National scale ecosystem condition assessment with emphasis on forest types in Greece

This study presents a first, national scale approach on ecosystem condition assessment for Greece, through integrating the available surveillance and monitoring data for habitat types, at the plot level, within the Natura 2000 network. The study consists of two parts: (a) ecosystem condition assessment for ecosystem types in Greece, using the conservation degree at plot level as an indicator and (b) a large scale analysis of the forest types' condition using, as indicators, the pressures and typical plant species richness, as an exemplary case to interpret the outcomes of the assessment. The main results of this study revealed that: (i) the majority of the ecosystem types are in above good condition, with the higher percentages of bad condition recorded for wetlands, rivers and lakes, marine inlets and transitional waters, (ii) forest categories in their majority are at above-adequate condition, (iii) at forest ecosystem categories specific pressures (e.g. grazing, cultivations, forestry clearance) act as main drivers forecosystem condition change, (iv) Mediterranean deciduous forests are the most floristic-rich forest category, regarding typical plant species. Simultaneously, it is highlighted that already available datasets could be used for immediate and rapid framework assessments, which will guide future steps on ES studies, research and decision-making

The optimization of typical species inventory of habitat types of a NATURA 2000 site using a phytosociological approach

The definition of typical species inventories of the 92/43/EEC Directive habitat types is a valuable information for the optimization of the conservation status assessment. Habitat-specific assessment protocols and predefined local inventories of typical species provide a method for a relatively fast and accurate assessment of the criterion “structures and functions”. Habitat types are often defined and described on the basis of a phytosociological description of vegetation units, mainly at the syntaxonomical level of alliance. Therefore, the definition of typical species inventories can be based on phytosociological approaches. Within this concept we surveyed the vegetation of a NATURA 2000 Special Area of Conservation in northern Greece in order to optimize and downscale the existing region-wide inventories of typical species. In total, we sampled 164 relevés in beech and in thermophilous deciduous broadleaved forests. The relevés were assigned to vegetation units and habitat types using numerical approaches and their differential and constant taxa were defined. We used these taxa to draw up the optimized, site-specific inventories of typical species for seven habitat types of community interest and one habitat type of national interest

Classification of the Mediterranean lowland to submontane pine forest vegetation

Vegetation SurveyAim: Vegetation types of Mediterranean thermophilous pine forests dominated by Pinus brutia, Pinus halepensis, Pinus pinaster and Pinus pinea were studied in various areas. However, a comprehensive formal vegetation classification of these forests based on a detailed data analysis has never been developed. Our aim is to provide the first broad-scale classification of these pine forests based on a large data set of vegetation plots. Location: Southern Europe, North Africa, Levant, Anatolia, Crimea and the Caucasus. Methods: We prepared a data set of European and Mediterranean pine forest vegetation plots. We selected 7,277 plots dominated by the cold-sensitive Mediterranean pine species Pinus brutia, Pinus halepensis, Pinus pinaster and Pinus pinea. We classified these plots using TWINSPAN, interpreted the ecologically and biogeographically homogeneous TWINSPAN clusters as alliances, and developed an expert system for automatic vegetation classification at the class, order and alliance levels. Results: We described Pinetea halepensis as a new class for the Mediterranean lowland to submontane pine forests, included in the existing Pinetalia halepensis order, and distinguished 12 alliances of native thermophilous pine forests, including four newly described and three informal groups merging supposedly native stands and old-established plantations. The main gradients in species composition reflect elevational vegetation belts and the west–east, and partly north–south, biogeographical differences. Both temperature and precipitation seasonality co-vary with these gradients. Conclusions: We provide the first formal classification at the order and alliance levels for all the Mediterranean thermophilous pine forests based on vegetation-plot data. This classification includes traditional syntaxa, which have been critically revised, and a new class and four new alliances. We also outline a methodological workflow that might be useful for other vegetation classification syntheses. The expert system, which is jointly based on pine dominance and species composition, is a tool for applying this classification in research and nature conservation survey, monitoring and managementinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

CircumMed+Euro pine forest database: an electronic archive for Mediterranean and European forests

Large thematic databases of vegetation-plots are increasingly needed for vegetation studies and biodiversity research. In this paper, we present the CircumMed+Euro Pine Forest Database (GIVD ID: EU-00-026), which in September 2018 encompassed 5590 records from pine-dominated vegetation plots (relevés) and associated vegetation types from 23 countries of temperate Europe, Eastern Mediterranean and North Africa. These vegetation plots were collected through a detailed literature search for plots not included in the European Vegetation Archive (EVA). The database includes plots from 192 bibliographic references and unpublished vegetation plots by different authors. All vegetation plots are georeferenced, and coordinates are available with different accuracy as reported by the authors. The database is managed by the Vegetation Science Group, Department of Botany and Zoology of the Masaryk University in Brno (Czech Republic). It is registered in the Global Index of Vegetation-Plot Databases (GIVD) with the code EU-00-026 and is accessible through the European Vegetation Archive (EVA) or by asking the Custodian. The CircumMed+Euro Pine Forest Database is an important resource for conducting different types of broad-scale studies in the fields of vegetation classification, plant invasion ecology, macroecology and biological conservationN/

Where are we now with European forest multi-taxon biodiversity and where can we head to?

