scholarly journals The aquatic and wetland vegetation of Lake Doberdò: an analysis for conservation value assessment of a disappearing lake of the Classical Karst (North East Italy)

2021 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-106
Author(s):  
Miris Castello ◽  
Livio Poldini ◽  
Alfredo Altobelli
Keyword(s):  
Biodiversity Conservation ◽  
Habitat Type ◽  
Agricultural Practices ◽  
Hydrological Regime ◽  
Natura 2000 ◽  
Value Assessment ◽  
Natura 2000 Network ◽  
Underground Waters ◽  
North East ◽  
Phytosociological Relevés

Lake Doberdò (Classical Karst) is a well-known example of karst lakes, temporary lakes that seasonally fill and empty through springs and swallow holes connected to the underground waters. It is an area of exceptional interest for geological-geomorphological and biodiversity conservation, and is part of the Natura 2000 network. Its peculiar hydro-ecological nature allows an impressive variety of species and habitats. A phytosociological survey was carried out to provide a comprehensive analysis of the vegetation. On the basis of 177 phytosociological relevés and multivariate analysis 43 communities were found, belonging to Platyhypnidio-Fontinalietea antipyreticae, Lemnetea minoris, Potametea pectinati, Bidentetea tripartitae, Isoëto-Nanojuncetea, Phragmito-Magnocaricetea, Agrostietea stoloniferae, Molinio-Arrhenatheretea, Filipendulo ulmariae-Convolvuletea sepium, Alnetea glutinosae, Rhamno catharticae-Prunetea spinosae, Alno glutinosae-Populetea albae. The Leucojo aestivi-Poetum pratensis association including waterside periodically flooded meadows is validated. Compared to the past, various communities show a change in their distribution while some valuable coenoses were not found. 21 communities are attributed to 8 Annex I Habitats of the 92/43/EEC Directive. The study confirms the high value of Lake Doberdò for biodiversity conservation but highlights an ongoing process of environmental change due to both natural and human-related causes including modifications of the hydrological regime and abandonment of traditional agricultural practices. An overview of the features of Lake Doberdò is provided to compare this disappearing lake with the karst groundwater-dependent wetlands found in Ireland called “turloughs”, corresponding to Annex I Habitat 3180*. Also on the basis of the current interpretation and distribution of this habitat type at the EU level, a proposal is presented to recognize and protect this outstanding area of the Natura 2000 network in Italy as the habitat 3180*, modelled on Irish turloughs.

scholarly journals Evaluating European Conservation Areas and Proposal of New Zones of Conservation under the Habitats Directive. Application to Spanish Territories

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 398
Author(s):  
Víctor Rincón ◽  
Javier Velázquez ◽  
Javier Gutiérrez ◽  
Beatriz Sánchez ◽  
Ana Hernando ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Protected Areas ◽  
Biodiversity Conservation ◽  
Multicriteria Analysis ◽  
Natura 2000 ◽  
Habitats Directive ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Conservation Areas ◽  
Natura 2000 Network ◽  
Geostatistical Methods ◽  
Castilla Y Leon

The European Union (EU) ensures the conservation of biodiversity through the Natura 2000 Network, which establishes the classification and selection of protected areas at European level. Unfortunately, member countries cannot make the best zoning decisions for biodiversity conservation because there are no clear and uniform parameters to designate Natura 2000 sites. Due to this, it is convenient to evaluate the importance of the criteria for biodiversity conservation through a general assessment, which could establish relevant criteria that can be analysed through geostatistical methods combined in multicriteria analysis. This paper aims to consider biodiversity importance values taking into account land use, so that it is possible to develop a zoning proposal which verifies or corrects the suitability of the designated areas for the Natura 2000 Network in Castilla y León, Andalucía and Madrid (Spain). The choice of these regions allows us to compare areas with a high variability of population density, making possible to compare the potential protected areas with respect to the population living in each area. This assessment has been performed using basic and easily adaptable criteria of biodiversity conservation, so it could be applied in other European territories. In this way, clear and uniform parameters for zoning will be used, being possible to detect the best protected areas. One of the most important purposes of the Natura 2000 Network is to increase connectivity between territories; our work proposes new areas that could be linked to currently protected territories, to favour the achievement of this purpose of the Natura 2000 Network.

scholarly journals Natura 2000 Areas and Sites of National Interest (SNI): Measuring (un)Integration between Naturalness Preservation and Environmental Remediation Policies

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 2928 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesco Scorza ◽  
Angela Pilogallo ◽  
Lucia Saganeiti ◽  
Beniamino Murgante
Keyword(s):  
Biodiversity Conservation ◽  
Monitoring System ◽  
Environmental Remediation ◽  
Biological Diversity ◽  
Policy Design ◽  
Current Trend ◽  
National Interest ◽  
Natura 2000 ◽  
Natura 2000 Network ◽  
Complex Monitoring

