Wetlands in Iceland Source: Mercay, WWF
INTRODUCTION |
From the Atlantic plains to the steppes of the Caspian area and from the Lapland tundra to the Mediterranean maquis, Europe comprises diverse natural and semi-natural habitats. This diversity provides habitats suitable for a large number of animal and plant species some of which are endemic in certain regions. Map 9.1 illustrates how Europe would look without human intervention or environmental changes. Thus, 80 to 90 per cent of the land would be covered by forests. According to an analysis (Ellenberg, 1986), largely based on existing soils, topography and climate, Central and Western Europe would be dominated by deciduous trees, mainly beech (Fagus sylvatica), and oaks (Quercus spp).
Human intervention has resulted in a profound modification of the original landscape, through deforestation, agriculture, drainage of wetlands, coastline and river course modifications, mining, road construction, urbanisation, and so on (see Chapter 8). As a result, many animals and plants have had to find refuge in relatively small enclaves, sometimes only secure in legally designated protection areas. Lowland forests as well as wetlands such as peatlands and reed-swamps have disappeared in particular due to human landuse activities. Although a number of large pristine or quasi-natural areas persist in Nordic and Eastern European countries, human impacts can be felt everywhere to some degree.
In return, humans have created landscapes serving their own needs: grasslands, pastures and croplands, often intermixed with remaining woodlands and lined with hedges and waterways. Large mammals (such as bear, Ursus arctos; wolf, Canis lupus; lynx, Lynx lynx; and bison, Bison bison bonasus) have retreated to remote remnants of their original habitat; others (such as the tarpan, Equus caballus and the
saiga, Saiga tatarica) have become extinct. Many species from distant biogeographic regions of Europe have become established in the newly created environment: singing-birds such as the lark (Alauda arvensis), or open-space species like the grey partridge (Perdix perdix) and the hare (Lepus europaeus), are directly associated with agricultural landscapes. Today, the invasion of species as a result of human activities is still continuing and can have negative impacts on native populations, for example, the increase of seagull (Larus spp) and black kite (Milvus migrans) near urban waste deposits, or the spread of exotic species such as Canadian pondweed (Elodea canadensis).
Up until the last century, biological diversity, in terms of habitat types as well as number of species had in general been on the increase in Europe (Kaule, 1986; Cox and Moore, 1973). Now, the trend is reversed: natural habitats are becoming smaller, more fragmented and less able to support wildlife. One crucial phenomenon is the isolation of small populations which are unable to maintain the biologically necessary links to larger gene-pools of the original ecosystem. Hence, the number of endangered species of flora and fauna has increased in many European regions.
This chapter first presents a review of the state of Europe's natural (or quasi-natural) ecosystems, their geographic distribution, trends in the habitats' ecological functions and the main threats. This is followed by an assessment of European fauna and flora as well as of existing and potential nature conservation measures and strategies. An important constraint on this assessment, however, has been the unsatisfactory availability and quality of data concerning the various ecological parameters. Improvement will require internationally harmonised inventories and new scientific approaches.
ECOSYSTEMS |
According to Tansley (1935), 'an ecosystem can be defined as a spatially explicit unit of the Earth that includes all of the organisms along with all components of the abiotic (non-living) environment within its boundaries'. By itself, the term 'ecosystem' does not connote any specific dimensions (IGBP, 1986). Determining the often gradual boundaries can be more difficult for some terrestrial than for aquatic systems where, for example, the presence of water or wet soils helps to identify lateral boundaries of lakes and rivers.
In this report, ecosystems and habitats are classified according to the system developed for the EC CORINE biotopes project (CEC, 1991a), as explained in Box 9A. The following ecosystem groups are recognised:
Comprehensive data on the current state and distribution of these ecosystems do not exist for the whole of Europe. Although most European countries have a long history of gathering information and reporting on their native flora and fauna, the existing data are not always easy to access and can vary greatly in their age and reliability. Existing international statistics of nature conservation focus largely on protected areas only and often data do not always cover parameters such as habitat types, stresses and type of management. Hence, a complete and systematic assessment of Europe's ecosystems is presently not possible. In order to make the best use of information that exists on some very important examples of European ecosystems, the report attempts to identify and analyse a number of them as representative sites for the first seven ecosystem groups.
Representative sites |
Candidate representative sites were identified and selected against criteria through a network of international experts under the guidance of the IUCN/EEA-TF ecosystem project group. From these, shorter lists of representative sites were established. Given the large differences of data availability between countries, many more sites could indeed have been included in some cases. Sites were chosen to picture the overall situation of the various ecosystem groups giving particular attention to their importance for nature conservation. From a purely national point of view the outcome may be incomplete, however, whenever possible, comments by the national focal points on these site lists were taken into account. The resulting maps and figures only illustrate the situation for the identified sites and cannot be representative for the whole ecosystem as such.
The selection criteria for representative sites were:
These selection criteria were adapted to the character of each individual ecosystem group. Often, scientific standards or specific priorities were needed to facilitate the selection, which was influenced by the quality and availability of information. Sites of regional or national importance were included when they were considered to be also of European interest. An explanation of the main criteria used for selecting sites accompanies the map for each ecosystem group.
