| 1. |
- Bosco, Laura, et al.
(författare)
-
Habitat area and local habitat conditions outweigh fragmentation effects on insect communities in vineyards
- 2023
-
Ingår i: Ecological Solutions and Evidence. - : Wiley. - 2688-8319. ; 4:1
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Fragmentation of habitat, for example by intensive agricultural practices, can be detrimental to local biodiversity. However, it often remains unclear whether such biodiversity declines are caused by loss of habitat area or increased fragmentation, and how habitat quality factors into it. In our study system, vegetated vineyards are typically small, and isolated from one another, potentially limiting the distribution and dispersal of organisms. In a full-factorial experiment of a priori selected vegetated vineyard patches of differing size and fragmentation, we aimed to disentangle the effects of habitat area (area of vegetated vineyards), habitat fragmentation (number of vegetated vineyards per 100 ha) and field-scale ground vegetation density on ground beetle, leafhopper and wild bee communities using a combined framework of multiscale and multispecies modelling (Hierarchical Model of Species Communities). We demonstrate variable effects of habitat area, fragmentation and local ground vegetation density on the three insect groups: Increased habitat area at fine scales favours higher species richness of leafhoppers, while local vegetation density boosts species richness of both leafhoppers and ground beetles, whereas no community-level responses were detected for wild bees. We conclude that increased ground vegetation density at both field and landscape scales (i.e. higher habitat area) favours more diverse and abundant insect communities, while fragmentation effects are highly variable and species specific. In addition, our results highlight that mainly ground beetles and leafhoppers will benefit from simple ground greening measures in vineyards, while for wild bees environmental factors other than the ones tested here may drive community structure. We recommend increasing the number and area of vegetated vineyards (even at small spatial scales) requiring more nature-friendly farming practices especially regarding a reduction or renunciation from herbicide applications, while the within-field vegetation density should optimally be intermediate or high to favour a diverse insect community.
|
|
| 2. |
- Jiguet, Frédéric, et al.
(författare)
-
An update of the European breeding population sizes and trends of the Ortolan Bunting (Emberiza hortulana)
- 2016
-
Ingår i: Ornis Fennica. - : University of Helsinki. - 0030-5685. ; 93:3, s. 186-196
-
Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Following recent updates proposed by BirdLife International and further updates across Europe gathered in the context of a continent-wide study of the migration strategy of the species, we propose here an update of national population sizes and associated recent trends of the Ortolan Bunting (Emberiza hortulana). Previous estimates for the period 1999-2002 reported 5,200,000 to 16,000,000 breeding pairs, for an area extending east to European Russia, and south to the Caucasus and Turkey. The countries holding the largest populations were Turkey (3-10 million pairs) and Russia (1.5-5.0 million pairs). The updated results give approximately 3,319,000 to 7,057,000 pairs in Europe (for the period 2012-2014), representing a c. 50% decrease in numbers over the last decade. This decrease is partly due to overestimates proposed in previous reports for the key country, Turkey, which is now considered to support only 500,000 to 1,000,000 pairs. Russia still holds 2.0-4.3 million pairs, although with an estimated decline of c.15-30% since 2000. Overall, within the 39 European countries assessed here, recent decadal trends (on average 2000-2012) in population size are reported as unknown in 15 countries, increasing in 2 countries (Germany and Serbia), stable or fluctuating in 6 countries, and decreasing in 16 countries including recent extinctions in Belgium, Hungary, Slovakia and the Netherlands. Overall, declining populations are mostly located in northern Europe, and fourteen of the 15 northern European countries with a known national trend have declining breeding populations, suggesting that northern breeders are of particular conservation concern.
|
|
| 3. |
- Jiguet, Frédéric, et al.
(författare)
-
Unravelling migration connectivity reveals unsustainable hunting of the declining ortolan bunting
- 2019
-
Ingår i: Science Advances. - : American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). - 2375-2548. ; 5:5
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In France, illegal hunting of the endangered ortolan bunting Emberiza hortulana has been defended for the sake of tradition and gastronomy. Hunters argued that ortolan buntings trapped in southwest France originate from large and stable populations across the whole of Europe. Yet, the European Commission referred France to the Court of Justice of the European Union (EU) in December 2016 for infringements to legislation (IP/16/4213). To better assess the impact of hunting in France, we combined Pan-European data from archival light loggers, stable isotopes, and genetics to determine the migration strategy of the species across continents. Ortolan buntings migrating through France come from northern and western populations, which are small, fragmented and declining. Population viability modeling further revealed that harvesting in southwest France is far from sustainable and increases extinction risk. These results provide the sufficient scientific evidence for justifying the ban on ortolan harvesting in France.
|
|
| 4. |
- Moussy, Caroline, et al.