The Natura 2000 network was established as a tool to preserve the biological diversity of the European territory with particular regard to vulnerable habitats and species. According to recent studies, a relevant percentage of Natura 2000 sites are expected to be lost by the end of this century and there is widespread evidence that biodiversity conservation policies are not fully effective in relation to the management plans of the protected areas. This paper addresses the issue by analyzing a specific case in which there is a problem of integration between different competences and sectoral policies that leads to the lack of a monitoring system of territorial management performances. The study area, located in the Basilicata Region (Southern Italy), includes a Site of National Interest (SNI), for which several reclamation projects are still in the submission/approval phase, and a partially overlapping Natura 2000 network site. The tool used to monitor biodiversity in the study area is the degradation map obtained through the “habitat quality and degradation” InVEST tool which is used to assess the current trend and thus define a baseline for comparison with two medium and long-term scenarios applicable to the SNI’s procedure of partial and total remediation. The proposed methodology is intended to be a part of a larger and more complex monitoring system that, developed within the framework of ecosystem services, allows for the overcoming of the limits related to fragmentation and contradictions that are present in land management by offering a valuable support to decision makers and the competent authorities in biodiversity conservation policy design.

scholarly journals Contribution of social science to large scale biodiversity conservation: A review of research about the Natura 2000 network

2016 ◽  
Vol 199 ◽  
pp. 110-122 ◽  
Author(s):  
Malgorzata Blicharska ◽  
Ewa H. Orlikowska ◽  
Jean-Michel Roberge ◽  
Malgorzata Grodzinska-Jurczak
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Biodiversity Conservation ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Natura 2000 ◽  
Natura 2000 Network

scholarly journals Phytosociological analysis of basophilic Scots pine forests in the Southeastern Alps

Hacquetia ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-80
Author(s):  
Andrej Rozman ◽  
Igor Dakskobler ◽  
Urban Šilc
Keyword(s):  
Scots Pine ◽  
Habitat Type ◽  
Hierarchical Classification ◽  
Natura 2000 ◽  
Pine Forests ◽  
Forest Site ◽  
New Association ◽  
Scots Pine Forests ◽  
Phytosociological Relevés ◽  
Scots Pine Forest

AbstractBased on hierarchical classification of more than 300 phytosociological relevés of basophilic black and (or) Scots pine communities in the Southern, Eastern and Southeastern Alps we described a new association Rhodothamno chamaecisti-Pinetum sylvestris, into which we classify stands that have until now been discussed in the framework of subassociations Fraxino orni-Pinetum nigrae pinetosum sylvestris, laricetosum deciduae and (partly) caricetosum humilis, and are floristically slightly similar also to certain forms of the association Erico-Pinetum sylvestris. The stands of the new association are for now classified into Natura 2000 habitat type Southeastern-European Pinus sylvestris forests (91R0), within it we propose a special habitat subtype Southeastern-Alpine Scots pine forests, and into a new forest site type Southeastern-Alpine Scots pine forest. At the contact of the Julian and Dinaric Alps we described a new subassociation Genisto januensis-Pinetum sylvestris campanuletosum cespitosae, which comprises also a Natura 2000 species Primula carniolica.

scholarly journals Vegetation units of wetland and terrestrial habitats: the case study of Spercheios River and Maliakos Gulf (Sterea Ellas, Greece), a Natura 2000 Site

Hacquetia ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 189-220 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria A. Sarika ◽  
Anastasia N. Christopoulou ◽  
Sevasti D. Zervou ◽  
Andreas C. Zikos
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Type ◽  
Natura 2000 ◽  
Habitat Types ◽  
Natura 2000 Network ◽  
Mediterranean Countries ◽  
Terrestrial Habitats ◽  
Natura 2000 Site ◽  
Priority Habitat ◽  
First Time

Abstract The vegetation of the European Natura 2000 protected area of Spercheios river and Maliakos gulf, that includes Mediterranean sclerophyllous shrublands, as well as riverine and coastal habitats, was studied during 2000 and 2014–2015. The vegetation was analysed following the Braun-Blanquet method. Twenty six plant communities were recorded, one of which (Pistacio terebinthi-Quercetum cocciferae) described for the first time. The communities belong to fifteen alliances, fourteen orders and eleven phytosociological classes. The distinguished vegetation units are described, presented in phytosociological tables and compared with similar communities from other Mediterranean countries. Eleven different habitat types were identified. Two of them (“Quercus coccifera woods” and “Reed beds”) are Greek habitat types, while the rest are included in Annex I of the Directive 92/43/EEC. Three of the latter (1420, 2110, 3170) have a scattered presence in the Natura 2000 network in Greece, while one (3170) is a priority habitat type.

