Katrin Vohland

The roles and contributions of Biodiversity Observation Networks (BONs) in better tracking progress to 2020 biodiversity targets: a European case study

The Aichi Biodiversity Targets of the United Nations’ Strategic Plan for Biodiversity set ambitious goals for protecting biodiversity from further decline. Increased efforts are urgently needed to achieve these targets by 2020. The availability of comprehensive, sound and up-to-date biodiversity data is a key requirement to implement policies, strategies and actions to address biodiversity loss, monitor progress towards biodiversity targets, as well as to assess the current status and future trends of biodiversity. Key gaps, however, remain in our knowledge of biodiversity and associated ecosystem services. These are mostly a result of barriers preventing existing data from being discoverable, accessible and digestible. In this paper, we describe what regional Biodiversity Observation Networks (BONs) can do to address these barriers using the European Biodiversity Observation Network (EU BON) as an example. We conclude that there is an urgent need for a paradigm shift in how biodiversity data are collected, stored, shared and streamlined in order to tackle the many sustainable development challenges ahead. We need a shift towards an integrative biodiversity information framework, starting from collection to the final interpretation and packaging of data. This is a major objective of the EU BON project, towards which progress is being made.

Nature conservation: priority-setting needs a global change

The limited resources available for the conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem services call for prioritisation schemes. For instance, in the process of systematic conservation planning site selection is partly determined by efficiency gains. In this paper we present an alternative method for global spatial priority-setting based on ecological indicators, combined with social and economic conditions that influence the effectiveness of conservation, and measures for the long-term persistence of biodiversity. In the analysis the assumption made is that nature conservation should prioritize the effective maintenance of functional ecosystems that do not only provide the most ecosystem services but are also more likely to have a high adaptive capacity towards unavoidable environmental change. Furthermore, the effectiveness and permanence of conservation projects is tied to certain socioeconomic and political conditions that, as we suggest, should be evaluated as part of the conservation priority-setting process. We propose three new priority categories: eco-functionally wise (EcoWise), socioeconomically wise (SocioWise) and proactive allocation of conservation resources considering future climate change (ClimateWise) expressed as indices based on 16 different indicators. Analysing the combined effects of these three categories (EcoSocioClimateWise), in a spatially explicit way highlights the importance of tropical, subtropical but also some temperate and boreal forest areas all of which are characterized by high values of vegetation density, tree height and carbon storage. Our recommendations for policy makers prompt a shift in conservation planning towards advocating the use of ecological and socioeconomic indicators in combination with proxies for the vulnerability to future climate change impacts.

Key impacts of climate engineering on biodiversity and ecosystems, with priorities for future research

Abstract Climate change has significant implications for biodiversity and ecosystems. With slow progress towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions, climate engineering (or ‘geoengineering’) is receiving increasing attention for its potential to limit anthropogenic climate change and its damaging effects. Proposed techniques, such as ocean fertilization for carbon dioxide removal or stratospheric sulfate injections to reduce incoming solar radiation, would significantly alter atmospheric, terrestrial and marine environments, yet potential side-effects of their implementation for ecosystems and biodiversity have received little attention. A literature review was carried out to identify details of the potential ecological effects of climate engineering techniques. A group of biodiversity and environmental change researchers then employed a modified Delphi expert consultation technique to evaluate this evidence and prioritize the effects based on the relative importance of, and scientific understanding about, their biodiversity and ecosystem consequences. The key issues and knowledge gaps are used to shape a discussion of the biodiversity and ecosystem implications of climate engineering, including novel climatic conditions, alterations to marine systems and substantial terrestrial habitat change. This review highlights several current research priorities in which the climate engineering context is crucial to consider, as well as identifying some novel topics for ecological investigation.

Exposure to climate change in Central Europe: What can be gained from regional climate projections for management decisions of protected areas?

Climate change is expected to become an important driver influencing biodiversity. To protect biological diversity in the long term, nature conservationists must include potential climate change impacts in their management decisions. In order to incorporate effective climate change adaption strategies in the management of protected areas, potential threats of climate change need to be identified. In this study, climate model projections have been evaluated to derive information about the future exposure of nature parks to climate change. Indicators reflecting climate boundary conditions were selected in a cooperative process, considering both scientifically reliable climate scenario analysis and the requirements of park managers. The evaluation exhibits large uncertainties depending on the indicator. While for temperature, a warming trend is projected for all the regions, future projections for precipitation show the largest inter-model uncertainties. The Climatic Water Balance reflects the potential water availability and aids clarification to stakeholders, as it incorporates the temperature trend. The analysis robustly indicates a prolongation for the climatic growing season. The main challenges related to climate model information for decision-making are the uncertainties, different scales of climate and ecosystem processes and the finding of a common communication level for knowledge transfer. The results are useful for climate-influenced decision-making and provide one part of evidence for making adaptation decisions.

