Analysis of Spatial and Temporal Variations of High Nature Value Farmland and Links with Changes in Bird Populations: A Study on France

The 'High Nature Value farming' idea connects the preservation of biodiversity with the need to safeguard the continuation of farming in certain areas and the maintenance of specific farming systems associated with a long-term management approach. The need for measures to prevent the loss of High Nature Value farmland is widely acknowledged. Conservation of biodiversity on agricultural land is an explicit objective of the pan-European Biodiversity and Landscape Strategy, the Bern Convention and, at EU level, the Habitats and Birds Directives and the Rural Development Policy (Community Strategic Guidelines for Rural Development Programming Period 2007-2013). Conserving High Nature Value farmland is a key aspect in achieving future biodiversity targets. In their 2003 ¿Kyiv¿ declaration, the European Environment Ministers have set the goal to identify HNV farmland in Europe and take adequate conservation measures. The COM(2010) 4 final ¿Options for an EU vision and target for biodiversity beyond 2010¿ recognises the need of preserving and enhancing farming and forestry with a high nature value in the context of the CAP. Furthermore, in 2006 the frame of agri-environmental indicators for monitoring the integration of environmental concerns into the common agricultural policy has been formally identified and published in the COM (2006) 508. The High Nature Value farmland indicator is part of the framework, as well as indicators on Population trends in farmland birds. JRC/IES is one of the EC services that are developing such indicators. The aim of this study is to improve the methodology to define HNV farmland areas and investigate more thoroughly the link between bird species and farmland habitat. The French case study is presented in high detail; relevant statistical data were available regarding agriculture practices both at present and past time periods, which provided the information for the development of a national HNV indicator. Data from the French Breeding Bird Census have been used to seek for links between bird species and bird indices, and spatial and temporal distribution of HNV farmland.JRC.DDG.H.5-Rural, water and ecosystem resource

Priorities for Mediterranean marine turtle conservation and management in the face of climate change

As climate-related impacts threaten marine biodiversity globally, it is important to adjust conservation efforts to mitigate the effects of climate change. Translating scientific knowledge into practical management, however, is often complicated due to resource, economic and policy constraints, generating a knowledge-action gap. To develop potential solutions for marine turtle conservation, we explored the perceptions of key actors across 18 countries in the Mediterranean. These actors evaluated their perceived relative importance of 19 adaptation and mitigation measures that could safeguard marine turtles from climate change. Of importance, despite differences in expertise, experience and focal country, the perceptions of researchers and management practitioners largely converged with respect to prioritizing adaptation and mitigation measures. Climate change was considered to have the greatest impacts on offspring sex ratios and suitable nesting sites. The most viable adaptation/mitigation measures were considered to be reducing other pressures that act in parallel to climate change. Ecological effectiveness represented a key determinant for implementing proposed measures, followed by practical applicability, financial cost, and societal cost. This convergence in opinions across actors likely reflects long-standing initiatives in the Mediterranean region towards supporting knowledge exchange in marine turtle conservation. Our results provide important guidance on how to prioritize measures that incorporate climate change in decision-making processes related to the current and future management and protection of marine turtles at the ocean-basin scale, and could be used to guide decisions in other regions globally. Importantly, this study demonstrates a successful example of how interactive processes can be used to fill the knowledge-action gap between research and management.This work was conducted under FutureMares EU project that received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 869300. The Mediterranean Marine Turtle Working Group was established in 2017 and is continuously supported by MedPAN and the National Marine Park of Zakynthos. The work of AC was supported by the Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation (H.F.R.I.) under the “First Call for H.F.R.I. Research Projects to support Faculty members and Researchers and the procurement of high-cost research equipment grant” (Project Number: 2340).Peer reviewe

Temperature but not moisture response of germination shows phylogenetic constraints while both interact with seed mass and lifespan

International audienceUnderstanding how plant traits interact with climate to determine plant niches is decisive for predicting climate change impacts. While lifespan and seed size modify the importance of germination timing, germination traits such as base temperature and base water potential directly translate climatic conditions into germination timing, impacting performance in later life stages. Yet we do not know how base temperature, base water potential, seed mass, lifespan and climate are related. We tested the relationships between base temperature and base water potential for germination, seed size and lifespan while controlling for bioclimatic regions. We also quantified the phylogenetic signal in germination traits and seed size using Pagel's λ. We used a worldwide data set of germination responses to temperature and moisture, seed size and lifespan of 240 seed plants from 49 families. Both germination temperature and moisture are negatively related to seed size. Annual plants show a negative relation between seed size and base water potential, whereas perennials display a negative relation between base temperature and seed mass. Pagel's λ highlighted the slow evolution of base temperature for germination, comparable to seed mass while base water potential was revealed to be labile. In the future, base water potential and seed mass can be used when moisture niches of plants are to be predicted. Lifespan, seed size and base temperature should be taken into account when analysing thermal limits of species distributions

