Impacts of urbanization around Mediterranean cities : changes in ecosystem service supply

Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu MdM-2015-0552Urbanization is an important driver of changes in land cover in the Mediterranean Basin and it is likely to impact the supply and demand of ecosystem services (ES). The most significant land cover changes occur in the peri-urban zone, but little is known about how these changes affect the ES supply. For eight European and four North African cities, we have quantified changes in peri-urban land cover, for periods of sixteen years (1990-2006) in the Northern African, and twenty-two years (1990-2012) in the European cities, respectively. Using an expert-based method, we derived quantitative estimates of the dynamics in the supply of twenty-seven ES. The nature of land cover changes slightly differed between European and North African Mediterranean cities, but overall it increased in urban areas and decreased in agricultural land. The capacity of the peri-urban areas of Mediterranean cities to supply ES generally reduced over the last 20-30 years. For nine ES the potential supply actually increased for all four North African cities and three out of the eight European cities. Across all cities, the ES timber, wood fuel and religious and spiritual experience increased. Given the expected increase of urban population in the Mediterranean Basin and the current knowledge of ES deficits in urban areas, the overall decrease in ES supply capacity of peri-urban areas is a risk for human well-being in the Mediterranean and poses a serious challenge for the Sustainable Development Goals in the Mediterranean basin

Positive futures for Mediterranean wetlands biodiversity and ecosystem services

To change the current negative trend of biodiversity and related ecosystem services, the actors that are capable of changing either policies or daily management of ecosystems or protected areas need to know what their biggest challenges are and how what the impact could be of changes in their current approaches. However, information on what possible futures might bring under the impact of global change and different policy and management measures is a generally recognized knowledge gap. Wetlands only occupy 9% of the land globally, but they provide proportionally significantly more ecosystem services, which are also of high importance (e.g. water provision, regulation of hazards). Especially in regions such as the Mediterranean Basin where wetland extent is decreasing while the human population is increasing, the importance of wetlands for ecosystem services and biodiversity is increasingly disproportionate. Meanwhile, ongoing social and political instability in the region means progress towards Sustainable Development Goals is not a trivial challenge. Information on how policy and management measures could improve the outlook for Mediterranean wetlands biodiversity and ecosystem services is however lacking.This study uses a systematic literature review to identify the pathways, conditions and criteria for positive developments of Mediterranean wetlands under the current global change context. The study is undertaken by the Scientific and Technical Network of MedWet. MedWet is a Mediterranean initiative of 27 Mediterranean countries that have signed the Ramsar convention on the conservation of Mediterranean wetlands.The information from this study is used to develop specific recommendations towards positive futures (e.g. water security, safe coasts). These recommendations are not primarily directed to global platforms, but rather to national governments, NGOs and local citizens’ organizations. These parties are most directly concerned with the benefits from a sustainable development path and the safeguarding of related ecosystem services and biodiversity

The Network of Knowledge approach: improving the science and society dialogue on biodiversity and ecosystem services in Europe

The absence of a good interface between scientific and other knowledge holders and decision-makers in the area of biodiversity and ecosystem services has been recognised for a long time. Despite recent advancements, e.g. with the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), challenges remain, particularly concerning the timely provision of consolidated views from different knowledge domains. To address this challenge, a strong and flexible networking approach is needed across knowledge domains and institutions. Here, we report on a broad consultation process across Europe to develop a Network of Knowledge on biodiversity and ecosystem services (NoK), an approach aiming at (1) organising institutions and knowledge holders in an adaptable and responsive framework and (2) informing decision-makers with timely and accurate biodiversity knowledge. The consultation provided a critical analysis of the needs that should be addressed by a NoK and how it could complement existing European initiatives and institutions at the interface between policy and science. Among other functions, the NoK provides consolidated scientific views on contested topics, identification of research gaps to support relevant policies, and horizon scanning activities to anticipate emerging issues. The NoK includes a capacity building component on interfacing activities and contains mechanisms to ensure its credibility, relevance and legitimacy. Such a network would need to ensure credibility, relevance and legitimacy of its work by maximizing transparency and flexibility of processes, quality of outputs, the link to data and knowledge provision, the motivation of experts for getting involved and sound communication and capacity building

Indikatoren zur Erfassung genetischer Vielfalt in biologischen und nicht-biologischen Landwirtschaftssystemen

Genetic variability is the fundament of life. Large genetic variability within species is the basis for adaptation to changing environmental conditions. Farmers and breeders have developed a multitude of crop cultivars and animal breeds to stabilize and increase quality and productivity. This study evaluated genetic diversity within different organic and non-organic farming systems using crop-cultivar and livestock-breed information as simple indicators. Data was collected using on-farm surveys in 15 case study regions in Europe and beyond. Selected indicators revealed strong differences of cultivar diversity between different countries and farming systems across Europe. No or only small differences were detectable between organic and non-organic farming systems. Landraces, as on-farm genetic resources, were under-represented in European case study regions

BIOBIO – Indikatoren für Biodiversität in ökologischen und ex-tensiven Anbausystemen

Organic and low-input farming systems provide habitats for wildlife on farmland. The EU FP7 project BIOBIO has identified a core set of 23 indicators relating to the diversity of habitats, of species, of crops and of livestock. Management indicators capturing the pressure on biodiversity are also proposed. The indicators were identified in an iterative process between scientists and stake-holders to make sure that they are not only scientifically sound but also practicable and attractive. They were tested in 12 case study regions on four major farm types. Allocating 0.25 % of the CAP budget to a farm scale biodiversity monitoring would allow to measure and analyse the indicators on 50,000 farms across Europe

How much would it cost to monitor farmland biodiversity in Europe?