Independent of their legal status, protected as well as unprotected sites have been identified and described. Although protection status is considered to be an important part of the description of each site, the attributions given in this report are not meant to pre-judge how to respond to the threats identified. Current strategies and options for action to safeguard nature and wildlife are summarised at the end of the chapter.
Information on representative sites |
For each ecosystem group, information has been compiled on the current state of the selected sites, including: their size, protection status, ecological conditions (habitat types, species, etc), and environmental stresses. The information collected was used to assign each site to one of seven status categories, which have been further merged into four classes in the maps in this chapter (see Box 9B). Further information on these sites, when available, can be found in the Statistical Compendium. The names of the sites indicated on the maps are listed at the end of the chapter, grouped by ecosystem and country.
Interpretation |
As a result of the data analysis for representative sites it has been possible to:
Lists of representative sites are not claimed to be comprehensive. The large data gaps in Eastern and Central Europe point to the need for a systematic approach to meet long-term management objectives, something which the current assessment was unable to achieve with the data available.
Geographic regions |
Throughout this chapter, the analytical presentations in graphs and tables frequently refer to the following seven 'geographic regions': boreal, Baltic, central, Atlantic, east, Alpine, and Mediterranean (Map 9.2). Although this delineation is mainly based on biogeographic factors such as climate, soils and vegetation, it is very schematic in nature.
Forests |
Around 500 BC, when the Mediterranean regions were already going through a phase of large-scale deforestation, Central and Northern Europe were still densely covered by forests. Starting at the time of the Roman Empire, intensive cultivation of the land led to a decline of the forests which continued until the fourteenth century (Bosch, 1983). Today, the average forest cover of Europe is 33 per cent, varying considerably between countries from 6 per cent in Ireland to 66 per cent in Finland. Forest management practices during the last centuries resulted in substantial changes to the remaining forests, as far as their species composition and structure were concerned. In Central and Western Europe, deforestation has drastically reduced native deciduous forests, while coniferous trees dominated afforestation. The types of forest vary considerably depending on the major climatic regions. The main habitat types, ecosystem functions and threats of natural forest systems are explained below, followed by an interpretation of data deriving from 156 representative sites of natural and semi-natural forests, illustrated in Map 9.3.
In the northern hemisphere, boreal coniferous woodlands form a continuous belt around the whole Earth, covering much of Scandinavia and Northern Russia with trees such as Norway spruce (Picea abies), Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) and downy birch (Betula pubescens) (see Box 9C). Boreal forests are very poor in vascular plants and numbers hardly exceed 250 different species. Besides being rich in mosses and lichens, the boreal region is home of the only forest ecosystem where some species of the original fauna (eg, large predatory animals) can be found in extensive habitats. However, in western parts the wolf and the brown bear have become very rare.
While a trend from deciduous to coniferous trees has been recorded for many European forests, silviculture management has brought about large changes in the forests especially in this region. Once dominated by broadleaved deciduous forests of oaks (Quercus spp) and beech (Fagus sylvatica) with several tree layers and sometimes shrub as well as herbaceous layers, the Atlantic region shows a substantial increase of coniferous forests (spruce, Picea abies, Scots pine, Pinus sylvestris, etc), originally limited to mountains and some coastal areas in the south of Europe. The substitute coniferous forests lack the rich original herbaceous layer of deciduous forests, which consists mostly of hemicryptophytes (buds quite close to the ground) and geophytes (species with tubers, bulbs and rhizomes), growing predominantly in spring.
The Mediterranean climate is characterised by long, hot and dry summers with major rainfalls during the winter season. Early periods of exploitation and fires have left only small remnants of the original evergreen oakwood forests with holm oak (Quercus ilex), as well as cork oak (Q suber), turkey oak (Q cerris) and hungarian oak (Q frainetto). Deciduous forests prevail in regions with more rainfall. Coniferous forests (Pinus spp, Abies spp) and laurel forests once dominated the islands of the southern North Atlantic (the Canary Islands, Maldives and Azores), but have now disappeared from higher elevations.
The whole of the Atlantic region (high rainfall) and the western transition zone of the central continental region (cold winters, moderately warm summers) favour temperate forests of deciduous trees such as oak (Quercus robur) and especially beech (Fagus sylvatica) with herbaceous and geophytic groundcover. Shorter periods of annual vegetation in the higher elevations of middle European mountain ranges and the decreasing influence of the oceanic climate towards the east result in an increasing dominance of coniferous trees such as spruce and pine associated with heather (Erica) on calcicolous or bilberry (Vaccinium) on acidophilous soils.
Azonal alluvial forests occur in all climatic zones in a very similar fashion. According to Ellenberg (1986), two main types prevail: hardwood forests with oak (Quercus spp), alder (Alnus spp), ash (Fraxinus excelsior), or elm (Ulmus spp), and softwood forests with willow (Salix spp) and poplar (Populus spp). Alluvial forests once fringed all European rivers as widely as inundations defined the floodplains. However, since alluvial plains of rivers have always been areas of preference for human settlements (transport, energy, food), many of the originally existing alluvial forests, especially of the large river systems in central Europe, have disappeared. The few remnants (for example along the Rhine and Danube) represent important wildlife habitats.
