Landscape Changes in Protected Areas in Poland

Land-Use Cover Changes (LUCCs) are one of the main problems for the preservation of landscapes and natural biodiversity. Protected Areas (PAs) do not escape this threat. Poland is among the European leaders in terms of the variety of landscapes and the share of an area designated as a protected area. However, as many as 78% of the habitats have poor or bad conservation status based on EEA reports. This article analyzes the LUCCs between 2000 and 2018 in various types of the Polish legal forms of nature protection areas and the European Natura 2000 network within the country. The research material was: the data of Corine Land Cover (CLC), the Central Register of Nature Protection Forms, and high-resolution layers, such as HRL and orthophotos. The results were compiled according to the CLC class and forms of protection. The matrix of transformations showed that the most frequently transformed CLC class was 312 (coniferous forest). It was transformed into class 324 (transitional woodland shrubs). The changes in PAs were usually smaller than in the surrounding buffer zones, which may indicate their effectiveness. The exception was the areas of the European Natura 2000 network. The scale of land-cover flows (LCFs) changed within particular forms of protected areas, though afforestation and deforestation predominating in all area types. National reserves and parks were the most stable in terms of land cover structures. However, human settlements increased around the protected areas, potentially increasing threats to their ecological integrity.

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Romanian Natura 2000 Network: Evaluation of the Threats and Pressures through the Corine Land Cover Dataset

Remote Sensing ◽

10.3390/rs12132075 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (13) ◽

pp. 2075 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Adrian Ursu ◽

Cristian Constantin Stoleriu ◽

Constantin Ion ◽

Vasile Jitariu ◽

Andrei Enea

Keyword(s):

Land Cover ◽

Protected Areas ◽

Conservation Status ◽

Natura 2000 ◽

Land Cover Changes ◽

Corine Land Cover ◽

Before And After ◽

Natura 2000 Site ◽

New Guidelines ◽

The Impact

The present paper aims to evaluate if the Natura 2000 sites in Romania are placed over dynamic areas from a land cover changes perspective, or if they are placed in areas with low human interest and what the impact of these changes are. The effectiveness of conservation measures was addressed by analyzing the number of land cover changes and their areas in Natura 2000 sites, before and after declaring them as protected areas. Corine Land Cover (CLC) data were used as a tool to identify threats and pressures from each Natura 2000 site, and also assess whether land cover changes are more frequent in sites with a high biodiversity index, compared to those with low diversity, in order to estimate the conservation status. Changes in the land cover during 1990–2018 are characterized by three types of events, from 1990 to 2000 with most changes recorded, followed by a relative period of stability from 2000 to 2012; the most dynamic period is from 2012 to 2018. The main changes are due to deforestation. Only 29.7% ROSCI (Romanian Sites of Community Importance) and 36.5% ROSPA (Romanian Special Protected Areas) sites are characterized by a good degree of conservation without or with low modifications regarding the land cover. The most frequent threats and pressures that were found through CLC changes in the ROSCIs in Romania are related to forestry, grazing, the extent of the urbanized environment and those related to agriculture. The correspondence between Corine Land Cover and Natura 2000 specific threats and pressures emphasizes new guidelines for the Corine Land Cover program; therefore, this correspondence can be a potential tool to get more information for Natura 2000 sites.

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

Web Ecology ◽

10.5194/we-12-65-2012 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

pp. 65-73 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

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.

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Evaluating the Connectivity of a Protected Areas' Network under the Prism of Global Change: The Efficiency of the European Natura 2000 Network for Four Birds of Prey

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0059640 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 8 (3) ◽

pp. e59640 ◽

Cited By ~ 54

Author(s):

Antonios D. Mazaris ◽

Alexandra D. Papanikolaou ◽

Morgane Barbet-Massin ◽

Athanasios S. Kallimanis ◽

Frédéric Jiguet ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Global Change ◽

Protected Areas ◽

Natura 2000 ◽

Birds Of Prey ◽

Natura 2000 Network

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Protected areas and insect conservation: questioning the effectiveness of Natura 2000 network for saproxylic beetles in Italy

Animal Conservation ◽

10.1111/acv.12016 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 16 (4) ◽

pp. 370-378 ◽

Cited By ~ 45

Author(s):

M. D'Amen ◽

P. Bombi ◽

A. Campanaro ◽

L. Zapponi ◽

M. A. Bologna ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Protected Areas ◽

Natura 2000 ◽

Insect Conservation ◽

Saproxylic Beetles ◽

Natura 2000 Network

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Principal Threats to the Conservation of Running Water Habitats in the Continental Biogeographical Region of Central Europe

Journal of Landscape Ecology ◽

10.2478/jlecol-2020-0009 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 13 (2) ◽

pp. 32-61

Author(s):

Mirosław Grzybowski

Keyword(s):

