Use of long‐term data to evaluate loss and endangerment status of Natura 2000 habitats and effects of protected areas

Abstract

Habitat loss is a key driver of biodiversity loss. However, hardly any long-term time series analyses of habitat loss are available above the local scale for finer-level habitat categories. We analysed, from a long-term perspective, the habitat specificity of habitat-area loss, the change in trends in habitat loss since 1989 (dissolution of the communist state), and the impact of protected areas on habitat loss in Hungary. We studied 20 seminatural habitat types in 5000 randomly selected localities over 7 periods from 1783 to 2013 based on historical maps, archival and recent aerial photos and satellite imagery, botanical descriptions, and field data. We developed a method for estimating habitat types based on information transfer between historical sources (i.e., information from a source was used to interpret or enrich information from another source). Trends in habitat loss over time were habitat specific. We identified 7 types of habitat loss over time regarding functional form: linear, exponential, linear and exponential, delayed, minimum, maximum, and disappearance. Most habitats had continuous loss from period to period. After 1986 the average annual rates of habitat loss increased, but the trend reversed after 2002. Nature conservation measures significantly affected habitat loss; net loss was halted, albeit only inside protected areas. When calculating the degree of endangerment based on short-term data (52 years), we classified only 1 habitat as critically endangered, but based on long-term data (230 years), this increased to 7 (including habitat that no longer existed). Hungary will probably reach the global Convention on Biological Diversity Target 5 but will probably not achieve the EU Biodiversity Strategy target of halting habitat loss by 2020. Long-term trend data were highly useful when we examined recent habitat-loss data in a wider context. Our method could be applied effectively in other countries to augment shorter-term data sets on trends in habitat area.

River embankments mitigate the loss of grassland biodiversity in agricultural landscapes

“…Technological advances in the second half of the 20th century have resulted in unprecedentedly rapid agricultural intensification worldwide (Baessler & Klotz, 2006), leading to a global-scale decline of the species and habitat diversity of ecosystems (Benton, Vickery, & Wilson, 2003). Landscapes with a high proportion of natural grasslands have largely been converted into arable fields, built-up areas and forest plantations (Bastian & Bernhardt, 1993;Biró, Bölöni, & Molnár, 2018). For instance, a large proportion of loess grasslands in Europe have been ploughed for cereal production because of their fertile chernozem soils (Deák et al, 2018;Erd} os et al, 2018).…”

Legacies of past land use challenge grassland recovery – An example from dry grasslands on ancient burial mounds

“…Here we study two scenarios of grassland recovery: recovery on former croplands and former plantations on mounds. Ploughing and afforestation are responsible for the reduction of grassland area and decline of grassland species richness in many parts of Eurasia (Deák et al 2016a, b;Biró et al 2018). Loess grasslands on fertile chernozem soils were the most severely affected by conversion to croplands or plantations (Biró et al 2018).…”

“…Ploughing and afforestation are responsible for the reduction of grassland area and decline of grassland species richness in many parts of Eurasia (Deák et al 2016a, b;Biró et al 2018). Loess grasslands on fertile chernozem soils were the most severely affected by conversion to croplands or plantations (Biró et al 2018). Amongst plantations, the North-American invasive black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia L., Fabaceae) represents a large conservation problem due to its high persistence, excellent vegetative and generative spread, intense evaporation and competition for resources, shading and nutrient accumulation effects, which all lead to the degradation and disappearance of the formerly typical grassland vegetation (Vítková et al 2017).…”

Eurasian Kurgan Database – a citizen science tool for conserving grasslands on historical sites

“…Steppic grasslands due to their special habitat conditions and long-term traditional management represent a unique conservation value. However, due to the agricultural intensification and expansion of urban areas and the associated infrastructure, the formerly existing continuous grasslands have been fragmented in many regions due to the agricultural intensification and expansion of urban areas and the associated infrastructure (Biró et al 2018, Elias et al 2018, Sopotlieva et al 2018, Szabó & Ruprecht 2018. In transformed landscapeslocated in the regions in the western part of the steppe and forest steppe biomes -fragments of steppic grasslands are present in small habitat islands harbouring the remnants of the former vegetation (Deák et al 2018).…”