Import and export of biological samples from tropical countries–considerations and guidelines for research teams

Abstract‘Biodiversity’ is increasingly perceived as an important resource for research and conservation, but also for economy. Conservation, access and sustainable use of biodiversity (genetic resources, species, samples) are negotiated on different political levels, resulting in an internationally binding legal framework. Resulting legislation is binding for all parties involved in biological sampling, i.e. researches and (and in italics) countries, and especially applies for tissue or DNA samples and dervied products thereof. Understanding and awareness of export and import permits for biological samples is increasingly important for biologists to perform research projects legally and timely. Nevertheless, some biologists are still exporting and importing biological samples ignoring or non-compliant with national and international legislation, conventions, and regulations. Resulting difficulties may not only cause serious problems during field work, but may also delay the export, import or exchange of samples. Comprehensive apriori information regarding legal requirements helps to avoid or at least diminish potential problems. We identified four major factors facilitating export/import permits: (1) good personal (mutually trusted) contacts in the country of origin, (2) understanding and compliance with all relevant laws and regulations; (3) access to information regarding knowledge on permits, regulations and laws including their circulation within the researcher communities; and (4) access to consistent and up to date regulations

Understanding the (inter)disciplinary and institutional diversity of citizen science: A survey of current practice in Germany and Austria

Citizen science has become more popular in recent years, quickly taking on a variety of potentially conflicting characteristics: a way to collect massive data sets at relatively low cost, a way to break science out of the ivory tower and better engage the public, an approach to educate lay people in scientific methods. But the extent of current citizen science practice—the types of actors and scientific disciplines who take part—is still poorly understood. This article builds on recent surveys of citizen science in PLOS One by analyzing citizen science practice in Germany and Austria through the projects on two online platforms. We find evidence supporting previous findings that citizen science is a phenomenon strongest in biodiversity and environmental monitoring research, but at home in a number of scientific fields, such as history and geography. In addition, our survey method yields new insights into citizen science projects initiated by non-scientific actors. We close by discussing additional methodological considerations in attempting to present a cross-disciplinary overview of citizen science.

Land Use Management for Greenhouse Gas Mitigation

Agriculture and land use change, particularly deforestation of tropical forests, contribute much to anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions and are expected to remain important during the twenty-first century. Current policy regimes, however, such as the EU ETS only cover the energy sector and also focus only on CO2 emissions. In this chapter, we present historic, current and potential GHG emissions from agriculture and deforestation and discuss mitigation potentials and costs within these two sectors. Finally, we characterise potential co-benefits and risks of including these sectors in a comprehensive mitigation scheme.

Bewertung des Klimawandels für den Naturschutz

Der Klimawandel wirkt sich zunehmend auf Verbreitung, Bestandssituation, und Verhalten von Tier- und Pflanzenarten in Mitteleuropa aus ( Kap. 3, 4). Die Ableitung von Vorhersagen auf Grundlage uberregionaler Klimawandelszenarien ist mit Unsicherheiten behaftet, die durch biologische Prozesse (z. B. Ausbreitungsfahigkeit und -verhalten, Interaktionen und Populationsdynamik) verstarkt werden. Dennoch erlauben diese Szenarien Aussagen zur Bedrohung klimasensibler Arten, Lebensgemeinschaften sowie Regionen und eine Priorisierung und Fokussierung zu setzender Masnahmen.

Barriers for Avoiding Deforestation in Ecuador

Corruption hinders both the implementation of and compliance with formal forestry laws and regulations in Ecuador in addition to hindering democratically motivated decision-making. The multifaceted consequences of both general corruption and corruption within the forestry sector facilitate and foment deforestation, partially through the hindering effect they have on compliance and implementation. Two types of corruption, petty and grand, were found to play the largest role in the forestry sector in Ecuador. The primary objective of this research was to discover the relationship between corruption and deforestation and determine how corruption contributes to deforestation and degradation in Ecuador. Despite all of the minute technical and political details being pored over to design the REDD mechanism, this research has indicated that disregarding governance issues could have unpleasant and unanticipated consequences with strong implications for the design and implementation of REDD in countries with high corruption and low governance capacity.

The Role of Ecosystem Services in Increasing the Adaptive Capacity of the Poor

Adaptation to climate change can mean different things; it can refer to technical solutions or the changing insurance systems. In this chapter, the significance of biodiversity and ecosystems for human adaptation is assessed, focussing particularly on poor people. The concept of ecosystem services according to the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (Reid et al., Living beyond our means: Natural assets and human well-being (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. Statement from the Board). Island Press, Washington, DC, 2005) is used to analyse the different ecosystem services in different sectors, ranging from agrobiodiversity, through urban cities to coastal systems. As ecosystems still suffer from inadequate economic appreciation, ways to increase the power of ecosystem based adaptations are discussed.