Monitoring the Effectiveness of Nature Conservation
International Conference September 3 – 6, 2007 Abstracts
Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research
Monitoring the Effectiveness of Nature Conservation
Abstracts
International Conference, Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL, Birmensdorf, Switzerland September 3 – 6, 2007
Edited by Elizabeth Feldmeyer-Christe
Published by
Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape
Responsible for this edition:
Prof Dr James W. Kirchner, Director
Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL Organizing committee:
Dr Elizabeth Feldmeyer-Christe, WSL Dr Ariel Bergamini, WSL
Prof. Dr Christoph Scheidegger, WSL PD Dr Otto Wildi, WSL
Dr Thomas Wohlgemuth, WSL
Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL, Zürcherstrasse 111, CH-8903 Birmensdorf.
elizabeth.feldmeyer@wsl.ch, ariel.bergamini@wsl.ch, christoph.scheidegger@wsl.ch, otto.wildi@wsl.ch, thomas.wohlgemuth@wsl.ch
Prof. Dr Jutta Zeitz, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Faculty of Agriculture and Horticulture, Invalidenstrasse 42, D-10115 Berlin.
jutta.zeitz@agrar.hu-berlin.de
Prof. Dr Peter Poschlod, Institute of Botany, Faculty of Biology and Preclinical Medicine, University of Regensburg, D-93040 Regensburg, Germany. peter.poschlod@biologie.uni-regensburg.de
Dr Bob Bunce, Alterra, Wageningen, Netherlands. Bob.bunce@wur.nl Recommended form of citation:
Feldmeyer-Christe, E. (ed) 2007: Monitoring the effectiveness of nature conservation. Abstracts. International conference, September 3–6, 2007. Birmensdorf, Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL. 88 pp.
Layout: Margrit Wiederkehr, WSL Cover: Jacqueline Annen, WSL
Available from:
Library WSL Zürcherstrasse 111 CH-8903 Birmensdorf E-Mail: publications@wsl.ch CHF 12.–
© Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL, Birmensdorf 2007
Cover: View of the Schwantenau mire in the Swiss Pre-Alps showing the traditional land use pattern of the peatland.
Table of contents
Plant community specialization index as an indicator of biodiversity 7 Monitoring fine-scale patterns in grasslands with minimum sampling effort 8 Trends in plant species richness and habitat quality in calcareous fens in the
Swiss Pre-Alps 9
An empirical validation of the capercaillie as umbrella species in mountain forest
ecosystems 10
Monitoring and evaluation concept for alluvial zones: a proposition from the
Advice Centre Alluvial Zones 11
Improving the efficiency of large-scale wildlife monitoring programmes using predictive species distribution models – a case study on capercaillie in the Black
Forest 12
Monitoring the success or failure of conservation programmes in Europe topic to
which your paper is related 13
First phase in monitoring plant diversity in Natura2000 network (Siena Province, Central Italy): comparing species diversity indicators across large spatial scale 14 How monitoring of nature conservation policy drives dynamic reserve selection of
the dry grassland reserve network of Switzerland 15
Using a multispecies approach to monitor ecological managment in Flanders’
nature reserves 16
Monitoring the naturalness in the Bavarian Forest National Park 17 Effect of nature conservation strategies in the south coast of the Pacific Ocean,
Mexico: policy about forest use and deforestation versus planed economic
development 18
Conservation of fen arthropods with fallow strips damages rare plant species –
solution: fen rotational fallows 19
State and changes in mire vegetation after 20 years of constitutional mire
conservation in Switzerland 20
20 years of mire conservation in the Alps – similarities and differences between
Austria and Switzerland 21
Predictive modelling of species distribution: how does it serve nature
conservation 22
A decision support system for the management of mires in the forest (DSS-
WAMOS) 23
Assessing trends in biodiversity at different scales 24
Effectiveness of the Swiss agri-environmental scheme across environmental and
socio-economic gradients in the Alps 25
Importance of design and analysis in biodiversity monitoring 26 From nature protection to integrated institutional regimes for natural resources 27 Is the global conservation status assessment of a threatened taxon a utopia?
Case study on an aquatic plant genus Baldellia (L.) Parl. (Alismataceae) 28 Swiss Mire Monitoring: application of predictive habitat models for repeated
sample refinement, extrapolation and change detection at a very fine scale 29
Evaluating agri-environment schemes: biodiversity in Bavarian grasslands 30 Long term observation and success control: two different ways to look at the
efficiency of nature conservation 31
How changing sampling size and grain can affect the results in monitoring plant
community restoration 32
How do we know if we are conserving nature? 33
Monitoring the effectiveness of conservation policy as a contribution to
international conservation 33
Are we successful in managing our nature reserves? 34
A practical view 34
Between “poor data quality” and “too expensive”: monitoring capercaillie as an
example of an elusive species 35
Power comparison of alternative monitoring designs: 36
one and five year sampling rotation intervals. 36
Response of bats to chestnut orchard restoration in southern Switzerland 37 Spectral variation hypothesis: using satellite imagery to predict plant species
hotspots in Switzerland 38
Does extensive grazing support conservation targets? 39
Effectiveness of mexican natural protected areas to prevent land use / land cover
change 40
Scale-dependent change in dry meadow plant communities 41 Using data from species sightings by the public for analysing temporal variation
in population density 42
How effectively are we slowing the spread of harmful invasive species in
conservation areas? 43
Can quarries supplement rare xeric habitats in a Piedmont region? Comparison
of spiders and ground beetles 44
Participatory monitoring of biodiversity at the interface between community
empowerment and scientific requirements: a case study from Panama 45 A multiscale methodological approach novel in monitoring the effectiveness of
grassland management 46
Modeling multi-temporal fractional shrub/tree cover changes in mire ecosystems
using airborne remote sensing data 47
Managing protected areas – how do we know if we are doing it right? 48
Posters
1 Effects of management at local and landscape scales on carabid and spider
assemblages of Hungarian farmlands 49
2 Study of edge effect on two sympatric Maculinea butterflies 50 3 Ecological compensation areas, birds and farmers – where is the problem? 51
4 Monitoring forest reserves in Switzerland 52
5 Does forest structure indicate biodiversity? Findings from NFI and BDM data
analyses 53
6 Biodiversity of forest ecosystems in algeria State of knowledge and level of
threats 54
7 Higher-taxon approach in weed biodiversity surveys 55
8 Assessing changes in a sub-mediterranean forest of southern Greece 56 9 Predictive multi-thematic habitat distribution models for fine-scale monitoring
of Swiss mire remnants 57
10 Monitoring the quality of nature reserves 58
11 Approaches of utilising quickbird-data for the monitoring of NATURA 2000
habitats 59
12 Using high resolution mapping of disturbance indicator species to assess the
sustainability of forest practices 60
13 Twelve-year permanent plot observation in urban wetlands and forests
submitted to restoration practices: the case of Brussels 61 14 How to consider scaling effects in habitat analyses of forest dwelling
species? 62
15 “Natura 2000” habitats monitoring system in the Czech Republic: its
designing and final shape 63
16 Developing a sampling design for monitoring ecological compensation areas
in Switzerland 64
17 Is topographic variability an important factor when assessing plant species
richness in agricultural landscapes? 65
18 Pond biodiversity assessment: how to implement a standardized method
through practitioners (case study in Switzerland) 66
19 Effects of grazing exclusion on rangeland recovery in the Zagros region of
Iran 67
20 Biodiversity Monitoring Switzerland (BDM): the contribution of a nation-wide
baseline monitoring 68
21 Change of ecosystems – 10 years monitoring program for the ecosystems of
