Restoration initiatives seek to address widespread deforestation and forest degradation, but face substantial problems. "Passive restoration", whereby abandoned agricultural land undergoes secondary succession, is often slow, owing to biotic and abiotic limitations. "Active restoration", chiefly accomplished by planting trees, can be very expensive if large areas are to be restored. We suggest "woodland islets" as an alternative way to achieve ecological restoration in extensive agricultural landscapes, particularly in low-productivity environments. This approach involves the planting of many small, dense blocks of native trees to enhance biodiversity and provide a range of ecosystem services. If the surrounding land is abandoned, the islets act as sources of woodland species and seed, which can accelerate woodland development. Alternatively, if the surrounding area is used for cultivation or pasture, the islets will increase the conservation value of the land and offer the potential for income generation. Here, we review existing approaches to woodland restoration and evaluate the relative strengths and weaknesses of the woodland islets approach. ; This research has been financed by the projects: EU INCO Programme (REFORLAN: EU INCO-CT-2006- 032132), UE Alpha Programme II-0411-FA-FCD-FI-FC, Spanish Ministry of Science and Education CGL2004-00355/BOS, Madrid Government S-0505/AMB/0355 (REMEDINAL), and UK RELU Award 227/0010 "FarmCAT".
A large proportion of European biodiversity today depends on habitat provided by low‐intensity farming practices, yet this resource is declining as European agriculture intensifies. Within the European Union, particularly the central and eastern new member states have retained relatively large areas of species‐rich farmland, but despite increased investment in nature conservation here in recent years, farmland biodiversity trends appear to be worsening. Although the high biodiversity value of Central and Eastern European farmland has long been reported, the amount of research in the international literature focused on farmland biodiversity in this region remains comparatively tiny, and measures within the EU Common Agricultural Policy are relatively poorly adapted to support it. In this opinion study, we argue that, 10 years after the accession of the first eastern EU new member states, the continued under‐representation of the low‐intensity farmland in Central and Eastern Europe in the international literature and EU policy is impeding the development of sound, evidence‐based conservation interventions. The biodiversity benefits for Europe of existing low‐intensity farmland, particularly in the central and eastern states, should be harnessed before they are lost. Instead of waiting for species‐rich farmland to further decline, targeted research and monitoring to create locally appropriate conservation strategies for these habitats is needed now. ; Volkswagen Foundation
El objetivo de este estudio fue estimar el balance de la inversión asociada a la restauración forestal por medio del establecimiento de plantaciones (Vochysia guatemalensis e Hieronyma alchorneoides) y de la regeneración natural (bosque secundario sin y con manejo intensivo). Se consideraron diferentes escenarios económicos donde se evaluaron ingresos por: venta de la madera, pago de los servicios ambientales (PSA) provenientes del Fondo de Financiamiento Forestal (FONAFIFO) del gobierno costarricense y por venta de certificados de reducción de emisiones de carbono (CER). Se comparó la actividad forestal contra usos alternativos de la tierra como ganadería, banano y piña. El análisis de las inversiones se evalúo tomando como criterio el valor esperado de la tierra (VET) con tasas anuales de descuento aceptables (TMA) del 3%, 6% y 9,0% las cuales reflejan las preferencias y condiciones de diferentes inversionistas. Para las plantaciones forestales y bosque secundario sin manejo y con manejo intensivo se estimó una inversión total promedio de US$5200, US$1730 y US$1373 ha-1, respectivamente. Los ingresos estimados por la venta de la madera superaron los US$21142 ha-1 entre ambas especies, US$1250 y US$13408 ha-1 para el bosque secundario con manejo mínimo y con manejo intensivo, respectivamente. Los ingresos por CER y por PSA representan cantidades marginales en comparación con los ingresos por madera. El cultivo de piña y el de banano como usos alternativos de la tierra son los más rentables, seguido por las plantaciones forestales y por último la ganadería y los bosques secundarios con y sin manejo, que no solo son los menos rentables, sino que tienen sus valores calculados por debajo del precio de la tierra. La restauración forestal no resulta una actividad atractiva económicamente para el propietario de la tierra, basado solamente en ingresos provenientes de pagos de servicios ambientales o venta de carbono a los precios actuales. Los precios más altos de la madera y una tasa de descuento baja (que representan condiciones macroeconómicas favorables), son los factores determinantes para hacer eficientes y sostenibles las inversiones forestales tanto en bosque secundario como en plantaciones forestales en la región Caribe de Costa Rica. ; The goal of this study