In central European mountains, the beech (Fagus) is intermixed with fir (Abies spp) and larch (Larix), followed by spruce (Picea spp) at timber-line. In Britain, Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) and birch (Betula) dominate, and in the Caucasus, deciduous oaks mix with oriental hornbeam (Carpinus orientalis), sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus), Norwegian maple (Acer platanoides) and smooth-leaved elm (Ulmus minor). Above 1350 m, oriental beech (F orientalis) dominates, intermixed with Caucasian fir (A nordmanniana) and oriental spruce (P orientalis) followed by different birch (Betula) species at high altitude.
Forests provide a great range of different benefits. Due to the large amount of biomass that characterises this ecosystem, forests are able to create their own microclimate, influence general climatic conditions, improve air and water quality and temper the impacts of urban or industrial pollution on the environment. Not only do alluvial forests act as 'nutrient traps' which accumulate nitrogen, carbon and phosphorus, they also provide natural protection for river banks against erosion. Forests are also of substantial value for recreation and the sustainable maintenance of groundwater reserves, ensuring long-term water supply. Furthermore, forests play a crucial role providing natural protection against erosion and avalanches in mountain terrains. All these functions may be considered as important as, and in some cases to exceed, the provision of timber and cellulose.
In terms of nature conservation, forests especially those in a pristine or semi-natural condition represent very closely the potential natural vegetation, offering adequate habitats for invertebrates and birds, as well as natural refuges for many wildlife species, including the larger mammals which were characteristic of Europe's wooded landscapes (see Box 9D).
Given past and present landuse practices, it is not surprising that mature natural forest ecosystems with highly diverse fauna and flora are very rare in Europe. In Northern and Central Europe this has generally been caused by intensive logging, resulting in a significant decrease in the average age of trees in stands, a tendency for forests to be divided into areas of uniform, even-aged, stands and a drastic reduction in the amount of dead timber. In other regions, particularly in the Mediterranean, forests have lost important habitat functions from excessive logging, fire and overgrazing by livestock, especially goats. Due to the extensive use of non-native species such as Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis) in the north and eucalyptus (Eucalyptus) in the south, extensive reforestation and afforestation in European countries (Norway, UK, Ireland, France, Portugal, Spain) have resulted in the replacement of native, usually deciduous, broadleaved trees together with the original, ecologically much richer, composition of plants and animals. The modification of forests has recently become particularly severe with the increasing importance of pulp and fibre production. Consequently, a far wider range of tree species can be exploited and rotation times of plantations shortened.
Forests are especially threatened at the boundaries of their natural distribution such as in the forest-steppe regions of southern Ukraine and Russia or in the Mediterranean basin (see Box 9E). Most of Central Europe's alluvial forests along all major river courses have virtually disappeared. Remaining habitats are in need of protection and riparian corridors require regeneration to allow seasonal inundations for the re-establishment of alluvial forests.
Airborne pollution (mostly in the form of acid deposition and photochemical smog) is causing severe damage to forests, in particular in Central and Eastern Europe. Forest decline was first spotted in the Black and Bavarian forests of Germany in the early 1970s when 8 per cent of mostly coniferous forests turned out to be damaged. A report (CEC, 1993) of the international cooperative programme on assessment and monitoring of air pollution on forests among 34 European countries (excluding Russia) found that 24 per cent of all sample trees taken from 184 million hectares of coniferous and deciduous forests must be classified as damaged. The problem of forest degradation due to atmospheric pollution is comprehensively covered in Chapter 34.
The main causes of biodiversity decline in natural forests are:
In order to avoid conflicts with already existing recreational functions, the establishment of large natural, strictly protected, forest reserves needs to go hand in hand with a development of alternative solutions for traditional local or seasonal tourism.
A total number of 250 representative sites were selected, of which 156 have been evaluated and are presented on Map 9.3 according to the four classes defined in the legend. This evaluation is based on site-specific data concerning present status of protection, habitat management and prevailing pressures.
Criteria as described in the introduction to this chapter were applied with some flexibility, except for the minimum size of 1000 hectares. The selection was easier in countries where natural forest inventories have already been implemented (Sweden, Norway) or are presently under preparation (Finland). Data are incomplete for Eastern Europe where even more forest sites of high quality can be expected to be identified.
Interpretation of the data
The 156 selected representative sites cover approximately 20 million hectares, or less than 4 per cent of Europe's forested areas. Figure 9.1 shows that two thirds of the total area (about 14 million hectares) are located in the boreal region, of which most belongs to the Finnish-Russian Woodland area. Only less than 20 per cent of semi-natural forests larger than 10 000 hectares remain in central and Atlantic regions.
Forest exploitation for human use has been identified as the major threat to most of the areas. Scandinavian forests are well monitored and documented: management problems derive mainly from grazing (reindeer), hunting and tourism. Intact and pristine forests are small in number and size (fragmentation) throughout most of the Atlantic region. A large number of forest sites with important functions for the landscape and for recreational needs have not been reported here due either to current management practices (lacking components of the natural native vegetation) or to their limited size. Most of the approximately 2 million hectares of Mediterranean sites are insufficiently protected and face various stresses (tourism, energy, etc). Many of the sites in Poland, the Czech Republic and Russia are known for being heavily affected by environmental pollution; the same can be expected for some sites in other Eastern European countries.