International audienceTo evaluate progress on political biodiversity objectives, biodiversity monitoring provides information on whether intended results are being achieved. Despite scientific proof that monitoring and evaluation increase the (cost) efficiency of policy measures, cost estimates for monitoring schemes are seldom available, hampering their inclusion in policy programme budgets. Empirical data collected from 12 case studies across Europe were used in a power analysis to estimate the number of farms that would need to be sampled per major farm type to detect changes in species richness over time for four taxa (vascular plants, earthworms, spiders and bees). A sampling design was developed to allocate spatially, across Europe, the farms that should be sampled. Cost estimates are provided for nine monitoring scenarios with differing robustness for detecting temporal changes in species numbers. These cost estimates are compared with the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) budget (2014-2020) to determine the budgetallocation required for the proposed farmland biodiversity monitoring. Results show that the bee indicator requires the highest number of farms to be sampled and the vascular plant indicator the lowest. The costs for the nine farmland biodiversity monitoring scenarios corresponded to 001%-074% of the total CAP budget and to 004%-248% of the CAP budget specifically allocated to environmental targets.Synthesis and applications. The results of the cost scenarios demonstrate that, based on the taxa and methods used in this study, a Europe-wide farmland biodiversity monitoring scheme would require a modest share of the Common Agricultural Policy budget. The monitoring scenarios are flexible and can be adapted or complemented with alternate data collection options (e.g. at national scale or voluntary efforts), data mobilization, data integration or modelling efforts. Editor's Choic

Gains to species diversity in organically farmed fields are not propagated at the farm level

Organic farming is promoted to reduce environmental impacts of agriculture, but surprisingly little is known about its effects at the farm level, the primary unit of decision making. Here we report the effects of organic farming on species diversity at the field, farm and regional levels by sampling plants, earthworms, spiders and bees in 1470 fields of 205 randomly selected organic and nonorganic farms in twelve European and African regions. Species richness is, on average, 10.5% higher in organic than nonorganic production fields, with highest gains in intensive arable fields (around +45%). Gains to species richness are partly caused by higher organism abundance and are common in plants and bees but intermittent in earthworms and spiders. Average gains are marginal +4.6% at the farm and +3.1% at the regional level, even in intensive arable regions. Additional, targeted measures are therefore needed to fulfil the commitment of organic farming to benefit farmland biodiversity

Key criteria for developing ecosystem service indicators to inform decision making

Decision makers are increasingly interested in information from ecosystem services (ES) assessments. Scientists have for long recognised the importance of selecting appropriate indicators. Yet, while the amount and variety of indicators developed by scientists seems to increase continuously, the extent to which the indicators truly inform decision makers is often unknown and questioned. In this viewpoint paper, we reflect and provide guidance on how to develop appropriate ES indicators for informing decision making, building on scientific literature and practical experience collected from researchers involved in seven case studies. We synthesized 16 criteria for ES indicator selection and organized them according to the widely used categories of credibility, salience, legitimacy (CSL). We propose to consider additional criteria related to feasibility (F), as CSL criteria alone often seem to produce indicators which are unachievable in practice. Considering CSL & F together requires a combination of scientific knowledge, communication skills, policy and governance insights and on-field experience. We present a checklist to evaluate CSL & F of your ES indicators. This checklist helps to detect and mitigate critical shortcomings in an early phase of the development process, and aids the development of effective indicators to inform actual policy decisions

An assessment of soil erosion prevention by vegetation in Mediterranean Europe: Current trends of ecosystem service provision

International audienceThe concept of ecosystem services has received increased attention in recent years, and is seen as a useful construct for the development of policy relevant indicators and communication for science, policy and practice. Soil erosion is one of the main environmental problems for European Mediterranean agro-forestry systems, making soil erosion prevention a key ecosystem service to monitor and assess. Here, we present a spatially and temporally explicit assessment of the provision of soil erosion prevention by vegetation in Mediterranean Europe between 2001 and 2013, including maps of vulnerable areas. We follow a recently described conceptual framework for the mapping and assessment of regulating ecosystem services to calculate eight pro cess-based indicators, and an ecosystem service provision profile. Results show a relative increase in the effectiveness of provision of soil erosion prevention in Mediterranean Europe between 2001 and 2013. This increase is particularly noticeable between 2009 and 2013, but it does not represent a general trend across the whole Mediterranean region. Two regional examples describe contrasting trends and illustrate the need for regional assessments and policy targets. Our results demonstrate the strength of having a coherent and complementary set of indicators for regulating services to inform policy and land management decisions. (C) 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)