is to estimate the economic efficiency of the investment associated with forest restoration processes through the establishment of forest plantations (Vochysia guatemalensis and Hieronyma alchorneoides) and natural regeneration (secondary forest with and without management). Different economic scenarios were considered with variations from revenues coming from timber sales, payment of environmental services (PES) by the Costa Rican government, and sales of emission reduction certificates. Forestry activities were analyzed in the context of other alternative uses such as cattle, bananas and pineapple plantations. The investment analysis was performed taking into account the land expectation value (VET) with annual minimum acceptable discount rates in real terms (TMA) of 9%, 6% and 3%, which reflected different investor preferences and conditions. For plantation forestry and secondary forest with and without intensive management, estimated average investment were US$5200, US$1730 y US$1373 ha-1, respectively. Timber revenues were above US$21142 ha-1 for both species under plantation forestry. Secondary forest revenues were US$1250 and US$13408 ha-1 for secondary forest with low and intensive management, respectively. CER and PSA represented marginal quantities compared with timber revenues. Pineapple and banana plantations are land uses with the highest economic efficiency, followed by forest plantations. Cattle-raising and secondary forest with and without management are not only the least profitable land uses but also their calculated values are below the land price. Forest restoration will not become an acceptable economic activity for a landowner that relies on income generated from environmental services and carbon credits at current prices. High timber prices and low discount rates (desirable macroeconomic conditions) are determining factors in achieving efficient and sustainable investments in forestry activities in the Caribbean region of Costa Rica. ; Este trabajo ha sido financiado por la Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica, el Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología de Costa Rica y gracias al apoyo de la empresa privada.
Afforestation programs such as the one promoted by the EU Common Agricultural Policy have spread tree plantations on former cropland. These afforestations attract generalist forest and ubiquitous species but may cause severe damage to open habitat species, especially birds of high conservation value. We investigated the effects of young (<20 yr) tree plantations dominated by pine P. halepensis on bird communities inhabiting the adjacent open farmland habitat in central Spain. We hypothesize that pine plantations located at shorter distances from open fields and with larger surface would affect species richness and conservation value of bird communities. Regression models controlling for the influence of land use types around plantations revealed positive effects of higher distance to pine plantation edge on community species richness in winter, and negative effects on an index of conservation concern (SPEC) during the breeding season. However, plantation area did not have any effect on species richness or community conservation value. Our results indicate that the effects of pine afforestation on bird communities inhabiting Mediterranean cropland are diluted by heterogeneous agricultural landscapes. ; The following grant information was disclosed by the authors: Spanish Ministry of Science and Education: CGL2010-18312, CGL2014-53308-P. Government of Madrid: S2009AMB-1783, REMEDINAL-2, S2013/MAE-2719, REMEDINAL-3. ; Peer reviewed
Afforestation programs such as the one promoted by the EU Common Agricultural Policy have spread tree plantations on former cropland. These afforestations attract generalist forest and ubiquitous species but may cause severe damage to open habitat species, especially birds of high conservation value. We investigated the effects of young (<20 yr) tree plantations dominated by pine P. halepensis on bird communities inhabiting the adjacent open farmland habitat in central Spain. We hypothesize that pine plantations located at shorter distances from open fields and with larger surface would affect species richness and conservation value of bird communities. Regression models controlling for the influence of land use types around plantations revealed positive effects of higher distance to pine plantation edge on community species richness in winter, and negative effects on an index of conservation concern (SPEC) during the breeding season. However, plantation area did not have any effect on species richness or community conservation value. Our results indicate that the effects of pine afforestation on bird communities inhabiting Mediterranean cropland are diluted by heterogeneous agricultural landscapes. ; Ministerio de Ciencia y Educación ; Comunidad de Madrid ; Fundación Internacional para la Restauración de Ecosistemas