Prioritizing conservation areas for coastal plant diversity under increasing urbanization

International audienceCoastal urban expansion will continue to drive further biodiversity losses, if conservation targets for coastal ecosystems are not defined and met. Prioritizing areas for future protected area networks is thus an urgent task in such urbanization-threatened ecosystems. Our aim is to quantify past and future losses of coastal vegetation priority areas due to urbanization and assess the effectiveness of the existing protected area network for conservation. We conduct a prioritization analysis, based on 82 coastal plants, including common and IUCN red list species, in a highly-urbanized but biotically diverse region, in South-Eastern France. We evaluate the role of protected areas, by taking into account both strict and multi-use areas. We assess the impact of past and future urbanization on high priority areas, by combining prioritization analyses and urbanization models. We show that half of the highly diverse areas have already been lost due to urbanization. Remaining top priority areas are also among the most exposed to future urban expansion. The effectiveness of the existing protected area (PA) network is only partial. While strict PAs coincide well with top priority areas, they only represent less than one third of priority areas. The effectiveness of multi-use PAs, such as the Natura 2000 network, also remains limited. Our approach highlights the impact of urbanization on plant conservation targets. By modelling urbanization, we manage to identify those areas where protection could be more efficient to limit further losses. We suggest to use our approach in the future to expand the PA network in order to achieve the 2020 Aichi biodiversity targets

Selecting surrogate species for connectivity conservation

International audienceHabitat loss and fragmentation impede the movement of animals across landscapes causing biodiversity change. One strategy to counter these effects is to protect and restore habitat quality and connectivity for a diversity of species. How should surrogate species be selected to represent a diversity of needs from a larger species pool? Using a recent method to prioritize multispecies habitat networks, we tested how the selection of surrogate species affects prioritization outcomes. We ran prioritization schemes using subsets of N (N = 0, 1, 3, 5, 7, 9) species selected from a 14-species reference set. Selection was based on different concepts of surrogate species: umbrella, taxonomy, habitat diversity, movement diversity, movement and habitat diversity. Prioritization outputs were compared to the 14-species set for their effectiveness and comprehensiveness at retaining habitat quality and connectivity criteria, and for their spatial congruence. We show that species-based surrogates perform better than habitat-based surrogates and that a moderate number of species (5-7) might be sufficient to capture the needs of a broader species pool for one habitat type (forest). However, how species are selected matters as much as how many. The best performing approach is to select species representing a diversity of habitat and/or movement needs. Umbrella or taxonomy-based selections were less effective and comprehensive. Our results can guide the selection of surrogate species when designing a prioritization plan for regional connectivity conservation. We recommend favoring systematic trait-based species selection over single-species, umbrella or taxonomy-based selections. When a proper species-based surrogate approach cannot be done, a habitat-based surrogate approach might still be a useful alternative

Complex population dynamics in a changing environment (the impact of density dependence and environmental factors on the vital rates and dynamics of two long-lived bird species)

