HOW TO MAKE NATURA 2000 WORK PROPERLY? : SOCIO-ECONOMIC, LEGAL AND ECOLOGICAL MANAGEMENT : "SELNAT"

This report includes results obtained from the SELNAT research project, conducted between February 2006 and January 2008, under the auspices of the Belgian Science Policy. The principal subject of this project is the implementation of Natura 2000. The Natura 2000 network of protected areas, made up of sites designated under the Community Birds (BD) and Habitats Directives (HD), is a key pillar of action for the conservation of biodiversity (European Commission, 2008). It is central to achieve the commitment to reverse the decline of biodiversity in the European Union by the year 2010 made at the European Council meeting in Gothenburg in June 2001. It aims at sustainable conservation of habitats and species of community importance, taking into account (i) economic, social and cultural requirements and (ii) regional and local circumstances. Central to the Directives is the creation of a Europe-wide ecological network of protected sites – the Natura 2000 Network – which is destined to conserve over a thousand rare, threatened and endemic species and some 220 Natural habitats listed in their annexes. Around 24,000 sites have been included in the Network so far. (European Commission, 2008) Now that the network set-up is nearing completion, there is a need to increase the focus on the active management of the sites so as to ensure long-term conservation and the achievement of the economic and social objectives of the network (CEE, 2004.) This in turn also raises the question of finding the appropriate management strategy, instruments and sufficient financing (at all levels). The principal question for Member States is how to manage Natura 2000 sites to reach the (juridical fixed) ecological targets in the most cost-efficient way, taking into account economic and social objectives and constraints. Ecologists and nature organisations often start from an techno-ecocentric paradigm: ‘How to conserve and manage species and habitats?’, in order to tackle the question mentioned above. The paradigm starts from the opinion that ‘diversity of species and habitats’ is important as such (while this is believed to be important for several reasons). This approach has been criticised lately for being based on a too narrow set of values. It has not provided enough opportunities for combining nature conservation with other forms of land use such as agriculture, forestry or tourism. In several countries this led to difficulties as regards the co-operation of local stakeholders (Jongman & Kristiansen, 1998). On the other hand, the current biodiversity crisis is a direct result of the way in which society has chosen to interact with its Natural environment. If the causes of the problem are social, it stands to reason that the policies striving to solve the problem will need to be based on a solid understanding of social structures and processes, if they are to have any effect. In this research project we tried to study the management of Natura 2000 sites from a ‘sustainability’ paradigm, instead of from the ecocentric paradigm. The central research question is therefore formulated as ‘How to manage Natura 2000 properly, to contribute to a (local) sustainable society?’ With this research we hope to give decision-makers new insights on the economic, social, and environmental consequences of Natura 2000 management and to guide them in the development of more adequate and sustainable policies for the management of Natura 2000-sites. In the first chapter the general objectives and approach of this project are described. The second chapter gives an overview of some of the current bottlenecks for nature conservation and Natura 2000. The results of the research on the elaboration of strategies for Natura 2000 sites are summarizes in chapter tree. Conclusions and recommendations are presented in the last chapter. More information on the research is documented in the different appendixes. During the research, we benefited from contacts with many persons, and more especially in the scope of a Users’ Committee. Besides the representatives of the Belgian Science Policy, we would like to thank all members of the Users’ Committee, among which those who supported us and/or participated in one or several of the meetings,SELNA

Life history and population size variability in a relict plant. Different routes towards long-term persistence

8 páginas, 4 figuras, 2 tablas.-- El PDF es la versión pre-print.A central tenet of conservation biology is that population size affects the persistence of populations. However, many narrow endemic species combine small population ranges and sizes with long persistence, thereby challenging this tenet. I examined the performance of three different-sized populations of Petrocoptis pseudoviscosa (Caryophyllaceae), a palaeoendemic rupicolous herb distributed along a small valley in the Spanish Pyrenees. Reproductive and demographic parameters were recorded over 6 years, and deterministic and stochastic matrix models were constructed to explore population dynamics and extinction risk. Populations differed greatly in structure, fecundity, recruitment, survival rate, and life span. Strong differentiation in life-history parameters and their temporal variability resulted in differential population vulnerability under current conditions and simulated global changes such as habitat fragmentation or higher climatic fluctuations. This study provides insights into the capacity of narrow endemics to survive both at extreme environmental conditions and at small population sizes. When dealing with species conservation, the population size–extinction risk relationship may be too simplistic for ancient, ecologically restricted organisms, and some knowledge of life history may be most important to assess their future.J. Guiral and J. Puente, from the Regional Government of Aragón, facilitated the economic support during fieldwork through a European project (LIFE B4-3200/96/ 503), and final support came from the Spanish MCyT Project BOS2002-01162.Peer reviewe

Demographic compensation among populations: What is it, how does it arise and what are its implications?

Most species are exposed to significant environmental gradients across their ranges, but vital rates (survival, growth, reproduction and recruitment) need not respond in the same direction to those gradients. Opposing vital rate trends across environments, a phenomenon that has been loosely called 'demographic compensation', may allow species to occupy larger geographical ranges and alter their responses to climate change. Yet the term has never been precisely defined, nor has its existence or strength been assessed for multiple species. Here, we provide a rigorous definition, and use it to develop a strong test for demographic compensation. By applying the test to data from 26 published, multi-population demographic studies of plants, we show that demographic compensation commonly occurs. We also investigate the mechanisms by which this phenomenon arises by assessing which demographic processes and life stages are most often involved. In addition, we quantify the effect of demographic compensation on variation in population growth rates across environmental gradients, a potentially important determinant of the size of a species' geographical range. Finally, we discuss the implications of demographic compensation for the responses of single populations and species' ranges to temporal environmental variation and to ongoing environmental trends, e.g. due to climate change. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd/CNRS.This work was supported by U.S. National Science Foundation grant DEB-0716433 to DFD and WFM, a grant from the Swedish Science Council (VR) to WFM, a post-doctoral grant to JV from the Biology Dept., Duke University, and projects funded by the Spanish Government (CGL2010-21642, OAPN REF. 430/211) to MBG. We also thank the editor and three anonymous reviewers for helpful comments on the manuscript.Peer Reviewe

Coppice management effects on experimentally established populations of three herbaceous layer woodland species

Traditional coppice management creates a temporal release of resources. We determined how this affected three herbaceous species (Cardamine pratensis, Primula elatior and Geum urbanum) and if it was suitable for their conservation within woodland given their differing phenologies and habitat affinities for woodland. Reproductive adults were transplanted and their fate, i.e. survival and counts of leafs and flowers, plus the fate of their progeny, were monitored for three years following cutting of coppice shoots (three light levels) or yearly autumn mowing. Cardamine pratensis and P. elatior produced more flowers with increasing light availability. Mowing increased flower and leaf production with time for P. elatior. Seedling numbers followed a similar trend. Geum urbanum initially produced more flowers with increasing light and when mown, but the effect disappeared and did not increase seedling numbers. Its basal leaves showed the opposite pattern. Population growth rates (λ), calculated for P. elatior and G. urbanum, confirmed the strong treatment effects on the former and the absence of effects on the latter. Yet, decomposition of treatment effects, showed considerable flexibility in life history of G. urbanum, except for contributions of fecundity. The latter, however, contributed most to positive effects on λ for P. elatior. Early flowering species with an affinity for open habitats (C. pratensis > P. elatior) benefited more from temporal resource release than the later flowering, typical woodland species. Coppice management thereby maintains both typical forest herbs and herbs with affinity for more open habitats. This is an important conservation tool especially in intensively managed landscapes