We investigated the effects of local habitat structure and surrounding landscape characteristics (proportion of land use types and connectedness) on species density and composition of bird communities inhabiting the interior of young tree plantations on former cropland in central Spain, which were motivated by the Common Agrarian Policy. Variation of species density (number of species/0.78 ha) among tree plantations showed different environmental associations across seasons: local habitat was more important than landscape characteristics during winter, whereas they were similarly important during spring. Species density increased with the development of the tree layer in winter and with the presence of urban areas around tree plantations and cover of the herbaceous layer within them in the breeding season. We identified 15 species that exhibit high relative abundance in woodland habitats within the Mesomediterranean region of Central Spain that were absent in both seasons in the studied tree plantations, which were an attractive habitat for urban exploiter species but an unfavorable habitat for the regional forest species pool except for forest generalist species. Composition of bird assemblages was more related to local habitat structure than to landscape characteristics around tree plantations and was rather similar in winter and spring seasons. The very different effects of local habitat and landscape characteristics on bird communities make difficult suggesting management practices with positive effects for all avifauna species during the entire year. We conclude that the small size and low maturity of the studied tree plantations do not contribute to enhancing the bird diversity value of current CAP aids to afforest former cropland with pines in the Mediterranean region. ; Ministerio de Ciencia y Educación ; Comunidad de Madrid
Afforestation programs such as the one promoted by the EU Common Agrarian Policy have contributed to spread tree plantations on former cropland. Nevertheless these afforestations may cause severe damage to open habitat species, especially birds of high conservation value. We investigated predation of artificial bird nests at young tree plantations and at the open farmland habitat adjacent to the tree plantations in central Spain. Predation rates were very high at both tree plantations (95.6%) and open farmland habitat (94.2%) after two and three week exposure. Plantation edge/area ratio and development of the tree canopy decreased predation rates and plantation area and magpie (Pica pica) abundance increased predation rates within tree plantations, which were also affected by land use types around plantations. The area of nearby tree plantations (positive effect), distance to the tree plantation edge (negative effect), and habitat type (mainly attributable to the location of nests in vineyards) explained predation rates at open farmland habitat. We conclude that predation rates on artificial nests were particularly high and rapid at or nearby large plantations, with high numbers of magpies and low tree development, and located in homogenous landscapes dominated by herbaceous crops and pastures with no remnants of semi-natural woody vegetation. Landscape planning should not favour tree plantations as the ones studied here in Mediterranean agricultural areas that are highly valuable for ground-nesting bird species. ; Ministerio de Ciencia y Educación ; Comunidad de Madrid
Las figuras y apéndices que contiene el documento se localizan al final del mismo. ; Questions: Which are the factors that influence forest and shrubland loss and regeneration and their underlying drivers? Location: Central Chile, a world biodiversity hotspot. Methods: Using land-cover data from the years 1975, 1985, 1999 and 2008, we fitted classification trees and multiple logistic regression models to account for the relationship between different trajectories of vegetation change and a range of biophysical and socio-economic factors. Results: The variables that most consistently showed significant effects on vegetation change across all time-intervals were slope and distance to primary roads. We found that forest and shrubland loss on one side and regeneration on the other often displayed opposite patterns in relation to the different explanatory variables. Deforestation was positively related to distance to primary roads and to distance within forest edges and was favoured by a low insolation and a low slope. In turn, forest regeneration was negatively related to the distance to primary roads and positively to the distance to the nearest forest patch, insolation and slope. Shrubland loss was positively influenced by slope and distance to cities and primary roads and negatively influenced by distance to rivers. Conversely, shrubland regeneration was negatively related to slope, distance to cities and distance to primary roads and positively related to distance from existing forest patches and distance to rivers. Conclusions: This article reveals how biophysical and socioeconomic factors influence vegetation cover change and the underlying social, political and economical drivers. This assessment provides a basis for management decisions, considering the crucial role of perennial vegetation cover for sustaining biodiversity and ecosystem services. ; This work was financed by the REFORLAN Project, INCO Contract CT2006-032132 (European Commission), with additional input from projects CGL2010-18312 (Spanish ...