Natural forests require adequate protection and management. Many forest types are either not represented in national networks of protected areas or are of insufficient size for proper protection, especially with respect to wildlife such as large predatory mammals and birds. Even where forests are protected, excessive intervention by reserve managers seems to be the general rule. Most important for threatened species are those forest ecosystems which have remained (almost) untouched until now or which have retained the possibility to regain their natural complexity. While the maintenance of such ancient natural forest has top priority, it needs to be stressed that all remaining forests need to be managed according to silvicultural methods that integrate ecological principles. The relatively small average size of Central and Atlantic forests, as well as their higher degree of fragmentation, deserves special attention. The establishment of links and corridors could support valuable, but highly fragile, core areas, and facilitate the reintroduction of species.
The lack of national surveys in most European countries makes the identification of priority areas for forest protection extremely difficult. This demonstrates the need for more, and technically improved, forest surveys such as that in Sweden.
Scrub and grasslands |
Scrub and grassland ecosystems provide a large number of habitat types that are important for both ecological and given their strong links to agricultural landscapes economical reasons. Because of the high diversity of European scrub and grasslands, the CORINE Habitat Classification recognises more types of vegetation in this category than for any other, covering a range of woody shrub communities (including maquis and dwarf shrub heath), tall herb stands and many types of what is commonly recognised as grassland. They occur from montane to lowland situations and can range from very sparse to very dense cover, and from a few centimetres to two or three metres in height. Seasonal variation of temperature and rainfall can play an important part in the overall appearance and composition of the vegetation (especially for certain types of grasslands). The main habitat types, ecosystem functions and threats for scrub and grassland systems are explained below, followed by an interpretation of data, deriving from 186 representative sites, illustrated in Map 9.6.
The scrub and grassland ecosystem includes the following habitat types:
Other, very closely related, habitat types are the salt and gypsum continental steppes, included later in this chapter in the section on deserts and tundras. Scrub and grassland plant communities away from mountain tops or on very poor soils are generally highly modified by, if not entirely derived from and maintained through, human activities. In particular, wetland drainage or forest clearance for timber, arable farming and animal husbandry represent major components of a dynamic cycle that establishes scrub and grasslands, maintains them through low intensity (rotational) cereal growing, regimes of grazing and burning, to abandonment and eventual forest or wetland regeneration. Accordingly, their species turnover can be quite rapid, and the composition at any one time greatly reflects their previous history of human use, as much as environmental factors such as soil and aspect.
About half the land surface of Europe is either permanent pasture or under arable cultivation, ranging from 83 per cent in Ireland to 29 per cent in the former Yugoslavia. There are some 67.7 million hectares of permanent pasture, over 30 per cent of which occurs in just France, Spain and the former Yugoslavia. However, only about 5.7 million hectares (8 per cent) of this pasture are lowland dry grasslands, offering habitat for birds such as quail (Coturnix coturnix), stone curlew (Burhinus oedicnemus) and little bustard (Tetrax tetrax). Throughout Europe, more than 700 sites of lowland dry grasslands have been identified (Tucker, 1991).
In Europe, lowland dry grasslands are represented in plains or gently undulating ground (ie, areas particularly vulnerable to arable intensification) with vegetation averaging less than one metre in height, and not dominated by ericaceous species. Lowland dry grassland can include a more or less substantial cover of low shrubby vegetation, especially in semi-arid areas, where grass species may be mainly annuals. They support distinct plant and animal communities; in birds, for example, species tend to be ground-nesting, have cryptic plumage, conduct conspicuous courtship and territorial displays, form flocks in the non-breeding season, and range freely over large areas (Goriup and Batten, 1990).
Very little useful statistical information is available concerning the extent of lowland dry grasslands in Europe. Hopefully, the data will improve at least in the EU as the provisions of the Flora, Fauna and Habitats Directive take effect. A compilation of available data from various sources is presented below; however, Greece and the former republics of the USSR have been excluded owing to lack of comparable data.
It is surprising that Austria, at the border of the central European plain, has hardly 300 ha of native lowland dry grassland left (see Table 9.1). On the other hand, it appears that the UK is much more important for lowland dry grasslands than had previously been appreciated. The main concentrations of habitats occur in Wiltshire, East Anglia and North Yorkshire. This realisation recently led English Nature, a statutory agency, to draw up a grassland conservation strategy for the English lowlands directed at identifying all remaining dry grassland sites and, where possible, reforming them into large contiguous areas through incentive schemes to encourage arable reversion in their vicinity.
Many animals and birds prefer unimproved or lightly managed pasture as their habitat, a type that resembles in structural terms the native grasslands, especially in the Iberian peninsula and Eastern Europe. Similarly, crops that are grown organically, or at least without using pesticides, often harbour important communities of plants and animals. Some birds are positively attracted to pesticide-free crops because of the better cover for breeding and abundance of insects for food. The careful management of these pseudo-steppes in the context of an overall regional landuse plan should form an important part of future conservation policies for scrub and grassland habitats.
