Setting temporal baselines for biodiversity : the limits of available monitoring data for capturing the full impact of anthropogenic pressures

Temporal baselines are needed for biodiversity, in order for the change in biodiversity to be measured over time, the targets for biodiversity conservation to be defined and conservation progress to be evaluated. Limited biodiversity information is widely recognized as a major barrier for identifying temporal baselines, although a comprehensive quantitative assessment of this is lacking. Here, we report on the temporal baselines that could be drawn from biodiversity monitoring schemes in Europe and compare those with the rise of important anthropogenic pressures. Most biodiversity monitoring schemes were initiated late in the 20th century, well after anthropogenic pressures had already reached half of their current magnitude. Setting temporal baselines from biodiversity monitoring data would therefore underestimate the full range of impacts of major anthropogenic pressures. In addition, biases among taxa and organization levels provide a truncated picture of biodiversity over time. These limitations need to be explicitly acknowledged when designing management strategies and policies as they seriously constrain our ability to identify relevant conservation targets aimed at restoring or reversing biodiversity losses. We discuss the need for additional research efforts beyond standard biodiversity monitoring to reconstruct the impacts of major anthropogenic pressures and to identify meaningful temporal baselines for biodiversity

From Anopheles to Spatial Surveillance: A Roadmap Through a Multidisciplinary Challenge

When working on vector borne diseases, decision makers and researchers often face a lack of specific high quality data. However the results/decisions can be critical as they can impact on the lives of many people. This chapter reviews the challenges posed by spatial surveillance of anopheles-borne diseases with particular attention for malaria surveillance. These challenges will mainly reside in the difficulty of getting the appropriate raw data and the large spectrum of multidisciplinary expertise. Raw data include anopheles attributes. Design of sampling strategies is a compromise between the best sampling size for analysis, optimal sampling in space or time and cost-related factors. On the other hand, raw environmental factors from remote sensing products are increasingly available and used but ready to use information on temperature mainly available in Africa and resolution too coarse for detection of water bodies. Moreover the quality and interpretation of final product is dependent of image pre-processing which should be understood by the final user. Those include production of the pixels which do not totally represent environmental value at location, compositing which summarize several images into one to eliminate clouds contamination and production of land cover which represent environmental value at the time of original images capture, develop mosaic classes to gather pixel difficult to discriminate and propose land cover classes not always adapted to the anopheles species habitat. Remote sensing however provides a unique source of information which would not be available otherwise. Modelling techniques are then discussed as well as initiatives to help transfer results and expertise to health professionals in countries.JRC.H.4-Monitoring Agricultural Resource

The direct drivers of recent global anthropogenic biodiversity loss

Effective policies to halt biodiversity loss require knowing which anthropogenic drivers are the most important direct causes. Whereas previous knowledge has been limited in scope and rigor, here we statistically synthesize empirical comparisons of recent driver impacts found through a wide-ranging review. We show that land/sea use change has been the dominant direct driver of recent biodiversity loss worldwide. Direct exploitation of natural resources ranks second and pollution third; climate change and invasive alien species have been significantly less important than the top two drivers. The oceans, where direct exploitation and climate change dominate, have a different driver hierarchy from land and fresh water. It also varies among types of biodiversity indicators. For example, climate change is a more important driver of community composition change than of changes in species populations. Stopping global biodiversity loss requires policies and actions to tackle all the major drivers and their interactions, not some of them in isolation.Fil: Jaureguiberry, Pedro. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; ArgentinaFil: Titeux, Nicolas. German Centre For Integrative Biodiversity Research (idiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig; Alemania. Luxembourg Institute Of Science And Technology; Luxemburgo. Helmholtz Zentrum Für Umweltforschung; AlemaniaFil: Wiemers, Martin. Helmholtz Zentrum Für Umweltforschung; Alemania. Senckenberg Gesellschaft Für Naturforschung; AlemaniaFil: Bowler, Diana E.. German Centre For Integrative Biodiversity Research (idiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig; Alemania. Universitat Jena; Alemania. Helmholtz Zentrum Für Umweltforschung; AlemaniaFil: Coscieme, Luca. Hot Or Cool Institute; AlemaniaFil: Golden, Abigail S.. University of Washington; Estados Unidos. German Centre For Integrative Biodiversity Research (idiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig; Alemania. Department Of Marine And Coastal Sciences; Estados UnidosFil: Guerra, Carlos A.. German Centre For Integrative Biodiversity Research (idiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig; Alemania. Martin Luther University Halle Wittenberg; AlemaniaFil: Jacob, Ute. Universität Oldenburg; Alemania. Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum Für Polar- Und Meeresforschung; AlemaniaFil: Takahashi, Yasuo. Institute For Global Environmental Strategies; JapónFil: Settele, Josef. German Centre For Integrative Biodiversity Research (idiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig; Alemania. University Of The Philippines, Los Baños; Filipinas. Helmholtz Zentrum Für Umweltforschung; AlemaniaFil: Díaz, Sandra Myrna. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; ArgentinaFil: Molnár, Zsolt. Institute Of Ecology And Botany; HungríaFil: Purvis, Andy. Imperial College London; Reino Unido. Natural History Museum; Reino Unid