The European biodiversity and forest strategies rely on forest sustainable management (SFM) to conserve forest biodiversity. However, current sustainability assessments hardly account for direct biodiversity indicators. We focused on forest multi-taxon biodiversity to: i) gather and map the existing information; ii) identify knowledge and research gaps; iii) discuss its research potential. We established a research network to fit data on species, standing trees, lying deadwood and sampling unit description from 34 local datasets across 3591 sampling units. A total of 8724 species were represented, with the share of common and rare species varying across taxonomic classes: some included many species with several rare ones (e.g., Insecta); others (e.g., Bryopsida) were represented by few common species. Tree-related structural attributes were sampled in a subset of sampling units (2889; 2356; 2309 and 1388 respectively for diameter, height, deadwood and microhabitats). Overall, multitaxon studies are biased towards mature forests and may underrepresent the species related to other developmental phases. European forest compositional categories were all represented, but beech forests were overrepresented as compared to thermophilous and boreal forests. Most sampling units (94%) were referred to a habitat type of conservation concern. Existing information may support European conservation and SFM strategies in: (i) methodological harmonization and coordinated monitoring; (ii) definition and testing of SFM indicators and thresholds; (iii) data-driven assessment of the effects of environmental and management drivers on multi-taxon forest biological and functional diversity, (iv) multi-scale forest monitoring integrating in-situ and remotely sensed information. Forest biodiversity Multi-taxon Sustainable management Biodiversity conservation Forest stand structurepublishedVersio

A Remote Sensing and GIS Approach to Study the Long-Term Vegetation Recovery of a Fire-Affected Pine Forest in Southern Greece

Management strategies and silvicultural treatments of fire-prone ecosystems often rely on knowledge of the regeneration potential and long-term recovery ability of vegetation types. Remote sensing and GIS applications are valuable tools providing cost-efficient information on vegetation recovery patterns and their associated environmental factors. In this study we used an ordinal classification scheme to describe the land cover changes induced by a wildfire that occurred in 1983 in Pinus brutia woodlands on Karpathos Aegean Island, south-eastern Greece. As a proxy variable that indicates ecosystem recovery, we also estimated the difference between the NDVI and NBR indices a few months (1984) and almost 30 years after the fire (2012). Environmental explanatory variables were selected using a digital elevation model and various thematic maps. To identify the most influential environmental factors contributing to woodland recovery, binary logistic regression and linear regression techniques were applied. The analyses showed that although a large proportion of the P. brutia woodland has recovered 26 years after the fire event, a considerable amount of woodland had turned into scrub vegetation. Altitude, slope inclination, solar radiation, and pre-fire woodland physiognomy were identified as dominant factors influencing the vegetation’s recovery probability. Additionally, altitude and inclination are the variables that explain changes in the satellite remote sensing vegetation indices reflecting the recovery potential. Pinus brutia showed a good post-fire recovery potential, especially in parts of the study area with increased moisture availability

Monitoring and Projecting Land Use/Land Cover Changes of Eleven Large Deltaic Areas in Greece from 1945 Onwards

Wetlands are areas of high biodiversity and provide many ecosystem services of high value. However, they are under constant threat from intense anthropogenic pressures, mainly agriculture intensification, urbanization, pollution, and climate change. The temporal and spatial patterns of land use/land cover (LULC) changes within eleven large wetlands in Greece were analyzed based on thematic maps generated from aerial orthophotos taken in 1945, 1975, and 2007. Socio-economic developments and the consequent need for more arable land and utilization of water resources are among the factors that mainly determine their evolution. In 2007, LULC classes related to wetland vegetation were reduced to one third as compared to 1945 and they were mainly replaced with croplands and urban infrastructures. Each of the different sub-periods that was considered (1945–1975 and 1975–2007) was distinguished by characteristic patterns of change. Agricultural land increased up to 42% from 1945 to 1975 and became the dominant LULC class in all deltaic areas but Evros. A considerable stability was observed for the period 1975–2007 for all LULC classed but it is remarkable the extent of urban areas that doubled. There is a tendency of landscape simplification and homogenization among the deltaic areas and the output of Markov chain analysis indicates that future composition of deltaic landscapes will be similar to the current one if the main driving forces remain constant. Changes in LULC composition and structure are also combined with coastal erosion in all deltaic areas. This is attributed to the modification of sedimentary deposits due to dam construction. The results summarize the change trajectories of the major deltaic areas in Greece from 1945 to 2007 thus offering a great outlook of changes that allows managers to understand how policies and socio-economic requirements affect the deltaic ecosystems and what decisions should be made to protect and enhance them