Other than croplands, grasslands with low or no input of fertilisers and pesticides represent a type of agricultural landuse where ecological quality and economic benefits appear to be compatible with each other. The functional qualities of scrub and grasslands are:
In Austria, 1041 species of insects, of which 85 per cent are on the national Red List, depend on dry grasslands (Holzner, 1986). On less than one hectare of the Kaiserstuhl, for example, calcareous grasslands are home to 56 butterfly species and 131 bee species (Willems, 1990). Korneck and Sukopp (1988) list 588 species of higher plants for dry grasslands and 297 for wet grasslands in Germany.
Due to their close affinity with humans, scrub and grassland ecosystems in Europe (with the possible exception of heaths) have tended not to attract the same attention from ecologists as wetlands, forests or mountains. It is only comparatively recently that the biological value of scrub and grassland ecosystems was recognised, but by then they had largely been lost to agricultural intensification.
In Europe as a whole the absence of herds of native ungulates like antelopes, gazelles and equids, grazing and browsing the vegetation, is a notable contrast to similar biotopes in Africa, Asia and North and South America. Native ungulates comprise mainly bovids (eg, ibex, Capra hircus) occupying Alpine areas or cervids (eg, roe deer, Capreolus capreolus) occupying forest margins and adapted to both browsing and grazing.
The principal cause for the loss of scrub and grasslandhabitats over the last 50 years has been the advent of widespread agricultural mechanisation, which has allowed vast areas of natural and semi-natural grassland to come under the plough. As a consequence, much of the remaining area of scrub and grassland habitat (especially in the lowlands of northwest Europe see Box 9G) has become highly fragmented, and restricted to steep slopes and ground with thin soils. More recently, agricultural intensification has resulted in the loss of fallow land and stubbles, and the direct attrition of wildlife due to use of fertilisers and biocides. These two impacts, increasingly compounded by intensive tourism in protected areas, now threaten the viability of species that require large contiguous undisturbed areas of high quality habitat for their survival.
Today, the situation of many indigenous scrub and grassland species has become critical, and can no longer be neglected. Examples of threatened species include the grass Spanish Gaudinia (Gaudinia hispanica), Sardinian thistle (Lamyropsis microcephala), Alcon large blue butterfly (Maculinea alcon), Lilford's wall lizard (Podarcis lilfordi), meadow viper (Vipera rakosiensis), little bustard (Tetrax tetrax), great bustard (Otis tarda) and pardel lynx (Lynx pardina). The great bustard has suffered a rapid decline in Central and Eastern Europe (see Box 9F; and Map 9.4) and, if present trends continue, could be on the verge of a similar collapse in its Iberian stronghold (Map 9.5).
Since the early 1980s, grasslands and heaths have seemed to benefit from a shift in agricultural policies. In Germany and Italy, the reform of EU policy has already released more than 300 000 ha of arable land for possible conversion to grassland in the lowlands ('set-aside' programme). While initially welcomed as an opportunity to increase the ecological values of such areas, these measures may also have negative impacts. The potentially most damaging developments identified by Baldock and Long (1987) are abandonment of traditional systems and inappropriate forms of forestry/afforestation (see Chapter 8). While 'less favoured areas' cover 17 million hectares (over 60 per cent of the agricultural area) in Spain, the regional administration of Castilla y Leon is developing agro-environment zonal plans that would result in the conservation of at least 1.5 million ha of dry farmland and steppe habitats. However, the overall future of grasslands affected by the 'set-aside' programme remains unclear.
In Eastern Europe, steppe ecosystems have become extremely rare in all of Ukraine and southeastern Russia. Some large-scale steppe areas remain only in the southern transitional zone towards the semi-deserts (north and west of the Caspian Sea: the Volga Delta and Terek region).
A total of 615 representative sites were selected, of which 186 are presented on Map 9.6. The sites have been evaluated according to the four classes defined in the legend. This evaluation is based on site-specific data concerning present status of protection, habitat management and prevailing pressures.
Criteria as they are described in the introduction to this chapter were applied in a flexible way, except for the minimum size, set at 1000 hectares. The most important and authoritative source was the inventory of Important Bird Areas (Grimmett and Jones, 1989). Accordingly, the site data presented here are biased toward sites of ornithological importance and no doubt a large number of sites of importance for endemic plants and insects have not been included. Furthermore, the dynamic nature of grassland maintenance and succession has to be taken into account: long-term fallow, fire management and grazing regimes can radically change the relative composition of habitat types on a site within a few months.
The 186 representative sites that have been selected for this study cover a total of approximately 14 million hectares, most of which are located in the Mediterranean region (see Figure 9.2). More than half of these areas are of high ecological importance, but still without any protection and facing various forms of stress (hunting, road construction, drainage, etc). Many important sites which could not be selected (often less than 1000 ha) for this study, especially the large number of extensively used grasslands as part of the agricultural landscapes, are located in France, Germany and the Alpine region. A number of scrub and grasslands are fairly well protected in the UK and Denmark.
Data availability and assessment needs to be improved for Eastern and Central European countries. However, large and valuable grassland habitats are known to exist, especially in the steppe regions.
Very little accurate information is available on the current distribution of scrub and grassland in Europe, even less on the status and particular threats to individual sites. The countries with the greatest extent of such habitat are (in descending order) Spain, Italy, France, Greece, Hungary, the Czech and Slovak republics combined, and the UK.
