European Union’s Natura 2000 network : an effective tool for nature conservation? The relic pine forests of the Franconian Jura

Title data

Hemp, Andreas ; Philipp, Christie ; Hemp, Claudia:
European Union’s Natura 2000 network : an effective tool for nature conservation? The relic pine forests of the Franconian Jura.
In: Biodiversity and Conservation. Vol. 31 (2022) Issue 7 . - pp. 1909-1926.
ISSN 1572-9710
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-022-02430-9

Official URL:

Abstract in another language

Land use change and intensification are the most important direct drivers of decreasing biodiversity globally. Therefore, the European Union created the Natura 2000 network to protect endangered species and habitats. Here we are interested how the ambitious European goals are actually implemented studying a Natura 2000 habitat, the “Sarmatic steppe pine forests” (Code 91U0) in a national hotspot of biodiversity in Franconia (Germany). These forests are a relic of the postglacial warm stage, preserved by human land use since the Neolithic, but are now heavily declining due to abandonment of traditional land use practices. Applying a long-term monitoring over 30 years including all existing (> 600) stands and a Random Forest classification model, we show that less than a quarter of the area of 1990 and only about 1% of 1950 still exists. Immigration of spruce and beech and forest conversion was responsible for this massive loss, impacting the light-demanding species composition. However, nearly no conservation efforts were undertaken, and replanting with broadleaved trees is still ongoing even after the designation as protected habitat in 2008. Therefore, these forests demonstrate how land use change and intensification (i.e. global change) continuously endanger a habitat protected by national and European law.

Further data

Item Type:	Article in a journal
Refereed:	Yes
Keywords:	Buphthalmo-Pinetum; European Biodiversity Strategy; Sarmatic steppe pine forests; Traditional land use change; Vegetation on dolomite; Wood pasture
Institutions of the University:	Faculties > Faculty of Biology, Chemistry and Earth Sciences > Department of Biology > Chair Plant Systematics Faculties Faculties > Faculty of Biology, Chemistry and Earth Sciences Faculties > Faculty of Biology, Chemistry and Earth Sciences > Department of Biology
Result of work at the UBT:	Yes
DDC Subjects:	500 Science > 570 Life sciences, biology 500 Science > 580 Plants (Botany)
Date Deposited:	17 Sep 2022 21:00
Last Modified:	19 Sep 2022 05:21
URI:	https://eref.uni-bayreuth.de/id/eprint/71896