Assessment of the Potential Risk of Rock-Climbing for Cliff Plant Species and Natural Protected Areas of Spain

Abstract

In recent years, the popularity of rock-climbing has grown tremendously, setting an increasing pressure on cliff habitats. Climbing may be particularly harmful in the Mediterranean biome due to its appropriate environmental conditions for climbing. A few studies have identified the effect of climbing on plant diversity at a small-scale (namely locally or even just in specific climbing areas). However, no studies exist assessing the potential risk of rock-climbing on a broad-scale (e.g., regional or national). The study aims to identify the priority locations and priority cliff plant species in Spain to focus future study efforts. Spain was selected because it is a plant biodiversity hotspot, with a great diversity of endemic and endangered species, and one of the most popular destinations for climbers. We used a geographic information system-based approach to model the spatial concurrence among Spanish climbing areas (and climbing intensity), natural protected areas (NPAs), and distribution of threatened cliff plants (and their IUCN threat category). We found that 53.5% of climbing areas in Spain are located within a NPA, most of them falling into NPAs of medium protection level. We mapped 151 threatened cliff plants, identifying four medium priority Mediterranean locations and eight priority species in which future research efforts should be focused. High-priority study locations are absent in Spain according to our spatial modeling. For the first time on a national scale, this study identifies areas in which climbing represents a potential threat for cliff habitats and threatened plants. These findings contribute to designing field studies on the effects of rock-climbing on Mediterranean cliffs, laying the groundwork for a sustainable, yet challenging, balance between the protection of these unique habitats and rock-climbing.

eDNA metabarcoding reveals high soil fungal diversity and variation in community composition among Spanish cliffs

“…Despite these extreme conditions, cliff habitats provide a high diversity of microhabitats, harboring many plant species, often including endemic and endangered species (Larson et al, 2000 ; Lavergne et al, 2003 ). Particularly, Spain has been chosen as a key conservation territory and is one of the most biodiverse countries in the European Union, holding a great diversity of cliff specialist plants with more than 150 being cliffs threatened plant species (deCastro‐Arrazola et al, 2021 ; National Biodiversity Strategy, 2020 ). Moreover, a previous study indicated the need for establishing protection priorities in Spanish cliff habitats but mainly considered as criteria endangered plants and natural protected areas (deCastro‐Arrazola et al, 2021 ).…”

“…Particularly, Spain has been chosen as a key conservation territory and is one of the most biodiverse countries in the European Union, holding a great diversity of cliff specialist plants with more than 150 being cliffs threatened plant species (deCastro‐Arrazola et al, 2021 ; National Biodiversity Strategy, 2020 ). Moreover, a previous study indicated the need for establishing protection priorities in Spanish cliff habitats but mainly considered as criteria endangered plants and natural protected areas (deCastro‐Arrazola et al, 2021 ). These protected areas are thus meant to protect rare and threatened plant and animal species and serve as fundamental tools for ecosystem management and conservation.…”

The Physical Damage of Climbing Activity on Sandstone Lichen Cover

“…Cliff sites are naturally protected by their inaccessibility against common disturbances, e.g., grazing or human activity [9]. They are known to harbour unique species diversity, including rare and endemic taxa [10][11][12][13][14]. Understanding how environmental damage scales with the number of climbing ascents is one of the central questions for sustainable management of the popular sport in semi-natural settings.…”

Rock climbing disturbance severity and abiotic gradients interact to determine cryptogam diversity and community structure

“…The scale and scope of the impacts our work has revealed has to be traded off against the social and economic benefits rock climbing brings to both climbers and rural communities. Recent authors have noted (DeCastro‐Arrazola et al, 2021) that, at broad spatial scales, the development of regional climbing management plans (e.g. National Park Service, 2002; North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, 2019) is critical to ensuring the protection of areas of conservation concern and trading off the costs and benefits from development and access across landscapes.…”