Maladaptive Habitat Selection of a Migratory Passerine Bird in a Human-Modified Landscape

In human-altered environments, organisms may preferentially settle in poor-quality habitats where fitness returns are lower relative to available higher-quality habitats. Such ecological trapping is due to a mismatch between the cues used during habitat selection and the habitat quality. Maladaptive settlement decisions may occur when organisms are time-constrained and have to rapidly evaluate habitat quality based on incomplete knowledge of the resources and conditions that will be available later in the season. During a three-year study, we examined settlement decision-making in the long-distance migratory, open-habitat bird, the Red-backed shrike (Lanius collurio), as a response to recent land-use changes. In Northwest Europe, the shrikes typically breed in open areas under a management regime of extensive farming. In recent decades, Spruce forests have been increasingly managed with large-size cutblocks in even-aged plantations, thereby producing early-successional vegetation areas that are also colonised by the species. Farmland and open areas in forests create mosaics of two different types of habitats that are now occupied by the shrikes. We examined redundant measures of habitat preference (order of settlement after migration and distribution of dominant individuals) and several reproductive performance parameters in both habitat types to investigate whether habitat preference is in line with habitat quality. Territorial males exhibited a clear preference for the recently created open areas in forests with higher-quality males settling in this habitat type earlier. Reproductive performance was, however, higher in farmland, with higher nest success, offspring quantity, and quality compared to open areas in forests. The results showed strong among-year consistency and we can therefore exclude a transient situation. This study demonstrates a case of maladaptive habitat selection in a farmland bird expanding its breeding range to human-created open habitats in plantations. We discuss the reasons that could explain this decision-making and the possible consequences for the population dynamics and persistence

Genetic integrity of European wildcats: Variation across biomes mandates geographically tailored conservation strategies

Hybridisation between domestic and wild taxa can pose severe threats to wildlife conservation, and human-induced hybridisation, often linked to species' introductions and habitat degradation, may promote reproductive opportunities between species for which natural interbreeding would be highly unlikely. Using a biome-specific approach, we examine the effects of a suite of ecological drivers on the European wildcat's genetic integrity, while assessing the role played by protected areas in this process. We used genotype data from 1217 putative European wildcat samples from 13 European countries to assess the effects of landcover, disturbance and legal landscape protection on the European wildcat's genetic integrity across European biomes, through generalised linear models within a Bayesian framework. Overall, we found European wildcats to have genetic integrity levels above the wildcat-hybrid threshold (ca. 83%; threshold = 80%). However, Mediterranean and Temperate Insular biomes (i.e., Scotland) revealed lower levels, with 74% and 46% expected genetic integrity, respectively. We found that different drivers shape the level of genetic introgression across biomes, although forest integrity seems to be a common factor promoting European wildcat genetic integrity. Wildcat genetic integrity remains high, regardless of landscape legal protection, in biomes where populations appear to be healthy and show recent local range expansions. However, in biomes more susceptible to hybridisation, even protected areas show limited effectiveness in mitigating this threat. In the face of the detected patterns, we recommend that species conservation and management plans should be biome- and landscape-context-specific to ensure effective wildcat conservation, especially in the Mediterranean and Temperate Insular biomes.Thanks are due to FCT/MCTES for the financial support to cE3c (UIDB/00329/2020), through national funds, and the co-funding by the FEDER, within the PT2020 Partnership Agreement and Compete 2020. PM was supported by UID/BIA/50027/2021 with funding from FCT/MCTES through national funds. FDR was supported by a postdoctoral contract from the University of Málaga (I Plan Propio de Investigación y Transferencia, call 2020). This study was partly funded by research projects CGL2009-10741, funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation and EU-FEDER, and OAPN 352/2011, funded by the Organismo Autónomo Parques Nacionales (Spain). Luxembourg sample collection has been co-funded by the Ministry of Environment, Climate and Sustainable Development of Luxembourg. We would like to thank the Bavarian Forest National Park Administration for the approval and support in collecting samples.Peer reviewe

A protocol for an intercomparison of biodiversity and ecosystem services models using harmonized land-use and climate scenarios

To support the assessments of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), the IPBES Expert Group on Scenarios and Models is carrying out an intercomparison of biodiversity and ecosystem services models using harmonized scenarios (BES-SIM). The goals of BES-SIM are (1) to project the global impacts of land-use and climate change on biodiversity and ecosystem services (i.e., nature's contributions to people) over the coming decades, compared to the 20th century, using a set of common metrics at multiple scales, and (2) to identify model uncertainties and research gaps through the comparisons of projected biodiversity and ecosystem services across models. BES-SIM uses three scenarios combining specific Shared Socio-economic Pathways (SSPs) and Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs)-SSP1xRCP2.6, SSP3xRCP6.0, SSP5xRCP8.6-to explore a wide range of land-use change and climate change futures. This paper describes the rationale for scenario selection, the process of harmonizing input data for land use, based on the second phase of the Land Use Harmonization Project (LUH2), and climate, the biodiversity and ecosystem services models used, the core simulations carried out, the harmonization of the model output metrics, and the treatment of uncertainty. The results of this collaborative modeling project will support the ongoing global assessment of IPBES, strengthen ties between IPBES and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) scenarios and modeling processes, advise the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) on its development of a post-2020 strategic plans and conservation goals, and inform the development of a new generation of nature-centred scenarios