the UNESCO biosphere reserves in Brandenburg 69
22 Beech coppices in the montane belt of the Central Apennines: monitoring for ecological management guidelines according to structure and biodiversity
status 70
23 Use it or loose it: sustainable wild collection of medicinal plants: the case
study of Arnica montana in the Apuseni mountains in Romania 71 24 Monitoring and conservation of ecosystems in drylands 72 25 From systematic samples to model-predicted richness maps and swiss
biodiversity hot spots 73
26 Pros and cons of game impact in the landscape 74
27 Will the climate change favour threatened Atlantic plants in Europe? 75 28 Spatial diversity of sal (Shorea robusta Gaertn. f) in pure and mixed sal
forest areas at Madhupur, Bangladesh 76
29 A gap analysis comparing Natura 2000 vs national protected area system
effectiveness with potential natural vegetation 77
30 Surveying the distribution of a fossorial lizard that is not always available for
detection 78
31 How monitoring species turnover can provide early warning of species loss:
a case study 79
32 Effects of traditional coppicing and game density on epigeic fauna 80 33 Statistical power and optimal sample design in ecological monitoring 81 34 Indicators for nature friendly ditch management by farmers 82 35 Long-term monitoring of biodiversity in the canton Aargau 83 36 Development of remote sensing derived tool to assess the impact of
conservation policy measures and drought on east african ecosystems – the
endeleo project 84
37 A new vision for ecological network: integrating landscape and species data
to support local planning decisions 85
38 A proper inventory method to study the biodiversity 86 39 Biomonitoring of protected ground-dwelling beetle species by
mark-release-recapture method 87
40 Monitoring biodiversity in Austrian agricultural landscapes to assess the
impact of agro-environmental measures 88
Plant community specialization index as an indicator of biodiversity
Abadie Jean-Claude1, 2, Chateil Carole1, 3, Le Coquen Michael1, Porcher Emmanuelle1, 2, Gachet Sophie3, Moret Jacques2 and Machon Nathalie1, 2
1 UMR5173 Conservation des Espèces, Restauration et Suivi des Populations, Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, 61 rue Buffon, 75005 PARIS, France. abadie@mnhn.fr, lecoquen.michael@neuf.fr, porcher@mnhn.fr, machon@mnhn.fr
2 USM 2699 Inventaire et Suivi de la Biodiversité, Conservatoire Botanique National du Bassin Parisien, Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, 61 rue Buffon, 75005 PARIS, France. moret@mnhn.fr
3 UMR 7179 Mécanismes Adaptatifs: des Organismes aux Communautés, Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, 4 rue du Petit-Château, 91800 BRUNOY, France carole.chateil@ens.fr, gachet@mnhn.fr
Keywords: agri-environmental schemes, generalists, human dominated landscapes, indicators, landscape ecology, monitoring, common plants, specialists
In addition to protecting specific areas, nature conservation should also be con- cerned with the increasing human pressures across the unreserved matrix in which natural reserves are embedded (Franklin 1993). Identifying and quantifying human disturbances in such regions require relevant indicators that are sensitive to the causes of biodiversity loss and can inform on ecosystem functioning. Previous studies on plants (Smart et al. 2005) and birds (Jiguet and Julliard 2004) highlighted the importance of common species as indicators in large scale monitoring programs For example, a recently developed Community Specialization Index (CSI), based on variations of the abundance of common species across habitats, proved more accu- rate than species richness to document the impact of habitat fragmentation and degradation on bird communities (Devictor et al. submitted). Here, we apply the CSI to communities of common plants, and investigate how these react to various disturbances according to their degree of specialization. To achieve this, we used data from monitoring programs conducted during two years in the highly human- impacted Parisian area, following a standardised protocol based on the inventory of randomly sampled permanent plots. This was done at two scales: (1) a large scale monitoring, conducted over the whole region and encompassing various habitat types, (2) a local scale survey focusing on agricultural habitats. Using estimates of species abundance, we calculated the degree of specialization of each plant species, from which we obtained community specialization indices in each habitat.
We use CSI to address the following questions: (1) How is community specialization affected by landscape structure? We expect that generalist species are favoured by high landscape diversity, whereas specialist species are affected by increasing patch isolation and decreasing patch size (Jonsen and Fahrig 1997; Krauss et al.
2004). (2) In agricultural habitats, what are the effects of management practices, and notably agri-environmental schemes, on plant communities? Preliminary results show that landscape structure, but not agri-environmental schemes, have a significant impact on CSI. Analysis in progress on new data will allows us to explore more accurately the potential effects of agri-environmental schemes on plant diversity.
Monitoring fine-scale patterns in grasslands with minimum sampling effort
Bartha S., Horvath A. and Viragh, K.
Institute of Ecology and Botany, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Vacratot, Hungary sanyi@botanika.hu, ahorvath@botanika.hu, viragh@botanika.hu
Fine-scale vegetation patterns put important constraints on grassland dynamics especially within the time-scales of restoration and management activities (usually 3–5–20 years). Pattern sampling is generally time-consuming and labor-intensive, therefore rarely applied in the monitoring routine. Our intention was to develop sim- plified sampling designs applicable also in extensive field works but still able to detect relevant structural constraints and their changes. Previous studies concluded that the time required for sampling can be decreased considerably if long (50–100 m) transects of contagious 5 x 5 cm sampling units (microquadrats) are used. This protocol was tested and proved to be applicable in a wide range of grasslands including tall- and shortgrass steppes, mountain grasslands and semi-desert com- munities. The estimated time spent in the field for completing one transect ranged between 3 hours (open sand grassland) and 2 days (species-rich steppe-meadow on loess). This protocol is suitable for extensive comparative scientific studies but still too time-consuming for the practice of applied monitoring. Therefore, we asked what could be the smallest sample size (shortest transect) for unbiased pattern estimates. We studied the effects of decreasing sample size on the estimated diver- sity and spatial dependence of fine-scale species combinations in loess, dolomite and sand grasslands with varying complexity and spatial dependence. The sample sizes ranged between 3000 and 100 units. It was concluded that diversity is under- estimated while spatial dependence is over-estimated with small sample sizes. The stochastic variance of estimates increased and the power of the statistical tests decreased with decreasing sample sizes. As a consequence, small samples unable to detect even strong and biologically relevant differences. The related critical threshold varied with grassland types and dynamic states but usually it was be- tween 1000 and 2000 sampling units. According to our results, the lowest limit of sample size for the effective monitoring of within-stand coenostate descriptors (i.e., the diversity and spatial dependence of species combinations) is ca. 1000 micro- quadrats. We also studied if some univariate characteristics of vegetation matrix can be represented by smaller samples. We concluded that the frequency and indi- vidual patterns of dominant species or the pattern of particular microsites (e.g. fine- scale disturbances or fine-scale litter accumulations) can be represented by smaller samples of ca. 100-200 microquadrats. A new simple sampling design is suggested for detecting relevant univariate patterns of vegetation matrix by combining the traditional permanent plot sampling with our simplified fine-scale pattern sampling.
