Climate change adaptation for biodiversity in protected areas: An overview of actions

Protected Areas (PAs) have been a cornerstone of conservation policy in the past but are generally static and thus might be less useful under climate change as species move away from reserves designated for them. In addition, shifting phenology and habitat alteration due to extreme events could make conditions unviable within PAs for species unable to move. However, several recent papers documented their utility in retaining contracting species, acting as stepping-stones for expanding species of conservation concern and resisting invasion by vagrants. Theoretical studies have suggested a role for both protected area design and management to enable biodiversity to adapt to climate change and implementation of these actions has begun. Here we synthesise case studies of climate change adaptation actions in protected areas from the globally available literature. We found 91 case studies of 114 different actions from 30 countries, mostly within Europe, specifically the UK. Half reported an outcome of actions, however, these were generally either the area restored or protected, or incidental reports of colonisation by desired species, without a description of monitoring before and after action. In addition, 72 % of actions would have been beneficial to biodiversity without the presence of climate change, so transformative action is lacking. Better monitoring and reporting of outcomes are urgently needed to develop the evidence base on which actions are most effective, to enable more reserve managers to take action. Managers also need encouragement to identify transformative actions, perhaps by the use of scenario planning to aid understanding of future uncertainties

Strikingly high effects of geographic location on fauna and flora of European agricultural grasslands

International audienceWild bees, spiders, earthworms and plants contribute considerably to biodiversity in grasslands and fulfil vital ecological functions. They also provide valuable services to agriculture, such as pollination, pest control and maintenance of soil quality. We investigated the responses of wild bees, spiders, earthworms and plants to geographic location, agricultural management and surrounding landscape variables using a dataset of grassland fields within 88 farms in six European regions. Regions and taxonomic groups were selected to have contrasting properties, in order to capture the multiple facets of European grasslands. Geographic location alone had a dominant effect on the fauna and flora communities. Depending on the taxonomic group, various agricultural management and surrounding landscape variables alone had an additional significant effect on observed species richness, rarefied species richness and/or abundance, but it was always small. Bee species richness and abundance decreased with increasing number of mechanical operations (e.g. cutting). Observed spider species richness and abundance were unrelated to measured aspects of agricultural management or to surrounding landscape variables, whereas rarefied species richness showed significant relations to nitrogen input, habitat diversity and amount of grassland habitats in the surroundings. Earthworm abundance increased with increasing nitrogen input but earthworm species richness did not. Observed plant species richness decreased with increasing nitrogen input and increased when there were woody habitats in the surroundings. Rarefied plant species richness decreased with mechanical operations. Investigating multiple regions, taxonomic groups and aspects of fauna and flora communities allowed identifying the main factors structuring communities, which is necessary for designing appropriate conservation measures and ensuring continued supply of services