Does forest fragmentation affect the same way all growth-forms?

Fragmentation of natural habitats is one of the main causes of the loss of biodiversity. However, all plants do not respond to habitat fragmentation in the same way due to differences in species traits. We studied the effect of patch size and isolation on the biodiversity of vegetation in the mixed-oak forests in the north of the Iberian Peninsula. The aim was to evaluate whether all the growth-forms of vegetation are equally affected by forest fragmentation in order to improve the management strategies to restore this type of vegetation. This study has shown that the effect of the area and spatial isolation of the patches was not the same for the different growth-forms. Fragmentation had a mainly negative effect on the richness and diversity of forest specialist species, especially ferns and herbaceous growth-forms. Moreover, the presence and/or cover of woodland herbaceous species (such as Lamiastrum galeobdolon and Helleborus viridis) and of woodland ferns (namely Asplenium adiantum-nigrum, Asplenium trichomanes, Polystichum setiferum, Dryopteris affinis) were negatively affected by patch size, possibly due to the reduction of habitat quality. These species have been replaced by more generalist species (such as Cardamine pratensis, Cirsium sp., Pulmonaria longifolia or Rumex acetosella) in small patches. Patch isolation had a negative effect on the presence of forest specialist species (namely, L. galeobdolon, Frangula alnus, Hypericum androsaemum, A. adiantum-nigrum and Athyrium filix-femina) and favored colonization by more generalist species such as Cirsium sp., Calluna vulgaris, Erica arborea or Ulex sp. Thus, in this region special attention should be paid to the conservation of forest specialist species, especially ferns and herbs. In conservation policy focused on forest specialist species, the most valuable species in forest ecosystems, conservation of large forest areas should be promoted.Financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science (CGL2005-08046-C03-01 and CGL2008-05579-C02-01),

Use of native species to improve carbon sequestration and contribute towards solving the environmental problems of the timberlands in Biscay, northern Spain.

The rapid transformation of natural forest areas into fast-growing exotic species plantations, where the main objective is timber and pulp production, has led to a neglect of other services forests provide in many parts of the world. One example of such a problem is the county of Biscay, where the management of these plantations has negative impacts on the environment, creating the necessity to evaluate alternative tree species for use in forestry. The actual crisis in the forest sector of the region could be an opportunity to change to native species plantations that could help restore ecosystem structure and function. However, forest managers of the region are using the current interest on carbon sequestration by forest to persist with the “pine and eucalyptus culture”, arguing that these species provide a big C sequestration service. Moreover, they are promoting the expansion of eucalyptus plantations to obtain biomass for the pulp and paper industry and for bioenergy. The aim of this paper is to answer the following questions: Is this argument used by the foresters well-founded? or, could the use of native species in plantations improve the C sequestration service in Biscay while avoiding the environmental problems the actual plantations cause? To answer these questions we created three alternative future scenarios: a) the Services scenario, where there is a substitution of fast-growing exotic plantations by native broadleaf species plantations; b) the Biomass scenario, where there is a bet on eucalyptus plantations; and c) the Business as usual scenario. The changes in the C stock in living biomass in these scenarios have been simulated by a hybrid approach utilising inventories and models, and the period considered was 150 years. Our results show that the substitution of existing exotic plantations by plantations of native species has the greatest potential for increasing C sequestration. Although short- and mid-term outcomes may differ, when the long-term (more than 50 years) is considered, the C stock in the living biomass in the Services scenario is the greatest, accumulating 38% more C than the Business as usual scenario and 70% more C than the Biomass scenario at the end of the study period. Thus, changing pine and eucalyptus by native species in plantations, while solving some of the environmental problems of the actual plantations, sequesters more C in the long-term. As C sequestration initiatives only make sense if there is a good chance of long-term persistence of the C stocks created, there is no C sequestration argument for the foresters to continue with the actual policy of the use of fast-growing exotic species.We gratefully acknowledge financial support the Department of Universities, Research and Education of the Basque Government, the UNESCO Chair of the University of the Basque Country and the Basque Government and the Department of Environment of the Basque Government (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment of the Basque Country Project)