Trends in plant species richness and habitat quality in calcareous fens in the Swiss Pre-Alps
Bergamini Ariel1, Peintinger Markus2, Fakheran Sima2, Joshi Jasmin2, Moradi Hossein2 and Schmid Bernhard2
1 Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, Biodiversity and Conservation Biology, Zürcherstrasse 111, CH-8903 Birmensdorf, Switzerland. ariel.bergamini@wsl.ch
2 Institute of Environmental Sciences, University of Zürich, Winterthurerstr. 190, CH- 8057 Zürich, Switzerland. peinti@t-online.de, fakheran@uwinst.unizh.ch,
joshi@uwinst.unizh.ch, moradi@uwinst.unizh.ch, bschmid@uwinst.unizh.ch Keywords: calcareous fens, Swiss Pre-Alps, management, altitude, vascular plants, bryophytes, evaluation, Red List species, indicator values
Fens are protected by law in Switzerland since 1987. Nevertheless, it can not be ensured that habitat quality remains stable because many fens are small, isolated and surrounded by intensively managed agricultural areas. Furthermore, atmos- pheric nitrogen input is still high which may lead to eutrophication of these wetlands.
Calcareous fens in the northern Swiss pre-Alps are of special conservation concern because they are very species-rich with many specialised and rare plant species (Peintinger et al. 2003). It is thus an important task to evaluate whether fen protec- tion in Switzerland is effective or whether habitat quality decreases despite all con- servation efforts.
To detect trends in species richness and habitat quality, we studied 36 fen sites 1995/97 and again 2005/06. The fens were stratified according to two mangement types (mowing, grazing) and three altitudinal classes (800–1000, 1000–1200, 1200–
1400 m a.s.l.). Because trends may be different within grazed or mown fens and/or within different altitudinal classes, we were particularly interested in interactions between these variables and the sampling period (1995/97 or 2005/06). In each fen, we assessed vascular plant and bryophyte species richness on 5 plots (each 2 m2; total n = 360). While fen sites were identical for the two sampling periods, plots were not.
We found a significant decrease in the number of habitat specialists per plot for both groups (bryophytes: 4.38 vs. 3.73, vascular plants: 8.55 vs. 7.75). In vascular plants, there was also a significant decrease in Red List species (1.01 vs. 0.78).
Furthermore, mean indicator values (based on vascular plant vegetation) per plot for nutrients increased, and for moisture and light decreased significantly between the two sampling periods. There were no interactions between management or altitude and the sampling period (p > 0.05 for all response variables). We found no effects of management on the number of habitat specialists in both taxonomic groups.
In conclusion, habitat quality of calcareous fens in the Swiss pre-Alps decreased in the last 10 years despite the legal protection and the traditional management of these habitats. Because the effect of the sampling period did not depend on the management type, none of the two types can be favoured and long-term protection seems only possible by reducing nutrient inputs and by restoring the often disturbed hydrology.
An empirical validation of the capercaillie as umbrella species in mountain forest ecosystems
Bollmann Kurt1, Graf Roland F.2, Debrunner Rolf1, Suter Werner1
1 Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, Zürcherstrasse 111, CH-8903 Birmensdorf kurt.bollmann@wsl.ch, rolf.debrunner@gmx.net, werner.suter@wsl.ch
2 University of Applied Sciences Wädenswil (HSW), Grüental, Postfach 335, CH-8820 Wädenswil
r.graf@hsw.ch
Keywords: birds, capercaillie, conservation, forest grouse, mountain forest, saproxylic beetles, Tetrao urogallus, umbrella species
Species conservation faces the general dilemma that funding and knowledge are often too limited to protect the growing number of threatened taxa. Hence, biologists often rely on surrogates for the conservation of whole species communities. The umbrella species concept has received growing attention in this context. An umbrella species has specific habitat requirements combined with more extensive area demands than co-occurring species. Thus, conservation measures in favour of an umbrella species are expected to benefit a large number of naturally co- occurring taxa. In Switzerland, the capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus) is considered an umbrella species for high species richness in mountain forests. If true, conservation measures in favour of this threatened grouse species are expected to benefit overall biodiversity of this ecosystem.
In this study, we investigated the occurrence of breeding birds and saproxylic beetles (Cerambycidae, Buprestidae) in subalpine forests of a Pre-alpine region (200 km2) with important numbers of capercaillie. Species abundance and richness of these taxa were compared in core areas of capercaillie distribution and areas with no evidence of capercaillie presence (absence areas). Average bird species richness and individual abundance were higher in forest stands of core areas. The difference was due to higher numbers of mountain bird species at these sites.
Common and widely distributed birds did not differ between core and absence areas. Neither overall species richness nor individual numbers of beetles differed in core and absence areas. Our results suggest that the applicability of the umbrella species concept is (1) more effective among than across taxa, (2) scale-dependent, and (3) limited by the variety of essential key habitat elements of different taxonomic groups of organisms. If they are to live up to the expectations of conservationists, umbrella species should be chosen in accordance with the objectives of the conservation goal.
Monitoring and evaluation concept for alluvial zones:
a proposition from the Advice Centre Alluvial Zones
Bonnard Leslie1 and Roulier Christian2
1 Auenberatungsstelle, c/o naturaqua PBK, Elisabethenstrasse 51, 3014 Berne l.bonnard@naturaqua.ch
2 Service conseil Zones alluviales, rue des Pêcheurs 8A, 1400 Yverdon-les-Bains scza@bluewin.ch
Keywords: alluvial zones, alluvial dynamic, monitoring, evaluation
The swiss inventory of alluvial zones of national importance contains 282 sites covering 22’617 ha distributed over the whole country, ranging from 190 to over 3000 m altitude. A federal ordinance protects these sites. It aims to the conservation and promotion of indigenous flora and fauna typical of alluvial zones and of characteristic geomorphological features. Wherever appropriate and feasible, the natural dynamics of the discharge regime and sediment flows are to be re- established. The cantons are charged to enforce this ordinance. A monitoring and evaluation concept was devised to measure the advancement of the protection on different levels: the state of law enforcement (output / impact: number of site under legal protection, measures taken, acceptance) and the effects of protection on the ecosystem (outcome: quality of biocenoses, intensity of fluvial dynamics). Eighteen key questions relative to policy monitoring and ecology are answered by different methods. The evaluation of success on the outcome level is based primarily on information gained by the analysis of vegetation since dynamic procedures are registered by the vegetation at different paces. Vegetation surveys and phyto- sociological data are collected. The fauna, the hydrological situation, the evolution of the watersystem and the disruptions caused by man are also documented by standardized reproducible methods. A relational database collects all data and is programmed to render index values and standard evaluations of the data. The system is visualized by the examples of three different indicators: percentage of dynamic surface (%), incision of the bed (cm/year), restriction of natural dynamics (km of embankments). These measures based on different units are converted to indexes of satisfaction. As these, they can be compared and contribute to the answers to the posed key questions. Measures are taken generally every 12 years.
