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3rd EU BON Stakeholder Roundtable (Granada, Spain): Biodiversity data workflow from data mobilization to practice

Pine plantations, very common in the Mediterranean basin, are recurrently affected by forest pests due to intrinsic characteristics (high density, low spatial heterogeneity) and external factors (consistent trend towards a warmer and drier climate). INSTAR is an Agent-Based Model aiming to simulate the population dynamics of the Thaumetopoea pityocampa forest pest. The model has been designed using a modular approach: several interconnected modules (submodels) facilitate the incorporation of new knowledge about the pest biology and can serve as template for the design of other similar models. The model is spatially and temporally explicit and allows its implementation under different climate and land use scenarios. INSTAR is described in detail in this manuscript using the standardized ODD (Overview, Design concepts and Details) protocol. Temperature is known to be one of the main factors modulating the population dynamics of T. pityocampa. In order to be coherent and structurally realistic, INSTAR should faithfully reproduce the effect of this factor on the species' phenology. This requirement has been assessed here through a consistency test of the submodules responsible for species development. This assessment is constituted by a calibration analysis of the pest phenology and a stress test performed by exposing the model to extreme climate inputs. As a result of calibration, the model successfully reproduces the phenology of the species in the simulated study area. Moreover, the stress test confirmed that the model behaves as expected when exposed to extreme input values. The results presented in this manuscript constitute a first internal validation of the development submodels. After this, INSTAR is ready for a deeper analysis consisting on a sensitivity and uncertainty analysis. ; The project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 641762.

Sierra Nevada mountain range (southern Spain) hosts a high number of endemic plant species, being one of the most important biodiversity hotspots in the Mediterranean basin. The high-mountain meadow ecosystems (borreguiles) harbour a large number of endemic and threatened plant species. In this data paper, we describe a dataset of the flora inhabiting this threatened ecosystem in this Mediterranean mountain. The dataset includes occurrence data for flora collected in those ecosystems in two periods: 1988–1990 and 2009–2013. A total of 11002 records of occurrences belonging to 19 orders, 28 families 52 genera were collected. 73 taxa were recorded with 29 threatened taxa. We also included data of cover-abundance and phenology attributes for the records. The dataset is included in the Sierra Nevada Global-Change Observatory (OBSNEV), a long-term research project designed to compile socio-ecological information on the major ecosystem types in order to identify the impacts of global change in this area. ; This research work was conducted in the collaborative framework of the "Sierra Nevada Global Change Observatory" Project funded by the Environment Department of Andalusian Regional Government and the Sierra Nevada National Park. A. J. Pérez-Luque would like to thank the MICINN of the Government of Spain for the financial support (PTA 2011-6322-I).

The Sinfonevada database is a forest inventory that contains information on the forest ecosystem in the Sierra Nevada mountains (SE Spain). The Sinfonevada dataset contains more than 7,500 occurrence records belonging to 270 taxa (24 of these threatened) from floristic inventories of the Sinfonevada Forest inventory. Expert field workers collected the information. The whole dataset underwent a quality control by botanists with broad expertise in Sierra Nevada flora. This floristic inventory was created to gather useful information for the proper management of Pinus plantations in Sierra Nevada. This is the only dataset that shows a comprehensive view of the forest flora in Sierra Nevada. This is the reason why it is being used to assess the biodiversity in the very dense pine plantations on this massif. With this dataset, managers have improved their ability to decide where to apply forest treatments in order to avoid biodiversity loss. The dataset forms part of the Sierra Nevada Global Change Observatory (OBSNEV), a long-term research project designed to compile socio-ecological information on the major ecosystem types in order to identify the impacts of global change in this area. ; All the information contained in Sinfonevada was gathered by TRAGSA (Transformación Agraria S.A.), a public company funded by the Spanish Ministry of the Environment. The Sierra Nevada Global Change Observatory is funded by the Andalusian Regional Government (via Environmental Protection Agency) and by the Spanish Government (via "Fundación Biodiversidad", which is a Public Foundation).

This dataset provides information about infestation caused by the pine processionary moth (Thaumetopoea pityocampa ([Denis & Schiffermüller], 1775)) in pure or mixed pine woodlands and plantations in Andalusia. It represents a long-term series (1993–2015) containing 81,908 records that describe the occurrence and incidence of this species. Data were collected within a monitoring programme known as COPLAS, developed by the Regional Ministry of Environment and Territorial Planning of the Andalusian Regional Government within the frame of the Plan de Lucha Integrada contra la Procesionaria del Pino (Plan for Integrated Control Against the Pine Processionary Moth). In particular, this dataset includes 4,386 monitoring stands which, together with the campaign year, define the dataset events in Darwin Core Archive. Events are related with occurrence data which show if the species is present or absent. In turn, the event data have a measurement associated: degree of infestation. ; This work has been carried out under the conceptual framework and cooperative spirit of the Sierra Nevada Global Change Observatory and it was supported by the H2020 project "ECOPOTENTIAL: Improving future ecosystem benefits through earth observations" (http://www.ecopotential-project.eu/), which has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 641762. Thanks are due to the projects that fund the research with the following contracts: A. J. Pérez-Luque has a contract within the project LIFE-ADAPTAMED (LIFE14 CCA/ES/000612): "Protection of key ecosystem services by adaptive management of Climate Change endangered Mediterranean socioecosystems" and A. Ros Candeira has a contract within the National Youth Guarantee System and the operational programme "Youth Employment" financed by the European Social Fund.

Protected Areas are a key component of nature conservation. They can play an important role in counterbalancing the impacts of ecosystem degradation. For an optimal protection of a Protected Area it is essential to account for the variables underlying the major Ecosystem Services an area delivers, and the threats upon them. Here we show that the perception of these important variables differs markedly between scientists and managers of Protected Areas in mountains and transitional waters. Scientists emphasise variables of abiotic and biotic nature, whereas managers highlight socio-economic, cultural and anthropogenic variables. This indicates fundamental differences in perception. To be able to better protect an area it would be advisable to bring the perception of scientists and managers closer together. Intensified and harmonised communication across disciplinary and professional boundaries will be needed to implement and improve Ecosystem Service oriented management strategies in current and future Protected Areas. ; This study was done in the frame of the EcoPotential project. This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 641762.