Conservation Status ◽

Natura 2000 ◽

Habitat Types ◽

Nature Protection ◽

Commercial Development ◽

Habitat Directive ◽

Running Water ◽

Positive Effects ◽

Biogeographical Region ◽

Negative Impacts

AbstractThis paper discusses the threats to the running water habitats that are highly important to biodiversity the European Community in the Continental Biogeographical Region (CBR) of Europe, specifically in Poland. This study covers four water course habitat types distinguished in Natura 2000, which is a network of nature protection areas in the territory (3260, 3220, 3240, 3270 - the code of the habitat, as in Annex I of the Habitat Directive), occurring in 806 Special Areas of Conservation in Poland. Based on a multivariate analysis, we found significant differences in the conservation status of running water habitats resulting from a variety of threats, pressures, and activities. Agriculture has a number of negative impacts on running water habitats, which are most evident for the following habitats: 3260 > 3270. Forest management may have both negative (3260) and positive effects on habitats (3270). Natural system modifications strongly affect habitats 3240, 3270 > 3260. Among the negative anthropogenic influences are pollution (3260 > 3220); human intrusions, disturbances, and tourism (reported most often) (3260, 3270); transportation and service corridors (3260, and 3270); urbanization, residential, and commercial development tourism (3260); biological resource use other than for agriculture and forestry (3270 > 3260); and mining, extraction of materials, and energy production (3270). Geological events and natural catastrophes—most often inundation—were identified as important hazards for habitat 3240. The development of alien and invasive species strongly affects habitats 3240 > 3260, 3270, and natural biotic and abiotic processes affect habitats 3220 > 3260. Negative impacts associated with climate change were detected mostly for habitat 3260. Taking into account the threats identified, a list of recommended practices for running water habitat types is presented, to be considered in habitat conservation programmes.

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Evaluating European Conservation Areas and Proposal of New Zones of Conservation under the Habitats Directive. Application to Spanish Territories

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su11020398 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (2) ◽

pp. 398

Author(s):

Víctor Rincón ◽

Javier Velázquez ◽

Javier Gutiérrez ◽

Beatriz Sánchez ◽

Ana Hernando ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Protected Areas ◽

Biodiversity Conservation ◽

Multicriteria Analysis ◽

Natura 2000 ◽

Habitats Directive ◽

The European Union ◽

Conservation Areas ◽

Natura 2000 Network ◽

Geostatistical Methods ◽

Castilla Y Leon

The European Union (EU) ensures the conservation of biodiversity through the Natura 2000 Network, which establishes the classification and selection of protected areas at European level. Unfortunately, member countries cannot make the best zoning decisions for biodiversity conservation because there are no clear and uniform parameters to designate Natura 2000 sites. Due to this, it is convenient to evaluate the importance of the criteria for biodiversity conservation through a general assessment, which could establish relevant criteria that can be analysed through geostatistical methods combined in multicriteria analysis. This paper aims to consider biodiversity importance values taking into account land use, so that it is possible to develop a zoning proposal which verifies or corrects the suitability of the designated areas for the Natura 2000 Network in Castilla y León, Andalucía and Madrid (Spain). The choice of these regions allows us to compare areas with a high variability of population density, making possible to compare the potential protected areas with respect to the population living in each area. This assessment has been performed using basic and easily adaptable criteria of biodiversity conservation, so it could be applied in other European territories. In this way, clear and uniform parameters for zoning will be used, being possible to detect the best protected areas. One of the most important purposes of the Natura 2000 Network is to increase connectivity between territories; our work proposes new areas that could be linked to currently protected territories, to favour the achievement of this purpose of the Natura 2000 Network.

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Biodiversity Trends Associated with SEA and EIA Practices

Transactional Environmental Support System Design ◽

10.4018/978-1-4666-2824-3.ch008 ◽

2013 ◽

pp. 134-153

Author(s):

Pedro Beja ◽

Julie A. Ewald ◽

Robert Kenward

Keyword(s):

Ecosystem Services ◽

Land Cover ◽

Protected Areas ◽

Economic Activity ◽

Local Level ◽

Conservation Status ◽

Species Conservation ◽

The Other ◽

Small Populations ◽

Process Variables

This chapter compares trends in policies on land uses and economic activity to trends in ecosystem services and biodiversity in cultivated areas as well as in protected areas, using a database defined in Chapter 6. The analysis revealed associations between capacity, priority, and process variables on one hand, and impact variables on the other. For the TESS project, the most important analyses involved the number of EIAs and SEAs. There were relatively more of these in countries where local administrations consulted most with NGOs, were responsible for relatively small populations and perceived nature most positively. Except for consultation, the processes used when conducting assessments and monitoring their results did not positively affect the number of assessments, the environmental and social impacts investigated, or the numbers of those using the resources. Additional analysis indicated interesting relationships with conversion to artificial land-cover, positivity to nature indices, knowing the term “biodiversity,” species conservation status, consultation at local level with NGOs, and the proportion of a country’s population that was hunters or anglers.

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