A overview of the up-to-date state is communicated at a rhythm of four years.
References:
Thielen, R.; Tognola, M.; Roulier, C. und Teuscher, F., 2002: 2. Ergänzung des Bundes- inventars der Auengebiete von nationaler Bedeutung. Technischer Bericht. Schr.reihe Umw. 341.
Bonnard, L.; Cosandey, A.-C.; Gsteiger, P.; Hausammann, A.; Rast, S.; Roulier, C.;
Thielen R., 2007: Handbuch Erfolgskontrolle Auen von nationaler Bedeutung. Berne and Yverdon-les-bains (to be published).
Rieder, S.; Landis, F.; Mauch, C.; Hirsig, P., 2007: Erfolgskontrolle Auen: Eine externe Evaluation ausgewählter Elemente des Auenschutzes in der Schweiz. Lucerne (to be published).
Improving the efficiency of large-scale wildlife monitoring programmes using predictive species distribution models – a case study on capercaillie in the Black Forest
Braunisch Veronika
Forest Research Institute of Baden-Württemberg, Dept. Landscape Ecology, Wildlife Ecology, Wonnhaldestr. 4, D-79100 Freiburg, Germany. veronika.braunisch@forst.bwl.de Keywords: wildlife monitoring, Capercaillie, Tetrao urogallus, species distribution model, presence-only model, Ecological Niche Factor Analysis (ENFA), landscape scale, spatial resolution, heterogeneous data
Monitoring programmes assessing the spatial distribution of endangered wildlife species are essential for the planning and evaluation of conservation activities.
However, as many species are cryptic and have extensive area requirements, systematic sampling strategies covering entire eco-regions are often neither practicable nor affordable. Therefore, monitoring programmes are frequently based on incidental observations made by gamekeepers, foresters and nature conser- vationists. Such programmes suffer from the following constraints: first, not all inhabited areas are recorded reliably and second, observation densities depend largely on chance and reflect the observers’ individual fieldwork intensities rather than the frequencies of species’ presence. Using capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus) in the Black Forest (south western Germany), we evaluated the capacity of environ- mental envelope-based distribution models generated at landscape scale to predict observation densities at local scales (forest stand) and to localise areas of undetermined species occurrence. To evaluate the trade-off between the precision of species data and the spatial extent of the sample area, we compared models based on presence-data obtained employing different sampling strategies. These were random sampling throughout the whole study area (7000 km2) with (1) exact locations and (2) locations assigned to a 1x1 km Gauss-Krüger grid. In addition, (3) systematic transect countings were conducted across a small subregion (23,8 km2).
Models were generated using an Ecological Niche Factor Analysis (Hirzel et al.
2002) and evaluated with cross validation and independent data representing
“unknown” occurrences. All three models revealed the same predictive power within their range of calibration. The two models (1) and (2) built on random data performed equally well predicting observation densities at the forest stand scale.
They also provided similarly good results detecting unknown occurrences and predicting the spatial extent of these patches. Both performed better than the model (3) based on systematically collected data from a small region. The results support earlier studies (e.g. Engler et al. 2004, Guisan et al. 2005), finding that predictive distribution models can enhance the informational value of random monitoring programmes and increase the effectiveness of sampling strategies. In contrast to vegetation studies, a high spatial precision of presence-data did not provide more information than a resolution corresponding to the species’ homerange size. When a trade-off between precision and spatial extent is necessary in large-scale wildlife monitoring, less precise data collected over a large representative region seem preferable to systematically sampled data obtained from a small region.
Monitoring the success or failure of conservation programmes in Europe topic to which your paper is related
Bunce R.G.H.
Alterra, PO Box 47, 6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands Bob.Bunce@wur.nl
There are many different levels of designation from complete protection in small nature reserves, to minimal measures in large sites such as the landscapes covering several hundred square kilometres in some Natura 2000 areas in Spain. A comprehensive network to assess the effectiveness of these various measures would involve not only a large number of sites but also a detailed understanding of the policies involved both at national and international levels. In practice there are not even scientifically based monitoring schemes in place for even the most highly protected sites in most European countries, let alone common protocols across the continent. This paper will describe the necessary principles that are involved in setting up monitoring schemes and some of the problems that need to be considered if an assessment of the effectiveness of protection measures is to be carried out.
Monitoring, i.e. repeated measurements, needs stricter rules than an individual surveys, otherwise differences between observers in taxa identification, recording protocols and location of samples will result in real changes being masked by background noise. Across Europe, with the exception of some individual groups such as birds and butterflies, there are few projects that transcend national boundaries in the reliable recording of change at the landscape level, whether of landscape elements, habitats, vegetation or assemblages of other taxa, such as fungi or insects.
Whilst reliable data do exist, the availability of the necessary financial support for coordinating and processing a unified data set currently falls between various sources of funding. The number of samples to adequately cover the existing range of designations would also be very large. A further problem is that many of the people involved in monitoring at local levels have limited experience of the standards and statistical procedures that are required for linking national and international datasets. Some of the best examples of assessing conservation initiatives are provided by national projects on the effectiveness of agri- environmental schemes e.g. in Austria, Switzerland and the UK. However whilst various publications have described the results integration of data has not taken place. Some examples are given of such national schemes.
There is widespread recognition of the necessity of producing consistent baseline figures across Europe against which to assess the effectiveness of conservation measures, but also to determine conservation status, as is required by the Habitats Directive. Currently however no such initiative exists but it would undoubtedly provide a major stimulus to conservation in Europe, although countries will need to recognize that common standards are required for progress to be made.
Examples of successful collaboration in habitat recording and vegetation will be given to illustrate what is required and the problems involved.
First phase in monitoring plant diversity in Natura2000 network (Siena Province, Central Italy): comparing species diversity indicators across large spatial scale
Chiarucci Alessandro, Bacaro Giovanni and Rocchini Duccio
Department of Environmental Science “G. Sarfatti”, Via P.A. Mattioli 4, I-53100 Siena chiarucci@unisi.it, bacaro@unisi.it, rocchini@unisi.it
Keywords: biodiversity, conservation, monitoring prospective, Natura2000 network, sampling design, sites of community importance, species richness
Emphasize causes of variations in species richness and composition along tem- poral and spatial sequences should characterize the core of any monitoring pro- grams (Yoccoz et al. 2001).