We tested simulated effects of herb competition on the performance of planted seedlings of Quercus faginea ssp. faginea in Mediterranean abandoned cropland. We produced three types of environment with respect to herb competition: absence of competition (AC), below-ground competition (BGC), and total competition (TC). We assessed the performance of Q. faginea seedlings in each treatment in five ways: (1) seedling mortality, (2) leaf length and total plant leaf area, (3) water potential, (4) total biomass and biomass allocation, and (5) non-structural carbohydrate storage in different plant organs. We also measured (6) soil moisture at different depths and (7) biomass production of herbs. The TC treatment reduced water availability more than the BGC treatment, in agreement with the most pronounced water stress in seedlings under TC conditions. BGC and TC treatments showed a high and similar seedling mortality, which was one order of magnitude higher than that in the AC treatment. Competition treatments affected glucose concentration in both shoots and roots, and followed the rank TC > BGC > AC. Q. faginea seedlings might compensate a lower water availability through glucose accumulation in leaves to reduce the osmotic potential. There was a maximum starch concentration in the BGC treatment that hints that a moderate resource limitation would limit tissue growth but not carbon assimilation. We conclude that the negative effects of herbs on Q. faginea seedlings are mostly a result of competition for water, and that this competition is noticeable since the earliest stages of the establishment. Complete weed removal is a technique that would strongly improve seedling survivorship. ; This research has been funded by the projects Factores limitantes de la revegetación con especies leñosas autóctonas de áreas degradadas en ambientes mediterráneos. Rendimiento de distintas actuaciones de manejo (REN2000-745), granted by the CICYT (Spanish government) and Estrategias para la restauración de paisajes degradados en ...
We identified high-value biodiversity areas (HVBAs) of terrestrial vertebrates according to a combined index of biodiversity (CBI) for each major taxon and a standardized biodiversity index (SBI) for all taxa in 2195 cells of 50 × 50 km in Western Europe to evaluate whether these areas are included in the current protected area networks. The World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA) and NATURA 2000 protected area network were used to assess the protected area cover in HVBAs. WDPA and NATURA 2000 were geographically quite complementary as WDPA is more densely represented in Central and Northern Europe and NATURA 2000 in the Mediterranean basin. A total of 729 cells were identified as HVBAs. From the total of these HVBA areas, NATURA 2000 network was present in more cells (660) than the WDPA network (584 cells). The sum of protected land percentages across all the HVBA cells was 28.8%. The identified HVBA cells according to the SBI included 603 or 78.2% of all vertebrate species in the study region, whereas the identified HVBA cells according to the SBI for individual taxa included 47 (90.4%) species of amphibians, 79 (74.5%) of reptiles, 417 (88.5%) of birds, and 130 (91.5%) of mammals. However, neither network was present in 7 or 3% of the identified HVBA cells. Thus, we recommend expanding protected areas in Europe to fill this gap and improve coverage of vertebrate species to strengthen biodiversity conservation. ; This research was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (grants CGL2010- 18312 to JMRB, and CGL2010-22119 to MAR), and the Madrid Government REMEDINAL project (S2009AMB-1783). M. J. T. Assunc¸ao-Albuquerque was supported by the Brazil- ˜ ian Ministry of Education, through CAPES (Coordenac¸ao de ˜ Aperfeic¸oamento de Pessoal de N´ıvel Superior) Doctorate scholarship and FSA was supported by BIOTREE-net-project funded by BBVA Foundation. We are indebted to two anonymous reviewers that greatly improved a former version of this manuscript