Contribution of the Natura 2000 Network to Biodiversity Conservation in Italy

2007 ◽  
Vol 21 (6) ◽  
pp. 1433-1444 ◽  
Author(s):  
LUIGI MAIORANO ◽  
ALESSANDRA FALCUCCI ◽  
EDWARD O. GARTON ◽  
LUIGI BOITANI
Keyword(s):  
Biodiversity Conservation ◽  
Natura 2000 ◽  
Natura 2000 Network

scholarly journals Pyrenean meadows in Natura 2000 network: grass production and plant biodiversity conservation

2014 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ramón Reiné ◽  
Olivia Barrantes ◽  
Cristina Chocarro ◽  
Alejandro Juárez ◽  
Alfonso Broca ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Biodiversity Conservation ◽  
Natura 2000 ◽  
Plant Biodiversity ◽  
Natura 2000 Network ◽  
Grass Production

scholarly journals How to Select Potential Sites of Community Importance to the Natura 2000 Network: The Issue of Criteria

2014 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Stanisław Tworek ◽  
Małgorzata Makomaska-Juchiewicz ◽  
Grzegorz Cierlik
Keyword(s):  
National Level ◽  
Habitat Type ◽  
Natura 2000 ◽  
Habitats Directive ◽  
Habitat Types ◽  
Natura 2000 Network ◽  
Practical Usefulness ◽  
Relative Value ◽  
Level Of Knowledge ◽  
Selection Of

AbstractTworek S., Makomaska-Juchiewicz M., Cierlik G.: How to select potential sites of community importance to the NATURA 2000 network: the issue of criteria. Ekológia (Bratislava), Vol. 33, No. 2, p. 127-137, 2014.In this paper, on the basis of experience gained at the elaboration of the Proposal of Natura 2000 network in Poland, we analyse the usefulness of criteria recommended in Annex III of the Habitats Directive (HD) for selecting proposed Sites of Community Importance (pSCI), i.e. potential Special Areas of Conservation. These are sites important for conservation of habitat types and species (except for birds), listed in Annexes I and II of the HD. The recommendations should allow arriving at the estimates of relative value of the selected areas vis-a-vis the national resources of each habitat type and species. These are, however, neither objective and quantified nor easy to apply criteria; because most of them rely on best expert judgement, which is subjective to a great extent. Moreover, the practical usefulness of the criteria is related to the level of knowledge of the distribution and size of resources of the habitat types and species of European importance. Our experience of selecting pSCI at national level indicates that this stage of work calls for more precise criteria than these recommended in the HD. We present our proposal of domestic criteria, which make easier the preliminary selection of pSCI that were tested in work with local experts responsible for regional proposals of sites to the Natura 2000 network in Poland. Because of the far-reaching consequences entailing the designation of Natura 2000, we would like to encourage a widespread discussion on criteria for selecting pSCI.

scholarly journals Twenty-Three Years of Land-Use Changes Induced Considerable Threats to the Main Wetlands of Sardinia and Sicily (Italy) along the Mediterranean Bird Flyways

Diversity ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 240
Author(s):  
Alessandro Ferrarini ◽  
Marco Gustin ◽  
Claudio Celada
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Habitat Degradation ◽  
Land Use Changes ◽  
Biodiversity Loss ◽  
Natura 2000 ◽  
Global Level ◽  
Natura 2000 Network ◽  
Stopover Sites ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
Agricultural Areas

Biodiversity loss has multiple causes, but habitat degradation through land-use change is the predominant driver. We investigated the effectiveness of the Natura 2000 network in preserving the main wetlands of the two largest islands of the Mediterranean region, whose conservation is critical for many avian species at European and global level, in a 23-year period (1990–2012). In Sardinia, the surroundings of 22 wetlands were affected by an increase in artificial areas (+64 ha/year) and decrease in agricultural (−54 ha/year) and natural (−17 ha/year) ones. In Sicily, the surroundings of 16 wetlands were impacted by an increase in agricultural areas (+50 ha/year) and decrease in natural and semi-natural ones (−62 ha/year). Results show that the Natura 2000 policies were effective in preserving wetlands (no shrinkages detected in both regions), but their surroundings experienced intense processes of degradation and artificialization in all the sub-periods considered (1990–2000, 2000–2006, 2006–2012), whose effects are now threatening waterbirds and wetland integrity. The enlargement of the existing Natura 2000 sites, the creation of new ones and the speedup of the application of the rules of the Habitats and Birds Directives seem necessary to counteract the rapid land-use changes around these important stopover sites.

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