Achieving the 2010 target and assessing effectiveness in the conservation role provided by the Natura2000 network require efforts in terms of application of re- peatable sampling strategies and selection of ecologically adequate measurements.
Being the bulk of the primary producer and considered as focal taxon for the selection of nature reserves, vascular plants are regarded as the most important element in structuring and functioning of terrestrial ecosystems as well as primary targets in monitoring the effectiveness of conservation activities (Chiarucci et al.
2005). While species richness and complementarity are widely used indicators in the framework of plant diversity assessment and monitoring (Magurran 1988, Colwell and Coddington 1994), availability of standardized floristic data on large spatial scale are still missing. For this reason there is a need of developing sample based approaches for a correct statistical inference on the statistical “population” of plant species within the network of protected areas.
Here, we discuss results based on floristic data collected for a set of Sites of Community Importance (SCIs) in Siena Province (Central Italy) using a hierarchical nested sampling design. Our main aims are: i) evaluating the performance of differ- ent indicators of plant species diversity in relation to their applicability, precision and reproducibility; ii) testing different sampling strategy for maximizing the efficiency for a given sampling effort; iii) partitioning elements of plant species diversity (i.e alpha, beta and gamma diversity) for different considered spatial scale within the regional network of SCIs, iv) highlighting principal ecological gradients acting in shaping pattern of species richness on a large scale.
References:
Chiarucci, A.; D’Auria, F.; De Dominicis, V.; Laganà, A.; Perini, C.; Salerni, E., 2005:
Using vascular plants as a surrogate taxon to maximize fungal species richness in reserve design. Conserv. Biol. 19: 1644–1652.
Colwell, R.K.; Coddington, J.A., 1994: Estimating terrestrial biodiversity through extra- polation. Philos. Trans. R. Soc. Lond., Series B 345: 101–118.
Magurran, A.E., 1988: Ecological diversity and its measurement. London, Chapman and Hall.
Yoccoz, N.G.; Nichols, J.D.; Boulinier, T., 2001: Monitoring of biological diversity in space and time. Trends Ecol. Evol. 16: 446–453.
How monitoring of nature conservation policy drives dynamic reserve selection of the dry grassland reserve network of Switzerland
Dalang Thomas and Bolliger Janine
Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, Land Use Dynamics, Zürcherstrasse 111, CH- 8903 Birmensdorf, Switzerland
thomas.dalang@wsl.ch, janine.bolliger@wsl.ch
Keywords: mesobromion, connectivity, area of preference, species conservation, habitat conservation, conservation policy, decision making, strategic controlling, set covering problem, fuzzification
The dry grassland (DG) inventory of Switzerland consists of 3143 sites with a total area of 237 km2 [2, 3]. A preliminary evaluation of the inventory by the federal administration suggests that species-specific conservation aspects and the landscape matrix between the DG patches are currently not represented adequately.
On a political level we discuss how the framework of dynamic reserve selection could be embedded in a strategic controlling system to ameliorate reserve selection.
On a planning level, we propose a solution to optimise the existing reserve network with respect to individual species and landscape-scale conservation.
In the draft of the ordinance to the DG inventory, areas of preference (Vorranggebiete) [1: Art.5] have been proposed as a promising new implementation tools. Areas of preference allow to flexibly adapt a reserve selection network to satisfy political and ecological goals. We used the connectivity measure developed for DG evaluation to link the DG data with a coarsely grained floristic database [4] to identify appropriate DG clusters. Subsequently, we applied a set covering framework to find optimal floristic mapping units, and a fuzzification operator to extend the little concise results delivered by the set covering algorithm so that they may be used by decision makers.
References:
[1] Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications 2007:
Verordnung über den Schutz der Trockenwiesen und -weiden von nationaler Bedeutung.
Draft. Berne.
[2] Eggenberg, S.; Dalang, T.; Dipner, M.; Mayer, C. 2001: Cartography and evaluation of dry grasslands sites of national importance. Technical report. Berne, Swiss Agency for the Environment, Forests and Landscape.
[3] Federal Office for the Environment 2007: Trockenwiesen und -weiden.
http://www.bafu.admin.ch/tww.
[4] Welten, M.; Sutter, R. 1982–1994: Verbreitungsatlas der Farn- und Blütenpflanzen der Schweiz. Basel, Birkhäuser.
Using a multispecies approach to monitor ecological managment in Flanders’ nature reserves
De Cock Raphaël, De Blust Geert, Maes Dirk and Hoffmann Mauric
Research Institute for Nature and Forest, Kliniekstraat 25, B-1070 Brussels, Belgium raphael.decock@inbo.be, geert.deblust@inbo.be, dirk.maes@inbo.be,
maurice.hoffmann@inbo.be
Keywords: monitoring strategy, multispecies approach, biodiversity and biotic indicators, biotope conservation and recovery, species conservation
Up till now nature conservation in Flanders (Belgium) did not had an appropriate method to evaluate the effects of the ecological management in its nature reserves.
In order to fill that gap, we developed a methodology that allows standardized and consistent monitoring of nature management measures and their effects on biodiversity. The methodology and sampling scheme can be used by the local managers as well as by the administration of nature conservation to evaluate the quality and species composition of defined “nature types” in relation to the different management strategies. Such an instrument is indispensable to decide on the most effective management measures to be applied.
In the past, species were almost never used as a measure to assess the quality achieved by conservation action. From a biological point of view however, this seems to be the most appropriate. Maes and Van Dyck (2005) developed a so called multi-species approach that turned out to be the best choice for a feasible, time and budget saving technique to evaluate the state of a particular nature type in terms of “distance-to-target”. A multi-species approach starts from a relevant and workable set of species selected from different taxonomic and functional groups with well known ecological requirements regarding environmental, structural and spatial properties of their habitats. The combination of the ecological information represented by the subset of species belonging to the multi-species set that is found in a particular place, allows a more complete assessment of the state of the habitat and nature type present than by making use of only a single species.
In 2006, a first sampling round of 76 sites with a uniform management, rep- resenting 9 different nature types, distributed over 12 nature reserves was conducted. Faunistic data were collected by bow-nets for amphibians, purpose-built searches and along routes for invertebrates and at counting points for birds . Presence of vascular plants was surveyed per parcel and detailed abundance data were obtained in a series of permanent plots. In addition, vegetation structure of each site was mapped in detail.
In this lecture, we will briefly explain the monitoring methodology and present the first results obtained regarding the evaluation of the condition of a selection of nature types and the management techniques applied.
References:
Maes, D.; Van Dyck, H., 2005: Habitat quality and biodiversity indicator performances of a threatened butterfly versus a multispecies group for wet heathlands in Belgium. Biol.