Spain alone holds almost half of the identified area of scrub and grassland habitat in Europe, and in addition has the highest average site size (ie, the least degree of habitat fragmentation). Most of the dry grasslands of Europe result from human landuse activities, namely extensive grazing of areas cleared of wood. With the decline of grazing as a profitable economic activity, many grasslands have been altered and lost important habitat qualities. The remaining dry grasslands are facing the same threats. The special scientific, biogenetic, recreational, educational and aesthetic values, require an integration of grassland conservation and proper management into agricultural landuse practices.
The processes of land reform and investment in agricultural production in Eastern Europe are bound to lead to substantial decline in the extent of scrub and grassland habitats before proper surveys can be carried out and an adequate network of protected areas established. Nevertheless, efforts are being made in Hungary and Poland to introduce the concept of environmentally sensitive areas where farming should be carried out in a non-intensive manner.
Inland waters: rivers and lakes |
Freshwater ecosystems like rivers and lakes form essential life support systems for a wide range of wetland habitats within their catchment areas. Being valuable habitats themselves, lakes and especially rivers perform a unique ecological and environmental function within the landscape by linking very different ecosystem types. Riparian corridors can extend over considerable distances and provide habitats for many species of plants and animals, while also allowing for the necessary movement and survival of populations of wildlife. Lakes, on the other hand, have important transitional and seasonal functions as resting areas for species during long-term migrations. Freshwater ecosystems are vulnerable to external pressures deriving from human landuse activities, namely water pollution and hydrologic modifications. Lakes as well as rivers do not end at their shores and banks and cannot be seen isolated from the land around them. An especially close link exists between freshwater systems and wetland habitats such as bogs, fens and marshes, which are discussed later in this chapter. All wetlands are profoundly affected by their local environment and by changes taking place on land, even at great distances (Klink, 1989).
The main habitat types, ecosystem functions and threats of natural river and lake systems are explained below, followed by an interpretation of data deriving from 184 representative river and 224 representative lake sites, illustrated in Map 9.7.
Rivers support a complex range of habitats which, under natural conditions, exhibit variability as well as both seasonal and long-term changes. These changes are the result of differences in climate and other environmental factors which control the amount and distribution of available runoff, geomorphology (which governs the pattern of flows and the ways channels and floodwater interact), and geology (which determines the character of sediment and substrate conditions).
The habitats of rivers and streams include the river channel with its mud, sand and gravel banks, and vegetation. Of equal importance, however, are the habitats which occur in the riparian corridor and especially the floodplain (Starkel, 1987). Some of these ecosystems, such as alluvial forests (see above), are intimately connected with and dependent on the floodwater regime and groundwater conditions along the river (see Chapter 5); others, such as marshes and fens, may occur because of the independent movement of regional groundwater or runoff down valley slopes.
Rivers and lakes are home for fish species, many of which are dependent in some way on adjacent wetlands for food, spawning, nursery or other habitat requirements. The movement of fish is often closely linked to the hydrological cycle of the river basin and floodplain. The implications are clear:
The lakes and upland headwaters of northern and northwestern Europe are, in general, naturally poor in nutrients (oligotrophic) with rainwater as the main source. These areas are characterised by hard acid rock types, often overlain by extensive areas of peat. Waters have high oxygen levels, making for good fish-spawning conditions. They are frequently found in sparsely inhabited areas. However, oligotrophic lakes are very vulnerable to acidification from atmospheric sources or upland drainage because of limited natural buffering capacity.
Eutrophic lakes, conversely, are well supplied with nutrients and are characteristic of lowland, soft-rock catchments with a base-rich geology and fertile soils. These are frequently enriched in nutrients due to a range of human activities within the catchment. An intermediate mesotrophic category is also recognised. Aquatic vegetation, from microscopic plankton to submerged plants rooted in the lake sediments, serves as a food base for the lake ecosystem. The type of vegetation and its productivity are controlled not only by light intensity and temperature, but also by the availability of nutrients, in particular nitrogen and phosphorus. Supply of these nutrients under natural conditions depends upon the climatic, geological, soil and vegetational characteristics of the catchments. In most areas these have been variously modified by landuse practices and other human-induced, environmental changes, which can seriously threaten or damage the wetland ecosystems.
Wetlands are vital for maintaining the integrity of lake ecosystems, not only in terms of supporting wildlife habitats and species, but also for a range of environmental benefits, including the capacity to improve water quality through such processes as denitrification, which reduces nitrate levels, and removal of phosphorus by incorporation into plant biomass. There are, of course, large benefits for recreational and economic use (Burgis and Morris, 1987).
With a few exceptions (see Box 9H), most ofEurope's rivers, especially the large ones, have undergone major physical changes due to stream corrections (disconnecting them from oxbows, wetlands and former floodplains) and flood control. Navigation and dam constructions can drastically change the environmental condition of rivers, often slowing down the water velocity and hence affecting the river's ecology. As a consequence, food-chains as well as the migratory patterns of fish species can be seriously affected (see Box 9I). Species which are especially adapted to particular river habitats are often replaced by a more general and less diverse fauna and flora. The widespread modification of river banks also includes the construction of concrete embankments and dikes. Artificial separation of many rivers from their adjacent riparian corridors and lowlands has caused a severe decline of alluvial forests, making them now one of the most endangered habitat types in Europe (Vivian, 1989). Both lake and river ecosystems are particularly vulnerable to changes in water quality (see Box 9J).
