of birds, and 130 (91.5%) of mammals. However, neither network was present in 7 or 3% of the identified HVBA cells. Thus, we recommend expanding protected areas in Europe to fill this gap and improve coverage of vertebrate species to strengthen biodiversity conservation.

Evaluating the cost-effectiveness of invasive alien plant clearing: A case study from South Africa

2012 ◽  
Vol 155 ◽  
pp. 128-135 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew M. McConnachie ◽  
Richard M. Cowling ◽  
Brian W. van Wilgen ◽  
Dominic A. McConnachie
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Cost Effectiveness ◽  
Alien Plant ◽  
Invasive Alien Plant ◽  
The Cost

scholarly journals The Contribution of Ecosystem Services in Developing Effective and Sustainable Management Practices in Marine Protected Areas. The Case Study of “Isola dell’Asinara”

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 1108 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maddalena Floris ◽  
Vittorio Gazale ◽  
Federica Isola ◽  
Francesca Leccis ◽  
Salvatore Pinna ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Protected Areas ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Marine Protected Area ◽  
Economic Impacts ◽  
Coastal Zone Management ◽  
Natura 2000 ◽  
Experimental Methodology ◽  
Zone Management

Ecosystem Services (ESs) are assuming a constantly increasing importance in management practices due to their key role in ensuring a sustainable future to fauna and flora on Earth. In addition, ES degradation and quality loss jeopardize current human activities. For this reason, it is essential to develop methodologies and practices able to efficiently assess environmental and socio-economic impacts in terms of ES deterioration, especially within protected areas. Norms and regulations have to be able to identify habitat and species categories to be preserved, and to determine the cost of their destruction and decline, according to a holistic vision, which includes social and economic impacts, besides the environmental ones. The paper illustrates the case study of the “Isola dell’Asinara” Marine Protected Area (MPA) in Sardinia, where an experimental methodology was developed with the aim to draw new regulations that integrate conservation measures of Natura 2000 sites included in its territory, provisions determined by the integrated coastal zone management (ICZM) protocol and the Standardized Actions for Effective Management of MPAs (ISEA) project. Subsequently, in order to assess the status of ESs and impacts on ESs located within the MPA territory, an ecosystem-based approach was implemented and applied to the actions defined for the new regulation proposal. Results show that regulations are in this way valuably enriched by environmental aspects of the MPA that would otherwise be overlooked.

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