Conserv. 123: 177–187.
Monitoring the naturalness in the Bavarian Forest National Park
Fischer Hagen S., Winter Susanne and Fischer Anton
Geobotany, Department of Ecology, TU Munich, Am Hochanger12, D 85354 Freising Keywords: naturalness, Bavarian Forest National Park, forest inventory, NATURA 2000, potential natural vegetation
Natural primeval forests no longer exist in Central Europe. Never the less national parks aim to re-establish near-natural conditions of forests within their territory. But giving space to natural development is not the only task of national parks. The demands of tourism and scientific research have to be gratified as well as the need of the surrounding rural community. The question rises: How good do the activities of the national park administration meet the requirements of nature protection under the constraint of the other competing interests?
An Interreg IIIa project carried out in the Bavarian Forest National Park in Germany and the adjacent Sumava National Park in the Czech Republic aimed to answer that question. Based on the data of the standard national forest inventories, a mapping of NATURA 2000 habitats and a map of the potential natural vegetation a method was developed to assess the naturalness of the parks. As the data of the forest inventories are available for points of time in the past the assessment can be done retrospective the development of naturalness can be demonstrated.
Effect of nature conservation strategies in the south coast of the Pacific Ocean, Mexico: policy about forest use and deforestation versus planed economic development
Galicia Leopoldo1, Corona Rogelio1, Hersperger Anna M.2, Bürgi Matthias2 and Palacio Jose L.1
1 Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México UNAM, Instituto de Geografía, Ave.
Universidad No. 3000, Col. Copilco, CP. 04510, México, DF lgalicia@igiris.igeograf.unam.mx
2 Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, Zürcherstrasse 111, CH-8903 Birmensdorf, Switzerland. anna.hersperger@wsl.ch, matthias.buergi@wsl.ch
Keywords: tropical dry forest, Mexico, tourist spot, deforestation and conservation policies
The World Conservation Union have declared to the Tropical Dry Forest as a priority ecosystem for conservation. Just 0.009% in the world is under any status of protection. In this study we have focused in the development of the tourist spot to understand the effect that it has on deforestation and land use change trends as a key to evaluate new ideas of Nature Conservation. Our study took place in the municipality of San Pedro Pochutla (SPP) and Santa Maria Huatulco (SMH) located in the South Coast of Oaxaca, Mexico. The total area of both is 930.57 Km2 where 80% of all the land cover belongs to the TDF. The Federal Government in the early 80’s came out with the development of a tourist spot in SMH. The reason was to increase the capture of incomes and the generation of new jobs in these regions with very high marginality and undevelopment. Remote sensing imagery was used to evaluated over 3 time steps in order to develop the land use dynamics spatially explicit and the vegetation rates of change. Field interviews were used to understand the reasons of the spatial dynamic of the region. The results show that are 3 main regions within these 2 municipalities. One takes place in SMH within 21,163 ha that were expropriated by the government, of this 11,890 ha are titled as National Park where strong regulation takes place inducing no deforestation at all with the abandonment of the land uses settled prior the expropriation. In the north part of this municipality regulations have applied less rigorously. However, deforestation rates have been reduced over the time as a result of the migration from rural areas to urban ones changing the economy from primary sector to the tertiary sector. Finally, SPP sees a reduction in the high deforestation rates, however there are still higher than SMH. To remark, we have shown that even that deforestation and conservation Policies are in effect all over the region, the way in which they have been effective differs. The reasons are wide but most of them have a close relationship with the economic development. As long as local people see nature conservation as a way to increase their incomes they will protect the forest.
Conservation of fen arthropods with fallow strips damages rare plant species – solution: fen rotational fallows
Gigon Andreas and Rocker Sabine
Institute of Integrative Biology ETH Z, Universitätsstrasse 16, CH-8092 Zurich, Switzerland
andreas.gigon@env.ethz.ch, sabine.rocker@env.ethz.ch
Keywords: arthropods, fallows, fens, fen plants, fen rotational fallows, litter meadows, Molinietum, nature conservation, old grass strips
The large scale simultaneous mowing of fens (litter meadows, Molinietum), practiced in the last ~20 years in northern Switzerland for economic reasons, enables the typical plant community to be conserved. However, this management can impair many fen arthropods as they are injured, killed and removed with the litter, become exposed to predators and unfavourable weather, lose their nutritional basis, and have less refuges for hibernation. To prevent these consequences, the farmers have been encouraged to leave uncut (fallow) strips in the fens for some years past. However, if these strips are left for >1 year they have a negative effect on many typical fen plant species because of shade from the accumulated litter, enhanced competition from tall forbs, and shrub encroachment.
Some of these problems can be solved by fen rotational fallows (FeRoFa): a management system in which a fallow strip (unmown strip, old grass strip) of a minimum of 250 m2 and ≥5 m width is moved sideways each year, returning after 3 to 5 years to its original position (rotation). The remaining fen is mown annually.
Investigations in 10 fen rotational fallows in northern Switzerland over the last 4 years provided the following results. In 3-year-rotational fallows more Heteroptera and phytophagous Coleoptera individuals, as well as cocoons of Araneae and Red List spider species were found to hibernate than in the annually mown control plots.
Several Heteroptera and Auchenorrhyncha species were found to “profit” from the fallows. Most of the typical fen plant species were not impaired by the FeRoFa. Iris sibirica and Hydrocotyle vulgaris were even enhanced. However, the orchids Dactylorhiza incarnata and Orchis morio showed a 90% decline in flowering in the 1 year fallow and in the following mowing years. Therefore FeRoFas should not be set up in locations where orchids are plentiful. The results further indicate that locations containing many nutrient indicator plants, shrubs or invasive alien species should be avoided when setting up FeRoFas.
As expected, fen rotational fallows are not “positive“ for all groups of arthropods and plants, but can be useful for conserving many endangered species.
State and changes in mire vegetation after 20 years of constitutional mire conservation in Switzerland
Graf Ulrich, Ecker Klaus, Feldmeyer-Christe Elizabeth and Küchler Meinrad Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, Zürcherstrasse 111, CH-8903 Birmensdorf ulrich.graf@wsl.ch, klaus.ecker@wsl.ch, elizabeth.feldmeyer@wsl.ch, meinrad.kuechler@wsl.ch
All of the mires of national importance in Switzerland are conserved by the law. In a representative sample of 102 of them the vegetation is monitored in order to evaluate their conservation state.
After 5 years a loss of 2 km2 or 10% of the total surface of bog vegetation has been found. The vegetation of fens and reedbed lost 5 km2 or 6% of its total surface. Other wetland vegetation gained 5 km2 or 9% of its total surface.
The transformations of vegetation types are in favour of non-peat-forming systems.
Ecological trends were monitored by the means of indicator values. One can observe a general loss of water. This trend is related with a eutrophication of the soils and a decline of humus content, i.e. a decomposition of peat. An invasion of shrubs can be observed at many places. The function as a sink for carbon-dioxid is reduced.
