The significance of habitats as indicators of biodiversity and their links to species

The first section of the paper discusses the background to the use of habitats as indicators for biodiversity including a discussion of the range of definitions that have been used. Habitats can now be recorded consistently across Europe at different time intervals in order to estimate stock and change as an indicator of biodiversity that is efficient and relatively easy to record. Habitats are considered to be the third level in a hierarchy with biomes and landscapes as higher categories and vegetation, species and genetic diversity as lower levels. An advantage of using habitats is that many other taxa are associated with them and examples are given from the literature. Examples are also given of the association between habitats and species in European Environmental Zones using expert judgement. Statistical analysis using a range of procedures can also be used to assess the association between species and habitats. Reliable data on the extent, status and changes in European habitats is essential for policy makers across the European Union and would also be important for promoting species conservation.

[1]  R. Jongman,et al.  Conversion of European habitat data sources into common standards , 2012 .

[2]  Caspar A. Mücher,et al.  A climatic stratification of the environment of Europe , 2005 .

[3]  G. B. Groom,et al.  A standardized procedure for surveillance and monitoring European habitats and provision of spatial data , 2007, Landscape Ecology.

[4]  D. Ray,et al.  Evaluating biodiversity in fragmented landscapes: principles. , 2005 .

[5]  Fernando Casanoves,et al.  Patterns of animal diversity in different forms of tree cover in agricultural landscapes. , 2006, Ecological applications : a publication of the Ecological Society of America.

[6]  J. Haslett,et al.  Changing conservation strategies in Europe: a framework integrating ecosystem services and dynamics , 2010, Biodiversity and Conservation.

[7]  Doug Evans.  Interpreting the habitats of Annex I: past, present and future , 2010 .

[8]  P. T. Brink,et al.  The cost of policy inaction : the case of not meeting the 2010 biodiversity target , 2008 .

[9]  C. Romão,et al.  Interpretation manual of European Union habitats. , 1996 .

[10]  Hans Van Dyck,et al.  Towards a functional resource-based concept for habitat: a butterfly biology viewpoint , 2003 .

[11]  A. Humboldt,et al.  Essay on the Geography of Plants , 2010 .

[12]  A. Testi,et al.  An application case of ecological indicator values (Zeigerwerte) calculated with a simple algorithmic approach , 2007 .

[13]  R. Jongman,et al.  Descriptions of the European environmental zones and strata , 2012 .

[14]  T. Hickler,et al.  Increasing range mismatching of interacting species under global change is related to their ecological characteristics , 2012 .

[15]  Michael L. Morrison,et al.  The habitat concept and a plea for standard terminology , 1997 .

[16]  J. Braun-Blanquet,et al.  Plant Sociology: the Study of Plant Communities , 1983, Nature.

[17]  C. A. Mücher,et al.  Objectives and Applications of a Statistical Environmental Stratification of Europe , 2006, Landscape Ecology.

[18]  Cynthia E. Davies,et al.  EUNIS Habitat Classification - Revised , 2004 .

[19]  R. Costanza,et al.  Defining and classifying ecosystem services for decision making , 2009 .

[20]  A. Buttimer,et al.  von Humboldt, A. , 2009 .

[21]  F. Woodward.  Climate and plant distribution , 1987 .

[22]  A. Fitter,et al.  A Guide To The Vegetation Of Britain And Europe , 1985 .

[23]  H. Haberl,et al.  Linking pattern and process in cultural landscapes. An empirical study based on spatially explicit indicators , 2004 .

[24]  Ľ. Halada,et al.  Which habitats of European importance depend on agricultural practices? , 2011, Biodiversity and Conservation.

[25]  M. K. Gillespie,et al.  Accounting for nature: assessing habitats in the UK countryside. , 2000 .

[26]  Douglas Evans,et al.  Building the European Union’s Natura 2000 network , 2012 .

[27]  Doug Evans,et al.  THE HABITATS OF THE EUROPEAN UNION HABITATS DIRECTIVE , 2022, Biology and Environment: Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy.

[28]  C. A. Mücher,et al.  Mapping European habitats to support the design and implementation of a pan-European ecological network; the PEENHAB-project , 2004 .

[29]  C. A. Mücher,et al.  Geo-spatial modelling and monitoring of European landscapes and habitats using remote sensing and field surveys , 2009 .

[30]  I. Geijzendorffer,et al.  EBONE: integrated figures of habitat and biodiversity indicators : quantifying indicators of an integrated biodiversity observation system , 2013 .

[31]  J. Braun-Blanquet,et al.  PLANT SOCIOLOGY. A STUDY OF PLANT COMMUNITIES , 1934 .

[32]  J Sheail,et al.  Assessing stock and change in land cover and biodiversity in GB: an introduction to Countryside Survey 2000. , 2003, Journal of environmental management.

[33]  S. Hinsley,et al.  The influence of hedge structure, management and landscape context on the value of hedgerows to birds: a review , 2000 .

[34]  M. Usher,et al.  Biodiversity in agricultural landscapes: the ground beetle communities of woody uncultivated habitats , 1998, Biodiversity & Conservation.

[35]  Caspar A. Mücher,et al.  Integrating remote sensing in Natura 2000 habitat monitoring: prospects on the way forward , 2011 .

[36]  Caspar A. Mücher,et al.  Modelling the spatial distribution of Natura 2000 habitats across Europe , 2009 .

[37]  C. Dover,et al.  Can hay harvesting detrimentally affect adult butterfly abundance? , 2010, Journal of Insect Conservation.

[38]  Rob H. G. Jongman,et al.  Manual for habitat and vegetation surveillance and monitoring : temperate, mediterranean and desert biomes , 2011 .

[39]  Björn Nilsson,et al.  National Inventory of Landscapes in Sweden (NILS)—scope, design, and experiences from establishing a multiscale biodiversity monitoring system , 2011, Environmental monitoring and assessment.