(författare)
-
The genetic structure of the European breeding populations of a declining farmland bird, the ortolan bunting (Emberiza hortulana), reveals conservation priorities
- 2018
-
Ingår i: Conservation Genetics. - : Springer. - 1566-0621 .- 1572-9737. ; 19:4, s. 909-922
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Anthropogenic activities, such as agricultural intensification, caused large declines in biodiversity, including farmland birds. In addition to demographic consequences, anthropogenic activities can result in loss of genetic diversity, reduction of gene flow and altered genetic structure. We investigated the distribution of the genetic variation of a declining farmland and long-distance migratory bird, the ortolan bunting Emberiza hortulana, across its European breeding range to assess the impact of human-driven population declines on genetic diversity and structure in order to advise conservation priorities. The large population declines observed have not resulted in dramatic loss of genetic diversity, which is moderate to high and constant across all sampled breeding sites. Extensive gene flow occurs across the breeding range, even across a migratory divide, which contributes little to genetic structuring. However, gene flow is asymmetric, with the large eastern populations acting as source populations for the smaller western ones. Furthermore, breeding populations that underwent the largest declines, in Fennoscandia and Baltic countries, appear to be recently isolated, with no gene exchange occurring with the eastern or the western populations. These are signs for concern as declines in the eastern populations could affect the strength of gene flow and in turn affect the western populations. The genetic, and demographic, isolation of the northern populations make them particularly sensitive to loss of genetic diversity and to extinction as no immigration is occurring to counter-act the drastic declines. In such a situation, conservation efforts are needed across the whole breeding range: in particular, protecting the eastern populations due to their key role in maintaining gene flow across the range, and focussing on the northern populations due to their recent isolation and endangered status.
|
|
| 5. |
- Ring, Irene, et al.
(författare)
-
Chapter 6: Options for governance and decision-making across scales and sectors
- 2018
-
Ingår i: IPBES. - Bonn : Secretariat of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem services. - 9783947851089 ; , s. 661-802
-
Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Within the generic scope of the Regional Assessments of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, the key policy‑relevant questions of the Europe and Central Asia Assessment concern options and opportunities with regard to biodiversity and ecosystem services and their role for human well-being. The assessment examines the opportunities for sectoral policies and policy instruments; managing production, consumption and economic development; and ecological infrastructures and ecological technologies. It explores opportunities to promote food security, economic development and equality while avoiding land and aquatic degradation and conserving cultural landscapes.
|
|
| 6. |
- Ring, Irene, et al.
(författare)
-
Options for governance and decision-making across scales and sectors
- 2018
-
Ingår i: The IPBES regional assessment report on biodiversity and ecosystem services for Europe and Central Asia. - Bonn : Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). - 9783947851089 ; , s. 661-802
-
Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)
|
|
| 7. |
- Simoncini, Riccardo, et al.
