Mediterranean ecosystems: problems and tools for conservation

Abstract

Mediterranean ecosystems rival tropical ecosystems in terms of plant biodiversity. The Mediterranean Basin (MB) itself hosts 25 000 plant species, half of which are endemic. This rich biodiversity and the complex biogeographical and political issues make conservation a difficult task in the region. Species, habitat, ecosystem and landscape approaches have been used to identify conservation targets at various scales: ie, European, national, regional and local. Conservation decisions require adequate information at the species, community and habitat level. Nevertheless and despite recent improvements/efforts, this information is still incomplete, fragmented and varies from one country to another. This paper reviews the biogeographic data, the problems arising from current conservation efforts and methods for the conservation assessment and prioritization using GIS. GIS has an important role to play for managing spatial and attribute information on the ecosystems of the MB and to facilitate interactions with existing databases. Where limited information is available it can be used for prediction when directly or indirectly linked to externally built models. As well as being a predictive tool today GIS incorporate spatial techniques which can improve the level of information such as fuzzy logic, geostatistics, or provide insight about landscape changes such as 3D visualization. Where there are limited resources it can assist with identifying sites of conservation priority or the resolution of environmental conflicts (scenario building). Although not a panacea, GIS is an invaluable tool for improving the understanding of Mediterranean ecosystems and their dynamics and for practical management in a region that is under increasing pressure from human impact.

Non-perennial Mediterranean rivers in Europe: Status, pressures, and challenges for research and management

“…Reasons include the low economic value attributed to NPRS, the complexity of the Mediterranean biogeography coupled with political and societal issues, the poor planning of effective environmental policies, the inadequacy of legislation and its ineffective enforcement, the lack of political commitment, and the inadequate knowledge of NPRS' hydrology, ecology and biogeochemistry (Vogiatzakis et al, 2006;Acuña et al, 2014).…”

An overview of recent remote sensing and GIS based research in ecological informatics

“…However, a major topic of recent research has been on the potential impacts of environmental changes on species distributions. GIS has, for example, been used to predict species distributions and risks to biodiversity (Spens et al, 2007), to aid the visualization, exploration and modeling of data on species distributions (Lopez-Lopez et al 2006;Vogiatzakis et al, 2006;Zhang et al, 2007) and study the effect of major variables such as disturbance events (Pennington, 2007). Indeed GIS now offers unprecedented flexibility to analysts, especially in relation to how data are used and what analytical criteria are employed in studies (Graham et al, 2007).…”

Relating ring width of Mediterranean evergreen species to seasonal and annual variations of precipitation and temperature

“…5). Positive pointer years are visible in 1977, 1992, and 1997and negative pointer years are 1995and 2006(Schweingruber et al, 1990.…”

“…Small changes in water availability and temperature may have considerable impacts on the resilience of the present natural vegetation types. Mediterranean landscapes have a worldwide significance because their ecosystems are widely recognized as biodiversity hotspots, with a species density surpassed only in tropical forests (Gómez-Campo, 1985;Vogiatzakis et al, 2006;Medial and Quezel, 1999). Apart from its ecological value, vegetation cover also protects against soil erosion, provides food for livestock and decreases flooding risks by interception and retention of precipitation.…”