Modelling species distribution when habitat occupancy departs from suitability : application to birds in a landscape context

Les modèles de distribution d'espèces permettent d'expliquer ou de prédire, à diverses échelles spatiales, la présence ou l'abondance des espèces sur base de variables quantifiant les conditions environnementales. Ces modèles constituent des outils précieux en écologie et en biogéographie, et deviennent de plus en plus répandus en biologie de la conservation pour la mise en place de mesures de protection de l'environnement ou de gestion des populations. Actuellement, la majorité des techniques de modélisation utilisées néglige une double problématique importante: divers facteurs peuvent en effet (1) amener certains individus à occuper des conditions environnementales non favorables et/ou (2) rendre certains sites favorables non occupés. Cette thèse propose des améliorations conceptuelles et techniques aux méthodes de modélisation existantes afin de tenir compte de cette problématique. Étant faciles à recenser et largement reconnus comme indicateurs de la qualité de l'environnement, les oiseaux s'avèrent être des organismes idéaux pour la modélisation. Ce travail étudie en particulier les exigences en termes d'habitat pour la pie-grièche écorcheur (Lanius collurio L.) dans les paysages agricoles du sud de la Belgique. Une approche de modélisation basée sur le paradigme de la niche écologique a tout d'abord été mise au point dans le but de s'affranchir du problème des sites favorables inoccupés. Dans un deuxième temps, une procédure statistique a permis de filtrer les individus présents dans des conditions non favorables. Des données sur le succès reproducteur de la pie-grièche écorcheur ont validé le fondement écologique de ce type de filtrage pour cette espèce. Des analyses spatiales ont alors révélé que la présence d'individus dans des conditions environnementales non favorables était liée à la présence d'autres individus à proximité. Ces résultats ont permis d'aboutir au constat que le découplage entre la qualité des habitats et leur occupation par l'espèce était structuré dans l'espace. Il a alors été jugé important d'améliorer techniquement les méthodes de modélisation actuelles afin de permettre une dissociation entre la modélisation de la qualité des habitats et celle de la distribution potentielle des espèces. Ces améliorations ont permis (1) de classer les différentes composantes de l'habitat par ordre d'importance pour la conservation de l'espèce et (2) de délimiter géographiquement les sites favorables ainsi que les sites de présence potentielle de l'espèce. Les ressemblances et dissemblances entre ces deux délimitations ont mené à l'identification, dans le paysage, des sites requérant des mesures de protection et/ou de restauration.Species Distribution Models (SDM) relate species presence or abundance to environmental predictor variables. They proved to be valuable tools in ecology and biogeography and are increasingly used to underpin the implementation of effective protection or management strategies for species conservation. However, existing SDM approaches largely overlook a widespread dual issue: a variety of factors may cause individuals to be present in unsuitable environmental conditions and/or absent from suitable ones. This thesis addresses this ecological question by enhancing the conceptualization of SDM. Easy to survey and widely recognized indicators of environmental quality, birds offer ideal conditions for modelling. The habitat requirements of the Red-backed Shrike (Lanius collurio L.) in Southern Belgian rural landscapes were specifically investigated. A niche-based modelling approach relying on presence-only information was designed to deal with the absence from suitable habitat. A statistical procedure screened out species presences not conveying reliable information about habitat suitability before building SDM. Breeding success data corroborated the ecological foundation of this screening approach. Spatial analyses revealed that the presence of individuals in locally unsuitable conditions was positively related to the presence of other individuals in the surroundings. These findings highlighted the fact that the decoupling between habitat suitability and occupancy was structured in space. Accordingly, we carried out conceptual and technical improvements to existing niche-based SDM approaches, so as to disconnect habitat suitability modelling from likelihood of occupancy modelling. The ensuing SDM allowed (1) ranking the importance of different habitat components for the species conservation and (2) delineating the distribution of suitable areas and the potential species distribution. Similarities and discrepancies between both distributions allowed prioritizing areas in the landscape where protection and/or restoration measures are required.Doctorat en sciences (sciences biologiques) (BIOL 3)--UCL, 200

IPBES Promotes Integration of Multiple Threats to Biodiversity

In a recent opinion article, Bonebrake et al. [1] promote the implementation of conservation strategies that integrate multiple threats to biodiversity acting at different timescales, including horizon threats such as climate change. They call into question the usefulness of studies featuring climate change as less urgent than other threats. They argue that showcasing the immediate impact of some threats to downplay the importance of climate change contributes to compartmentalising our understanding of environmental pressures