(författare)
-
Constraints and opportunities for mainstreaming biodiversity and ecosystem services in the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy : Insights from the IPBES assessment for Europe and Central Asia
- 2019
-
Ingår i: Land use policy. - : Elsevier. - 0264-8377 .- 1873-5754. ; 88
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The European Union’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), being one of the strongest drivers of agricultural land-use practices, has a substantial impact on biodiversity and ecosystem services in the Member States. The initial focus of the CAP to increase and intensify agricultural production affected water and land qualities and contributed to the degradation of traditional agricultural landscapes, cultural identities, and erosion of typical farmland biodiversity. Recent CAP reforms have begun to consider biodiversity and ecosystem services, but still fall short of a thorough mainstreaming approach. The objectives of this paper are to point out main findings regarding (i) key shortcomings of the current CAP, and (ii) major opportunities to enhance the mainstreaming of biodiversity and ecosystem services within the CAP. The paper is based on insights generated in the sub-global assessment of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) for Europe and Central Asia11A major part of this contribution is based on an earlier, pre-peer reviewed version of Ring et al. (2018): Ring, I., Sandström, C., Acar, S., Adeishvili, M., Albert, C., Allard, C., Anker, Y., Arlettaz, R., Bela, G., ten Brink, B., Fischer, A., Fürst, C., Galil, B., Hynes, S., Kasymov, U., Marta-Pedroso, C., Mendes, A., Molau, U., Olschewski, R., Pergl, J., & Simoncini, R. (2018): Chapter 6: Options for governance and decision-making across scales and sectors. In: IPBES (2018): The IPBES regional assessment report on biodiversity and ecosystem services for Europe and Central Asia. Rounsevell, M., Fischer, M., Torre-Marin Rando, A., Mader, A. (eds.). Secretariat of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, Bonn, Germany, pp. 661-802.. Our results illustrate the evolution of agricultural policy objectives and instruments applied in the CAP, and their effects on selected ecosystem services and biodiversity. We shed light on key shortcomings of existing policy and provide recommendations for further CAP reforms to achieve more effective biodiversity conservation and sustainable use of ecosystem services.
|
|
| 8. |
- Sirami, Clélia, et al.
(författare)
-
Impacts of global change on species distributions : Obstacles and solutions to integrate climate and land use
- 2017
-
Ingår i: Global Ecology and Biogeography. - : Wiley. - 1466-822X. ; 26:4, s. 385-394
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Aim The impact of multiple stressors on biodiversity is one of the most pressing questions in ecology and biodiversity conservation. Here we critically assess how often and efficiently two main drivers of global change have been simultaneously integrated into research, with the aim of providing practical solutions for better integration in the future. We focus on the integration of climate change (CC) and land-use change (LUC) when studying changes in species distributions. Location Global. Methods We analysed the peer-reviewed literature on the effects of CC and LUC on observed changes in species distributions, i.e. including species range and abundance, between 2000 and 2014. Results Studies integrating CC and LUC remain extremely scarce, which hampers our ability to develop appropriate conservation strategies. The lack of CC-LUC integration is likely to be a result of insufficient recognition of the co-occurrence of CC and LUC at all scales, covariation and interactions between CC and LUC, as well as correlations between species thermal and habitat requirements. Practical guidelines for the study of these interactive effects include considering multiple drivers and processes when designing studies, using available long-term datasets on multiple drivers, revisiting single-driver studies with additional drivers or conducting comparative studies and meta-analyses. Combining various methodological approaches, including time lags and adaptation processes, represent further avenues to improve global change science. Main conclusions Despite repeated claims for a better integration of multiple drivers, the effects of CC and LUC on species distributions and abundances have been mostly studied in isolation, which calls for a shift of standards towards more integrative global change science. The guidelines proposed here will encourage study designs that account for multiple drivers and improve our understanding of synergies or antagonisms among drivers.
|
|
| 9. |
- Sutcliffe, Laura M. E., et al.
(författare)
-
Harnessing the biodiversity value of Central and Eastern European farmland
- 2015
-
Ingår i: Diversity & distributions. - : Wiley. - 1366-9516 .- 1472-4642. ; 21:6, s. 722-730
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A large proportion of European biodiversity today depends on habitat provided by low-intensity farming practices, yet this resource is declining as European agriculture intensifies. Within the European Union, particularly the central and eastern new member states have retained relatively large areas of species-rich farmland, but despite increased investment in nature conservation here in recent years, farmland biodiversity trends appear to be worsening. Although the high biodiversity value of Central and Eastern European farmland has long been reported, the amount of research in the international literature focused on farmland biodiversity in this region remains comparatively tiny, and measures within the EU Common Agricultural Policy are relatively poorly adapted to support it. In this opinion study, we argue that, 10years after the accession of the first eastern EU new member states, the continued under-representation of the low-intensity farmland in Central and Eastern Europe in the international literature and EU policy is impeding the development of sound, evidence-based conservation interventions. The biodiversity benefits for Europe of existing low-intensity farmland, particularly in the central and eastern states, should be harnessed before they are lost. Instead of waiting for species-rich farmland to further decline, targeted research and monitoring to create locally appropriate conservation strategies for these habitats is needed now.
|
|