Potencial didáctico del concepto "servicios de los ecosistemas"

El concepto de "servicio de los ecosistemas" presenta una visión antropocéntrica de la naturaleza que muestra a la misma como proveedora de servicios que contribuyen al bienestar humano. Este concepto está alcanzando gran relevancia a nivel científico y político, pero su inclusión en la esfera educativa es muy limitada. Para analizar el potencial didáctico de este concepto, se realizaron dos jornadas dirigidas a los responsables de las Agendas 21 escolares. En ellas se presentó el concepto de "servicios de los ecosistemas" y el marco conceptual en el cual se enmarca. Finalmente se preguntó a los asistentes sobre su potencial didáctico y las necesidades para su transposición didáctica

Co-benefits and trade-offs between biodiversity, carbon storage and water flow regulation

The trade-offs between biodiversity, carbon storage and water flow regulation were analysed in a biosphere reserve area. With the aim of proposing criteria for conservation plans that would include ecosystem services and biodiversity, a Geographic Information System (GIS)-based approach was designed to estimate and map the value of the biodiversity and ecosystem services. The actual protected areas, namely, coastal ecosystems and Cantabrian evergreen-oak forests, were found to be important for the overall biodiversity and included some important portions of the other services. The non-protected natural forests, such as the mixed-oak, beech and riparian forests, are biodiversity hotspots, and they contribute to the carbon storage and water flow regulation services. Thus, even though these areas are small, their inclusion in conservation proposals should be considered. The pine and eucalyptus plantations contribute to ecosystem services but have negative effects on biodiversity and cause environmental problems. In contrast to the plantations of fast-growing species, the increase in broadleaf plantations will exhibit a positive trend due to the benefits they provide. Our study highlights that the inclusion of ecosystem services in conservation planning has a great potential to provide opportunities for biodiversity protection; however, strategies of conservation based only on specific ecosystem services may be detrimental to the biodiversity and may cause other environmental problems

Identifying Green Infrastructure as a Basis for an Incentive Mechanism at the Municipality Level in Biscay (Basque Country)

The contributions of green infrastructure (GI) to human well-being have been widely recognised; however, pathways for its systematic implementation are missing. Local governments can play a crucial role in the conservation of GI, and a formal recognition of this role in budgeting systems would foster the inclusion of GI in their agenda. The aim of this study is to identify the principal components of GI at the local level to form a basis for a compensatory economic scheme. We identified the principal components of GI based on the mapping of biodiversity conservation and ecosystem services provision. Furthermore, we analysed the potentiality of an incentive mechanism to promote GI based on the protection status of GI. Finally, an incentive mechanism to promote GI at the municipality level was proposed. The results showed that the GI of Biscay is mainly composed of the natural forests presented in the area, and that 50% of the principal components of the GI are not protected. Furthermore, one third of the protected principal components of the GI only has protection at the municipality level. So, we propose a Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES)-like scheme at the municipality level based on the cover of natural forests, where the objective is the conservation and promotion of the GI.We gratefully acknowledge financial support from the Department of Universities, Research and Education of the Basque Government (code: IT1113-16), the UNESCO Chair on Sustainable Development and Environmental Education of the University of the Basque Country, and the Department of Environment and Regional Planning of the Basque Government and the Department of Sustainability and Environment of Biscay Provincial Council (Ecosystem Services Assessment of the Basque Country Project)

Naturaren onurak gizarteratzeko hezkuntza: ekosistemen zerbitzuen ikasketa-irakasketarako inplementazio didaktikoa