The phenomenon of accelerated nutrient enrichment (eutrophication) occurs widely where lakes have farmed or densely populated catchments. It is a consequence of intensive agricultural or fish farming operations and sewage effluent discharge. The results are an increase in phytoplankton production and microbial decay with consequent deoxygenation of water, production of toxins and a general decline in wildlife conservation value. The example of the Swedish Lake Hornborgasjön (see Box 9K) illustrates possibilities of undertaking the restoration of a damaged lake ecosystem. Non-impacted oligotrophic lakes are found in sparsely populated areas with relatively little human activity such as the northern Scandinavian peatlands (see Box 9L) or in mountain areas. However, some areas ­ especially in southern Scandinavia have been the subject of acid rain deposition (see Chapter 5), derived partly from distant industrial sources, which has led to acidification of lakes and loss of natural populations of animals and plants.
The dramatic increase of acidification of European rivers and lakes is one of the best-documented environmental problems, especially in the southern parts of Scandinavia. During the 1950s and 1960s, at the peak of sulphur deposition, the rate of acidification was several hundred times that of the natural process. With pH-values significantly below 5.0, thousands of Scandinavian lakes have become too acid to function as fish habitats. In Norway over 2000 local fish populations have been affected or eliminated; in Sweden 21 500 lakes (larger than 1 hectare) have low alkalinity, covering more than 3200 km2; and in southern and central Finland 42 per cent of lakes larger than 1 hectare have a pH below 5.0 (Bernes, 1993). Despite a decline in atmospheric pollution during the last two decades and partial mitigation through liming activities, acidification continues to have detrimental effects on lake ecosystems (see also Chapters 5 and 31).
The use of lake and river water for industrial purposes often affects water quantity (when abstracting water) and water quality (when reintroducing it as wastewater, sometimes polluted or of higher temperature). Many industries, such as pulping and mining, wash large quantities of particulate matter into lakes and rivers.
For inland waters, a total number of 184 representative sites for rivers and 224 sites for lakes were selected; all are shown on Map 9.7. The sites have been evaluated according to the four classes defined in the legend. This evaluation is based on site-specific data concerning present status of protection, habitat management and prevailing pressures. Difficulties arose from a paucity of data for river ecosystems. As a result, only a small fraction of representative sites could be fully evaluated. In the case of rivers, the question of defining site boundaries is of prime consideration.
Information on lakes was mainly retrieved from the ICBP/IWRB publication, Important Bird Areas (Grimmett and Jones, 1989), from Hollis and Jones (1990) and the CORINE Biotopes Programme (CEC, 1991b), as well as proposals from scientific experts and from a questionnaire on hydrological details for lakes of importance for nature conservation among European countries.
Criteria for site selection
The paucity of data on rivers made it necessary to be less restrictive in applying selection criteria as for other ecosystem types. For the selection of lakes the criteria as described in the introduction have been applied. In order to give a balanced picture of the present status of European lakes, examples of seriously impacted or degraded sites have been included.
Map 9.7 shows that representative sites could be identified for only a few larger European rivers. Hence, the resulting portrayal of ecologically important riparian habitats understates the significance of this ecosystem type within Europe's natural environment. More than 50 per cent of all representative river sites cover less than 1000 hectares, due to relatively short river sections of ecological values or the lack of adjacent lowland habitats. Despite the obvious data gaps, the map mirrors the insufficient attention and protection for rivers throughout all geographic regions.
Besides entrophication, pollution, hydrological change and industrial use, problems derive also from intensive recreational use such as swimming, wind-surfing, motorboats, sailing, water-skiing and wildlife watching, with often negative impacts on the peripheral vegetation and threats to local or migratory wildlife populations (see Box 9M). Table 9.2 provides an overview of impacts that affect 147 of the representative lake sites. A more detailed interpretation is given in Figure 9.3. In the boreal region, lakes appear in large sizes and with relatively good environmental qualities. Half of these sites are well protected (Table 9.3). External threats play an important role in most geographic regions since lakes are often exposed to pollution and tourism. Table 9.4 illustrates the situation of the Ramsar sites in Europe. A high number of small lakes with important ecological functions do not show up on Figure 9.3.
Rivers often suffer from ecological changes and damages that can originate from very distant locations; this is the case, for example, with the Danube, Rhine and Volga. Maintenance of marginal river habitats in Europe is a particular problem, because many rivers cross national boundaries between states which have differing conservation and environmental protection policies and resources. With a few exceptions (such as northern Russia's Karelian and Kola region), riverine ecosystems have suffered from major impacts and losses. In the lowlands, water pollution is often considerable, though even in thinly populated uplands and northern latitudes acid impacts can be significant from either direct aerial deposition or through soil acidification. Relatively few data are available on the precise mechanisms by which river regulation and pollution levels stress the dynamics of associated ecosystems.
An EU initiative involving also the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the World Bank (Global Environment Facility Fund), is underway to improve knowledge of biological resources of the Danube, one of Europe's major rivers. The project can be viewed as a first step to maintain or rehabilitate environmental quality for the next century.