Abstract Geographic patterns of vertebrate diversity and identification of relevant areas for conservation in Europe.— The 'EU Council conclusions on biodiversity post–2010' re–enforced Europe's commitment to halt biodiversity loss by 2020. Identifying areas of high–value for biodiversity conservation is an important issue to meet this target. We investigated the geographic pattern of terrestrial vertebrate diversity status in Europe by assessing the species richness, rarity, vulnerability (according to IUCN criteria), and a combined index of the three former for the amphibians, reptiles, bird and mammals of this region. We also correlated the value of all indices with climate and human influence variables. Overall, clear geographic gradients of species diversity were found. The combined biodiversity index indicated that high–value biodiversity areas were mostly located in the Mediterranean basin and the highest vulnerability was found in the Iberian peninsula for most taxa. Across all indexes, the proportion of variance explained by climate and human influence factors was moderate to low. The results obtained in this study have the potential to provide valuable support for nature conservation policies in Europe and, consequently, might contribute to mitigate biodiversity decline in this region. ; Resumen Patrones geográficos de diversidad de vertebrados e identificación de áreas relevantes para su conservación en Europa.— Las conclusiones del 'Consejo de la UE sobre la biodiversidad post–2010' reforzaron el compromiso europeo de detener la pérdida de la misma para el año 2020. La identificación de áreas de alto valor para la conservación de la biodiversidad resulta importante para alcanzar esta meta. En el presente estudio investigamos la distribución geográfica del estatus de la diversidad de vertebrados en Europa evaluando la riqueza de especies, rareza, vulnerabilidad (según criterios de la UICN) y un índice combinado de los tres anteriores para anfibios, reptiles, aves y mamíferos de esta región. Además, se ...
Las figuras y material suplementario que contiene el documento se localizan al final del mismo. ; Planted woodland islets act as sources of seed that may accelerate woodland development in extensive agricultural landscapes. We assessed a 1-ha plot that was planted with 16 100-m2 islets of holm oak Quercus ilex subsp. ballota seedlings near Toledo (Spain) in 1993. In spring 2014 we measured (1) acorn predation and (2) seedling emergence from seeded acorns at different distances from and orientations around the islets with half of the acorns protected to prevent predation, (3) survival of emerged seedlings, and (4) natural tree establishment outside of the planted islets. Most (96.9 %) unprotected acorns were removed or predated. Seedling emergence from protected acorns ranged from 42.9 % on the northern side of the islets to 13.2 % on the southern side, suggesting a less stressful microclimate on the northern side. Survival of naturally established seedlings was 28.6 % by the end of first summer; seedling mortality was chiefly due to drought (45.0 %) and herbivory (35.0 %). Density of emerged seedlings, surviving seedlings after first dry season, and established oaks >1-year old was similar at different distances from the islets. Over the 21 year time period, 58 new oak individuals >1-year old have established (an average of 3.3 established individuals per ha per year) at an average distance of 6.3 ± 5.4 m away from the closest islet. We conclude that initial oak regeneration triggered by small planted islets in Mediterranean abandoned farmland is slowed down by high acorn predation, seedling herbivory, and stressful microclimatic conditions. Regardless, these islets are a viable tool for regeneration of Mediterranean oak woodland. ; Projects from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Education (CGL2010-18312 and CGL2014-53308-P) and the Government of Madrid (S2013/MAE-2719, REMEDINAL-3) are currently providing financial support for this body of research. We are indebted to Aurora Mesa and Paula Meli for ...
The 'EU Council conclusions on biodiversity post&-2010' re&-enforced Europe's commitment to halt biodiversity loss by 2020. Identifying areas of high&-value for biodiversity conservation is an important issue to meet this target. We investigated the geographic pattern of terrestrial vertebrate diversity status in Europe by assessing the species richness, rarity, vulnerability (according to IUCN criteria), and a combined index of the three former for the amphibians, reptiles, bird and mammals of this region. We also correlated the value of all indices with climate and human influence variables. Overall, clear geographic gradients of species diversity were found. The combined biodiversity index indicated that high&-value biodiversity areas were mostly located in the Mediterranean basin and the highest vulnerability was found in the Iberian peninsula for most taxa. Across all indexes, the proportion of variance explained by climate and human influence factors was moderate to low. The results obtained in this study have the potential to provide valuable support for nature conservation policies in Europe and, consequently, might contribute to mitigate biodiversity decline in this region. ; Ministerio de Ciencia y Educación ; Fundación BBVA ; Comunidad de Madrid ; Brazilian Ministry of Education