Knowing and valuing ecosystems, as well as the benefits they provide (known as ecosystem services), is essential for making appropriate decisions about the environment. Promoting teaching-learning processes about the benefits of biodiversity can help children, young people and adults to carry out a critical analysis of reality and make responsible decisions. Despite this, while the concept of ecosystem services has gained global relevance in both science and policy, in the educational sphere this concept needs to be developed and gain importance. Therefore, in order to promote teaching-learning processes on ecosystem services, this paper presents a didactic intervention based on active methodologies. This didactic intervention has been already implemented for three years with great success

Relationship between vegetation diversity and soil functional diversity in native mixed-oak forests

Most studies on the interactions between aboveground vegetation and belowground soil diversity have been carried out in microcosms or manipulated field plots. In the current study, we investigated the relationship between forest vegetation diversity and soil functional diversity (calculated from the activity of soil enzymes) in naturally developed plant communities of native mixed-oak forests without imposing any disturbances to already existing plant–soil relationships. In order to do so, five different vegetation types, i.e., herbaceous plants, climbing plants, trees, shrubs, and ferns, were considered. Correlations between plant diversity, soil physicochemical properties, and soil enzyme activities were determined. Soil physicochemical parameters appeared strongly correlated with both enzyme activities (e.g., pH was positively correlated with amidase and arylsulphatase, and negatively with acid phosphatase; OM content was positively correlated with β-glucosidase, acid and alkaline phosphatase and urease, and negatively with amidase; total N was positively correlated with β-glucosidase, and acid and alkaline phosphatase, and negatively with amidase) and soil functional diversity. For ferns, strong correlations between enzyme activities and plant diversity indexes were found (i.e., dehydrogenase was positively correlated with species richness and Shannon's diversity; acid and alkaline phosphatase were negatively correlated with Shannon's diversity; acid phosphatase was also negatively correlated with species richness). Most interestingly, herbaceous plants and ferns showed a strong positive correlation between Shannon's plant diversity and soil functional diversity. Furthermore, herbaceous plants showed a strong positive correlation between species richness and soil functional diversity. Although these correlations between plant diversity and soil functional diversity might possibly be due to the fact that higher values of plant richness and diversity result in a greater habitat heterogeneity in the soil, current knowledge on the topic is mixed and very incomplete and, then, one must be extremely cautious when interpreting such correlations.This work was supported in part by Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Agrarias through a research fellowship to Iker Mijangos. We gratefully acknowledge financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science (Paisaia Project), Cátedra UNESCO, Basque Government (Etortek-Ekolurraldea Project) and INTERREG (Forsee Project)

Analysing the Synergies and Trade-Offs between Ecosystem Services to Reorient Land Use Planning in Metropolitan Bilbao (Northern Spain)

In the last decades, some European cities have undergone important changes in search of a more sustainable development. This is the case for the city of Bilbao (Bizkaia, Basque Country), where a Greenbelt has been maintained surrounding the urban areas allowing the periurban areas to deliver ecosystem services (ES) to society. However, the role of the different ecosystems in the provision of ES is not the same, which can lead to conflicts among them. The aim of this study is to analyze the synergies and trade-offs among the eight most important ES in the Bilbao Metropolitan Greenbelt (BMG) to orient their management strategies towards more multifunctional landscapes. We mapped the ES and overlapped them looking for the most relevant areas for the provision of multiple ES and areas that are mostly lacking ES provision. We identify also existing ES trade-offs and synergies between ES using correlations so that managers can prioritize preservation efforts of land use types in the rest of the area. The results show that provisioning ES had trade-offs with regulating and cultural ES and the latter showed synergies between them. The former are mainly delivered by semi-natural ecosystems, while regulating and cultural ES are delivered mainly by natural ecosystems. Moreover, the most relevant areas for the provision of multiple ES were proposed as potential components of a Green Infrastructure (GI). Their identification and ES bundles could help decision-makers to orient their management strategies towards sustainability in metropolitan areas.We gratefully acknowledge the financial support from the Departments of Environment and Education of the Basque Government; and from the Department of Environment of the County Council of Biscay