Un des principaux enjeux actuels en dynamique des populations est de fournir des outils adaptés pour prédire efficacement l impact des changements globaux sur les espèces. Les interactions entre les populations et leur environnement peuvent être complexes, et leurs effets sur la variation des paramètres démographiques peuvent être décalés dans le temps. Les modèles de projection du risque d extinction des populations ou de leur capacité à s adapter à des modifications rapides des conditions environnementales nécessitent donc d incorporer ce type de complexité dans leur structure pour qu ils soient robustes.Cette thèse vise à identifier les aspects à prendre en compte dans l analyse de l impact des paramètres intrinsèques, comme la densité-dépendance, et des facteurs externes, comme le climat, sur les traits d histoire de vie de l espèce considérée et sur la dynamique des populations. Pour illustrer ces aspects, le Pélican frisé (Pelecanus crispus) et le Pélican blanc (Pelecanus onocrotalus) ont été choisis comme espèces modèles. D après cette analyse, la densité-dépendance peut interagir avec les variations extrêmes de l environnement, et influençer significativement le risque d extinction. En outre, les variations temporelles de la densité et des facteurs climatiques peuvent influencer sur les patrons de survie, et générer de la synchronisation au sein et entre les populations. Enfin, les interactions entre espèces qui coopèrent durant la période de la reproduction et qui répondent différemment aux changements climatiques peuvent être cruciales pour la compréhension de ces changements sur les dynamiques de ces espèces.One of the challenges of modern population ecology is to provide the effective tools for population dynamics predictions in a rapidly changing environment. Reliable estimations of the effects of environmental variation on species dynamics require to integrate the effects of populations intrinsic parameters (e.g., density) as well as external environmental factors. Importantly, these interacting effects are influenced by current and past conditions of the system, at both local and global scales. The present thesis aims to illustrate some of the aspects that need to be considered when assessing the impact of density and climatic factors on life history traits and on population dynamics, by using the example of two long-lived bird species, the Dalmatian pelican (Pelecanus crispus) and the Great white pelican (Pelecanus onocrotalus). The analyses showed that patterns of density-dependence can significantly interact with severe environmental stochasticity, producing unpredicted effects on population extinction risk. Large-scale climatic factors together with population density may similarly influence the survivorship of different population segments, resulting to spatial and temporal synchronisation between and within populations. Finally, interactions between until now cooperative species that are differently affected by climatic change may be a critical aspect for their future capacity to effectively respond to changing conditions.PARIS-Museum Hist.Naturelle (751052304) / SudocPARIS-Museum-Bib zoologie mam. (751052312) / SudocSudocFranceF

Preventing biotic homogenization of farmland bird communities: The role of High Nature Value farmland

Aim: There is now increasing evidence that agriculture intensification acts as a major driving force of the observed decline in farmland biodiversity. However, whether agricultural intensification is affecting all types of farmland equally and/or which farmland habitat types are yielding high level of biodiversity is still unclear. Some agro-ecosystems, where extensive and traditional practices are still in use (the so-called High Nature Value or HNV farmland), are expected to support high diversity levels but are continuously abandoned or replaced by more intensive farmlands in Europe. At large scale, farmland biodiversity could thus mostly be driven by the dynamics of HNV areas. Location: French farmland at the national scale. Methods: We used the French Breeding Bird Survey to test whether and to which extent the contemporary composition of bird communities and recent trends in farmland bird populations are related to past HNV dynamics estimated between two distinct time periods (1970 and 2000). Spatial and temporal variations at both population and community levels are examined over the gradient of trends in HNV scores in French farmland. Results: Farmland specialists bird populations had higher trends in sites that increased or retained their HNV scores in high levels. Species abundances were retained stable in sites with moderate changes in HNV. In sites where HNV scores decreased more sharply during the 30 year-period, bird communities were more homogeneous, composed mainly by generalists species. Main conclusions Maintaining a High Nature Value in farmland areas can assure higher levels of diversity at the community level and can more effectively halt decrease in farmland bird populations. Our results indicate that the HNV network is an excellent tool for identifying zones that favour farmland birds and can thus play a significant role in large-scale management solutions, giving new perspectives in accomplishing agricultural production and conservation goals.JRC.H.4-Monitoring Agricultural Resource

Beyond taxonomic diversity: Revealing spatial mismatches in phylogenetic and functional diversity facets in Mediterranean tree communities in southern France

International audienceAdopting a multifaceted approach of biodiversity is believed to capture different aspects of the ecosystem functioning and it is thus advised for conservation prioritisation, especially for anthropogenic ecosystems but this key topic has never been conducted for the Mediterranean tree assemblages, despite their ecological importance. We explored how the multi-faceted diversity of woody plant assemblages, as measured by taxonomic (TD), functional (FD) and phylogenetic (PD) diversities, are distributed over space in the French part of the Mediterranean biome, and to which extend they are spatially correlated to each other, in order to understand whether one facet can be used as a proxy for another, especially for conservation management purposes. We analysed data from 5885 plots over the study area. We estimated several FD types by considering separately (i) regeneration, (ii) morphology traits (iii) modalities on species ecological properties, and finally (iv) considering all traits together. We used the Rao quadratic entropy to estimate the TD, FD and PD diversity facets. We tested for the links and spatial correlation (congruence) levels among these facets, using simultaneous au-toregressive (SAR) models and partial Mantel tests. Spatial structure varied among diversity facets and spatial autocorrelation patterns were identified for all diversity indices from 30 to 50 km distances. We observed a functional convergence and a phylogenetic divergence within tree assemblages comparing to the ones expected given the regional species pool, indicating that even in tree communities with functional similarities, phylogenetic diversity may be high. PD was zero to slightly congruent to FD, regardless the type of functional traits considered. The highest SAR slope (=0.3) and partial Mantel test (=0.2) were revealed between the PD and the FD based on species morphological traits, but still remained considerably low. Each one of the diversity indicators reflected a different tree community spatial pattern. Functional diversity patterns varied according to the type of traits considered. Using only taxonomic indices may be misleading for responding to Mediterranean tree assemblages conservation needs and additional information about the species phylogeny and functional responses to disturbance pressures should be considered in large scale analyses