Succession rates and patterns twelve years after land use abandonment in the estuary of the River Aliakmon, N. Greece

Vegetation succession is a key element for research studying biodiversity losses, effects of climatic change on ecosystems, invasive species and restoration of ecosystems in which human activities have shifted their natural or semi-natural vegetation. Surrogate variables like Pignatti\u27s bioindicator values or dissimilarity indices can provide further insights regarding succession trajectories aggregating the combined effects of changes in the cover/abundance of taxa. The land-use abandonment in an area in the estuary of the River Aliakmon, N. Greece, provides an opportunity to study medium-term rates and patterns during the first twelve years of vegetation succession. Cluster and time-series analyses of turnover rates, Sørensen\u27s dissimilarity index and Pignatti\u27s bioindicator values revealed clear differences in succession patterns and rates among permanent plots. Succession rates and patterns in the study area were found to be dominated by two ecological factors. On the one hand, availability of fresh water, assumed by the proximity to the river, allows the fast growing Populus alba to develop a forest canopy that radically alters the shading environment which, in its turn, controls succession trajectories. Increased soil salinity on the other hand, allows salt-tolerant taxa to be quickly established, and defines the species inventory on these sites as early as the first years of succession

Simulating Future Land Use and Cover of a Mediterranean Mountainous Area: The Effect of Socioeconomic Demands and Climatic Changes

Land use and cover (LUC) of southern European mountains is dramatically changing, mainly due to observed socioeconomic demands and climatic changes. It is therefore important to understand LUC changes to accurately predict future landscapes and their threats. Simulation models of LUC change are ideal for this task because they allow the in silico experimentation under different socioeconomic and climatic scenarios. In the present study, we employed the trans-CLUE-S model, to predict for 2055 the LUC of a typical southern European sub-mountainous area, which has experienced widespread abandonment until recently. Four demand scenarios were tested, and under each demand scenario, we compared three climatic scenarios, ranging from less to more warm and dry conditions. We found that farmland declined from 3.2% of the landscape in 2015 to 0.4% in 2055 under the business-as-usual demand scenario, whereas forest further increased from 62.6% to 79%. For any demand scenario, differences in LUC between maps predicted under different climatic scenarios constituted less than 10% of the landscape. In the less than 10% that differed, mainly farmland and forest shifted to higher elevation under a warmer and drier climate, whereas grassland and scrubland to lower. Such insights by modelling analyses like the present study’s can improve the planning and implementation of management and restoration policies which will attempt to conserve ecosystem services and mitigate the negative effects of socioeconomic and climatic changes in the mountainous regions of southern Europe

Acceleration and Relocation of Abandonment in a Mediterranean Mountainous Landscape: Drivers, Consequences, and Management Implications

Land abandonment in European mountains threatens habitats shaped for centuries by low-intensity agriculture and grazing. Hence, it is important to identify spatiotemporal patterns in rural abandonment, and relate them to biophysical and socioeconomic drivers. We pursued these goals in the theoretical context of transitions from traditional to productivist and then to post-productivist agriculture. We conducted a case study in a representative of southern Europe sub-mountainous marginal area that was once traditionally exploited (Pindus range, Epirus, Greece). Land cover was mapped from the outset of abandonment (years 1945, 1970, 1996 and 2015), and we subsequently calculated landscape metrics. An Intensity Analysis facilitated the comparison of rates of land cover change between time periods. By employing random forest modelling, we related socioeconomic, physiographic, geological and climatic predictors to land type occurrence and succession intensity. We found that farmland decreased from 30% to 3% during the 70 years of the study period, and that forest increased from 22% to 63%. The landscape’s heterogeneity, ecotone diversity, and spatial aggregation decreased. Abandonment and succession accelerated and relocated to lower elevation, especially during the latest time period, which was related to a second depopulation wave and livestock decrease. The remaining lowland farmlands were of productivist agriculture, and no widespread post-productivist regime was found. Thus, our study supports the view that policies, which have been mainly based on the linear transition of agricultural regimes in northern Europe, must take into account southern European mountains, where widespread abandonment can coexist with limited intensification and extensification