New paper out in 𝐁𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧
"Long-term effectiveness of Natura 2000 network to protect biodiversity: A hint of optimism for common birds"
#ProtectedAreas #ornithology #conservationevidence

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320720309290?dgcid=author

@Le_Museum @ums2006

1/7 Natura 2000 #ProtectedAreas network constitutes a key tool for the #conservation of European #biodiversity. However, few studies have looked at its long-term effect on biodiversity so far, and even fewer on common species...

2/7 Using #CitizenScience data from the French Breeding Bird Survey @VigieNature, we compared temporal trends of common breeding species (including mostly non-targeted avian biodiversity) inside and outside N2000 network

3/7 We provide evidence that common #bird species - which were not directly targeted by the European Birds and Habitats Directives - may have benefited from the protection or management measures of the N2000 network, but are still in decline.

4/7 The long-term positive effect of N2000 was stronger on farmland specialist trends, and even stronger when considering Special Areas of Conservation (SAC) only

5/7 Despite generally more diverse bird communities within N2000 areas, their designation has not prevented their ongoing functional biotic homogenization

6/7 The 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 of the N2000 network suggests that it is not able to reverse negative population trends either because the land management or spatially extent are insufficient...

7/7 We suggest that 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒔, 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒆𝒙𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑷𝑨, 𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒔, are the priority actions that may help improve N2000 effectiveness