Mapping biodiversity in three-dimensions challenges marine conservation strategies: The example of coralligenous assemblages in North-Western Mediterranean Sea

International audienceMulti-facet diversity indices have been increasingly widely used in conservation ecology but congruence analyses both on horizontal and vertical axes have not yet been explored. We investigated the vertical and horizontal distributions of alpha and beta taxonomic (TD), functional (FD) and phylogenetic diversity (PD) in a three-dimensional structured ecosystem. We focused on the Mediterranean coralligenous assemblages which form complex structures both vertically and horizontally, and are considered as the most diverse and threatened communities of the Mediterranean Sea. Although comparable to tropical reef assemblages in terms of richness, biomass and production, coralligenous assemblages are less known and more rarely studied, in particular because of their location in deep waters. Our study covers the entire range of distribution of coralligenous habitats along the French Mediterranean coasts, representing the most complete database so far developed for this important ecosystem. To our knowledge, this is the first analysis of spatial diversity patterns of marine biodiversity on both horizontal and vertical scales. Our study revealed that taxonomic diversity differed from functional and phylogenetic diversity patterns at the station level, the latter two being strongly structured by depth, with shallower stations generally richer than deeper ones. Considering all stations, phylogenetic diversity was less congruent to taxonomic diversity (Pearson's correlation of r= 0.48) but more congruent to functional diversity (r=0.69) than randomly expected. Similar congruence patterns were revealed for stations deeper than 50 m.(r= 0.44 and r= 0.84, respectively) but no significantly different congruence level than randomly expected was revealed among diversity facets for more shallow stations. Mean functional alpha- and alpha-diversity were lower than phylogenetic diversity and even lower than taxonomic alpha- and beta-diversity for both vertical and horizontal scales. Low FD and PD values at both alpha- and beta-diversity indicated functional and phylogenetic clustering. Community dissimilarities (beta-diversity) increased over depth especially in central and eastern part of the French Mediterranean littoral and in northern Corsica, indicating coralligenous vertical structure within these regions. Overall horizontal beta-diversity was higher within the 50-70 m depth belts. We conclude that taxonomic diversity alone is inadequate as a basis for setting conservation goals for this ecosystem and additional information, at least on phylogenetic diversity, is needed to preserve the ecosystem functioning and coralligenous evolutionary history. Our results highlight the necessity of considering different depth belts as a basis for regional scale conservation efforts. Current conservation approaches, such as the existing marine protected areas, are insufficient in preserving coralligenous habitats. The use of multi-facet indices should be considered, focusing on preserving local diversity patterns and compositional dissimilarities, both vertically and horizontally. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Low-intensity agriculture increases farmland bird abundances in France

1. It is now widely accepted that agricultural intensification has highly contributed to the observed sharp decline of farmland biodiversity over the last decades. However, in some areas, farming practices continue to favor the existing biodiversity. These areas are referred to as High Nature Value farmlands. The identification of agricultural areas that still support a high level of biological diversity and the quantification of the impact that agricultural practices have on the existing biodiversity are major challenges for biological conservation and environmental politics. 2. Here we cross-validate results obtained from widely used indicators in Europe, that describe ecological changes linked to agricultural activities, namely the High Nature Value (HNV) farmland Indicator and the Common Bird Indicator. 3. Our results confirm our initial prediction that farmland areas estimated as having a high value for nature ¿ from agriculture statistics and landscape elements - effectively hold enhanced levels of biological diversity. 4. Comparing the temporal trend in the Farmland Bird Indicator (FBI) inside and outside HNV farmland, we observed higher trend in HNV than in non-HNV areas. 5. We found that HNV farmlands do not hold more bird species but more specialized bird communities than non-HNV farmlands. In addition, specialist bird species are significantly more abundant in HNV farmlands.JRC.H.5-Rural, water and ecosystem resource