In spite of their conservation state, most of the bogs and fens still suffer from ancient drains. Many of the places are not cut any more.
The observations made in the monitoring result in the following recommen- dations:
The land use of the mires has to be adapted to the conservation goals: the use as litter meadow has to be reinstalled, using well adapted light machines to cut. In the mountaineous areas the pasturing with cattle has to be reduced or heavy cattle has to be replaced by lighter varieties. Further actions for mire restoration are needed. The watertable has to be raised in allmost all fens and bogs wherever it is possible.
20 years of mire conservation in the Alps – similarities and differences between Austria and Switzerland
Grünig Andreas
Agroscope Reckenholz-Tänikon (ART), CH-8046 Zürich Andreas.gruenig@art.admin.ch
Keywords: mire, mire resource, mire habitat, mire conservation, mire management, land use, mire rehabilitation, mire legislation, Alps, Alpine environment
Austria and Switzerland are both federated nations also known as the two Alpine republics because two thirds of each country does belong to the Alpine arc stretching from Nice to Vienna. Naturally, mires did not cover huge areas in the Alpine environment; however, according to geological and climatic conditions, mires were quite frequent and prominent features of alpine landscapes. During the last few centuries, due to increasing human activities (e.g. drainage, peat extraction, construction works, and intensification of agriculture) the mire resource in Austria and Switzerland became increasingly rare and, hence, the conservation and rehabilitation of mires a growing impetus for modern landscape management.
In both countries, nature conservation issues are the explicit duty of the Austrian federal states (Bundesländer) and the Swiss cantons, respectively. However, on 6 December 1987, the Rothenthurm Initiative, a compulsory referendum demanding the strict conservation of mires and mire landscapes of national importance was accepted by both 58% of the Swiss citizens and 23 of 26 cantons. In 1992, governments of the European Union adopted the Habitats Directive. It requires Special Areas of Conservation to be designated for the protection of threatened habitats, e. g. mires, across Europe. Meanwhile, the Habitats Directive is the basis of the European Natura 2000 network.
In 2005, Switzerland and Austria had a similar population of 7,500,000 and 8,000,000, respectively. However, there is a major difference between the two countries on size: Switzerland has an area of 41,300 km2 which is approximately half the size of Austria (83,900 km2). Therefore, population density in Switzerland is 183 people per km2 which is twice the Austrian population density (95 people per km2). Even though both countries are famous for their mountains, the present land use figures reflect somehow Switzerland’s steeper mountainous nature due to an altitudinal gradient constantly increasing from the (Austrian) Eastern Alps to the (Swiss and French) Western Alps.
Concerning mire conservation issues, this paper aims at:
1. Addressing similarities and potential differences between Austria and Switzerland in terms of present distribution and quality of the mire resource;
2. Identifying the respective driving forces making the differences between the two countries in terms of:
a) historical development and loss of the mire resource, b) land use changes in space and time, c) land ownership, d) implementation of the legislation on mire conservation, e) management and rehabilitation of mires;
3. Verifying if the statement “Greater population density means more pressure on land use issues” does still hold for mire habitats which are subject to strict mire conservation regulations.
Predictive modelling of species distribution: how does it serve nature conservation
Guisan Antoine
Dept. Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne – Biophore, CH-1015 Lausanne Antoine.Guisan@unil.ch
In recent years, predictive modelling of species distribution has dramatically increased. A large number of techniques and approaches now exist to derive potential distribution maps. Data to fit these models have also become increasingly available. Species data come either from designed inventories or from natural history collections. Access to climatic and other environmental maps was made possible for most regions of the world through online geographic information databases. Examples of the use of these models exist in both fundamental (e.g.
biogeography, macroecology) and applied (conservation planning, impact studies) sciences. Applications to conservation issues in particular are numerous, ranging from assessing climate change impact on future patterns of biodiversity, designing model-based sampling for rare species or anticipating the spread of exotic species in non-native areas. Here, I review the progress in the field and discuss how these models could be used more systematically to serve conservation planning and help setting-up biomonitoring programs.
A decision support system for the management of mires in the forest (DSS-WAMOS)
Hasch Bernhard and Zeitz Jutta
Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Landwirtschaftlich-Gärtnerische Fakultät, Fachgebiet für Bodenkunde und Standortlehre
bernhard.hasch@staff.hu-berlin.de, jutta.zeitz@agrar.hu-berlin.de
Inside the extensive woodland of Central Europe there are large quantities and a wide range of different mires, which mostly cover only small areas. These “forest mires” are frequently in quite good ecological condition and have a minor degree of utilization. But in many cases the hydrological regime of forest mires has been negatively impacted by drainage in the past. Climate change has an additional negative impact on the water balance. This implicates a loss of typical vegetation, an increasing afforestation of formerly uncovered mires, peat decomposition and increasing load of nutrients.
The wide range of mire types and characteristics necessitate a feasible instrument for conservation and management of forest mires. Therefore the experience of previous restoration projects and the present expert knowledge should be consolidated in a decision support system. With this system an instrument will be provided that offers established action strategies for individual mire types and levels of degradation. This tool should offer practitioners (offices for forestry, forest owners, nature conservation authorities et al.) an easy access to apply current knowledge of forest mire restoration.
Implemented measures in 53 forest mires with a total area of nearly 2.500 ha have been evaluated and the most important and frequently applied parameters for measurement determination have been identified. On this foundation in combination with literature studies and expert talks the basic structure (model component) of the DSS has been elaborated.
The model part of the DSS has a modular concept and is parted in two decision sections to derive main restoration objectives and measures: “Aims of development”
and “Practical measures”. These sections contain several modules to handle differ- ent management aspects. In each module the user find a dichtotomic key, easy to handle and with a high transparency of the decision making process. By matrices those sectoral decisions will be bundled into an integrated management strategy.
The management strategy submits proposals for optimal rewetting methods, measures to increase water supply from catchment area and best methods to re- duce undesirable afforestation. Demands on habitat and species protection are considered as well as prevention of nutrient mobilisation.
Further on the basic structure and the decision trees of the DSS will be tested and worked out in detail. Finally the DSS will be posted on the Internet as a public management instrument.
Assessing trends in biodiversity at different scales
Hutton Jon
UNEP-World Conservation Monitoring Centre, United Nations Environment Programme 219, Huntingdon Road, Cambridge CB3 0DL, United Kingdom
Jon.Hutton@unep-wcm.org
Keywords: biodiversity; indicators, monitoring, trends, species, ecosystems, 2010 Biodiversity Indicators Partnership, SEBI2010, CBD
In 2002, the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) formally adopted a commitment “to achieve a significant reduction of the current rate of biodiversity loss at the global, regional, and national level as a contribution to poverty alleviation and to the benefit of all life on earth by 2010”, which was endorsed later that year at the World Summit on Sustainable Development, and has subsequently been incorporated as a new target within the Millennium Development Goals.
In order to determine whether this overtly ambitious target is being met it is necessary that trends in biodiversity are monitored over various different scales.
The first is temporal – detecting changes in the status of biodiversity through time.
The second is geographic – the 2010 target explicitly encompasses national through to global scales; and the third is scale of biodiversity organisation, from genetic, through population, species and ecosystem scales. There are challenges in assessing trends in each of these scales. Even for those taxa for which data are most available – vertebrates, and birds amongst them – there are few reliable time series data at a global scale, with significant geographic bias in data availability towards temperate parts of the world. At the scale of ecosystems there is no universally accepted classification system, and very few time-series data available at any scale.
Despite such challenges, tracking meaningful changes in biodiversity is feasible, making use of the best-available data and indicators. Such biodiversity indicators are communication tools that signal overall trends in aspects of biodiversity, and can therefore help assess the effectiveness of biodiversity management, and progress towards multiple targets and objectives.
At the global scale, the 2010 Biodiversity Indicators Partnership is coordinating the delivery of a wide range of such indicators in support of the 2010 target, and the Streamlining European 2010 Biodiversity Indicators (SEBI2010) initiative is doing likewise in Europe. At the national level an increasing number of initiatives by NGOs and governments are also collating data and developing indicators.
The story currently emerging from these indicators is changing very little as more data becomes available – global biodiversity loss continues in many cases at an increasing rate, and meeting the 2010 target would require unprecedented action to reduce the pressures on biodiversity – particularly on tropical ecosystems, although the pressures are global. Biodiversity loss will therefore not cease to be an issue in 2010. We must work to ensure that improved monitoring efforts are in place at all scales to track changes in biodiversity in 2011 and beyond.
Effectiveness of the Swiss agri-environmental scheme across environmental and socio-economic gradients in the Alps
Kampmann Dorothea and Herzog Felix
Agroscope Reckenholz-Tänikon Research Station ART, Evaluation of ecological measures, Reckenholzstrasse 191, 8046 Zürich, Switzerland
dorothea.kampmann@art.admin.ch, felix.herzog@art.admin.ch
Keywords: ecological compensation area, Mountain grasslands, part time farming, plant species richness
Most evaluations of agri-environment schemes in Europe have focused on biodiver- sity improvement effects, i.e. additional species on contracted sites as compared to conventionally managed sites (Tscharntke et al. 2005). Their effectiveness varies widely throughout Europe for multiple reasons. We investigated the effectiveness of the agri-environmental scheme in the Swiss Alps across altitude as the predominant environmental gradient and also in relation to the economic importance of farming, which determines the local farming intensity practices (Schmitzberger et al. 2005).
Conventionally managed grasslands and ECA grasslands were randomly selected in 18 municipalities across the Swiss Alps. With simple regression analysis the relation of the average species richness of both management types to altitude and to the percentage of fulltime farms was analyzed. Species richness of grassland increased with altitude regardless of management type. The difference in species numbers between the two management types was independent of altitude. The share of fulltime farms in a municipality only affected species richness of conven- tionally managed grasslands, the difference in species numbers however was highly correlated to this factor. Less favorable climatic conditions for farming with increas- ing altitude have lead to more species rich grassland, which however was not coupled with the effectiveness of the agri-environmental programme. This was highest in municipalities with a large percentage of full time farms. The difference in species numbers between the two management types was mainly caused by com- paratively species poor conventionally managed meadows. This is probably due to maximized yield production on meadows without ECA management restrictions in regions of primarily fulltime farming. We conclude that (1) ECA evaluation programs should pay respect not only to landscape settings but also to socio-economic gradi- ents in their sampling design to acquire a thorough understanding of their effective- ness; (2) further investigation must show, if a cutback of ECA compensation payments would actually cause a loss of biodiversity in regions of generally high species richness and thus low effectiveness of the agri-environmental programme.
References:
Schmitzberger, I.; Wrbka, T.; Steurer, B.; Aschenbrenner, G.; Peterseil, J.; Zechmeister, H.G., 2005: How farming styles influence biodiversity maintenance in Austrian
agricultural landscapes. Agric. Ecosyst. Environ. 108: 274–290.
Tscharnke, T.; Klein, A.M.; Kruess, A.; Steffan-Dwenter, I.; Thies, C.,2005: Landscape perpectves on agricultural intensification and biodiversity – ecosystem service management. Ecology Letters, 8: 857–874
Importance of design and analysis in biodiversity monitoring
Kéry Marc
Swiss Ornithological Institute, 6204 Sempach marc.kery@vogelwarte.ch
Keywords: abundance estimation; detection probability; spurious trends
In recent years, there has been a steady increase of biodiversity monitoring programs to characterise the state of the living world on which we humans depend.
Although there can be no single definition of biodiversity, often-measured quantities are species richness and the abundance or the extent of occurrence of particular species. All three may be restricted to subsets of species such as those from the Red List.
In contrast to abiotic characteristics of an ecosystem such as water pollution, these important biological characteristics of “ecosystem health” cannot be directly observed. The reason for this is that in all but exceptional cases, not all species will always be observed and not all individuals always detected. That is, the detection probability of individuals, species or occupied patches is less than one. Therefore, rigorous methods for monitoring biodiversity must take account of detection probability of the things counted.
Recent years have seen an explosion of methods developed in statistical science that provide rigorous estimators of abundance, occupancy and species richness that do correct for imperfect detectability. I will provide an overview of some of these that we have applied to the national Swiss breeding bird monitoring program MHB. I will argue that some control (i.e., explicit estimation) of the detection probability of the things counted in a monitoring program is an absolute requirement for its scientific defensibility.
From nature protection to integrated institutional regimes for natural resources
Knoepfel Peter
Swiss Graduate School of Public Administration, CH-1022 Chavannes-Lausanne, Switzerland
Peter.Knoepfel@idheap.unil.ch
If considering biomass and landscape as renewable natural resources we must be able to identify goods and services produced by these resources and owned or simply appropriated by specific user actors on the basis of identifiable use rights.
Such rights are rooted in civil law (property rights) and/or in public policies attributing access and use rights either to resource owners (normally: land owners) or to non owners (e.g. external visitors, patentees, licence-holders). Consequent nature “protection” means institutional engineering aiming at building institutional regimes (IR) for natural and landscape resources which guarantee the maintenance of the reproduction capacity of the resources’ stocks.
This capacity becomes increasingly threatened by overexploitations of specific good and services. Integrated resource regimes aiming at pursuing actual sustainable development must therefore clearly regulate maximal harvests and exploitable quota for each of the – rivalling and not rivalling – goods and services actually used and stipulate adequate compulsory rules, which compel all (local, national and international) user actors to co-ordinate their exploitation activities in a limitative way. The presentation will show some examples for such IR-building strategies and discuss practical application problems.