The fact that the list of representative river ecosystems includes only 184 river sites, still excluding inter alia some 30 major rivers, illustrates that river ecosystems have been severely neglected within existing inventories (including those related to the Ramsar wetlands Convention) and where they have been included it has been on the basis of small individual areas usually chosen for purposes of protection of a completely different habitat type (forest and grassland being the most common). In the creation of biological networks, however, rivers ought to play a crucial role as natural corridors and linkages between other ecosystems.
Lakes are extremely varied in morphometry, water chemistry, hydrological regime and in their associated aquatic and marginal ecosystems. They differ considerably in their buffering capacity against potentially damaging chemical inputs and in their vulnerability to a range of other deleterious impacts. In northern and northwestern Europe the many naturally oligotrophic lakes have low buffering capacity. Many in Scandinavia have suffered acidification from atmospheric inputs of acid rain from often distant industrial sources and/or the effects of acid runoff from adjacent forested land with acid peat or mineral soils. Elsewhere, lakes are predominantly eutrophic, fed by groundwater or surface flow frequently loaded with nutrients. The effects of eutrophication are damaging to ecosystem functioning, as are many of the human-induced hydrological changes (Table 9.4). Lowering of water levels by abstraction is common in the continental or semi-arid climates of much of Central and Southern Europe. In some places new waterbodies have been created by the damming of major rivers, as in Spain, in order to meet rapidly increasing demands for drinking water and irrigation (see Chapter 5). Though these have had some recreational and ornithological benefits, it has been at the expense of destroyed marginal natural river ecosystems through flooding, regulation of flow and channelisation. Direct losses of lake marginal ecosystems have also resulted from tourism, urban and industrial expansion, landfill and activities of the extractive industries, though here final abandonment of sites can lead to the creation of valuable artificial lakes (as in the Thames Valley, UK) following gravel extraction.
Of major concern has been the continued loss and degradation of freshwater habitats in the Mediterranean basin which has included many inland lakes in addition to valuable coastal lagoons and estuaries. In Spain alone, more than 60 per cent of all inland freshwater wetlands have disappeared during the last 25 years (Casado et al, 1992). Causes include land reclamation for agriculture or tourist and urban development, groundwater overexploitation or water pollution.
Bogs, fens and marshes |
Europe's bogs, fens and marshes are important reminders of the primeval landscapes which once dominated extensive tracts of the land surface. Cool, continuously wet regions with mainly gentle relief, especially those in Northern Europe, are suitable for the extensive formation of peatlands with layers sometimes exceeding 50 metres (Polieski National Park, Poland). Peat, consisting of decomposed organic matter (plant material), is the key component of mires. The following habitats can be differentiated:
The Nordic landscape is still rich in bogs, fens and marshes, forming a distinctive wetland landscape analogous to the so-called muskegs of North America. In Europe's mid-latitude lowlands, however, a dramatic loss of habitat has been a long and progressive feature of landscape development since early medieval times. Originally, some 178 million ha of peatland existed in Europe and the former USSR (Immirzi and Maltby, 1992). While some extensive areas still exist in the boreal and eastern regions, vast amounts of original existing peatlands of Scandinavia, UK, The Netherlands, Belgium and Germany have disappeared. In Finland, the once existing area of intact bogs and fens was about 11 million hectares about 30 per cent of the land surface. Today, they are thought to cover less than 6.5 million hectares. Their loss is due to natural drying, drainage for agriculture and peat extraction. The situation is even more drastic in Germany. From the originally existing 330 000 hectares of raised bog ecosystems in Lower Saxony, less than 1 per cent (2500 hectares) remain intact, while 3800 hectares are under regeneration and a further 13 000 hectares are strongly affected by drainage and other impacts. Although local authorities have launched an ambitious programme targeting the re-establishment and conservation of 50 000 hectares, there is a definite 85 per cent loss of the original area (Drachenfels et al, 1984).
The main habitat types, ecosystem functions and threats of important wetland ecosystems are explained below, followed by an interpretation of data deriving from 182 representative bogs, fens and marshes illustrated in Map 9.8.
Bogs, fens and marshes are particularly sensitive habitats. Any alteration of the quality or the quantity of the water supply will change the character of the habitat and affect the chances of survival of important species. Alteration may take place as a result of physical damage to the site such as excavation of peat, diversion of surface water flow denying marshes or fens regular floodwater, or lowering of groundwater by overexploitation of aquifers resulting in a drop of the water table beyond the rooting depth of the marsh vegetation (Hutchinson, 1980; see Boxes 9N and 9O).
As Table 9.5 illustrates for Ramsar sites, peat bogs, fens and marshes continue to be threatened as much by indirect as by direct threats lowered water tables due to aquifer exploitation, exploitation of particular species (eg, Drosera spp for pharmaceutical needs), reduced or regulated runoff, acidification and pollution of rainfall and surface waters, as well as by peat mining for energy and horticulture, afforestation and drainage for land development.
Atmospheric pollution, particularly through sulphur dioxide and associated acidification, affects the growth of Sphagnum moss which plays an essential part in the build-up of peat deposits, thus preventing active bog growth. This may pose a major problem in peatland regeneration strategies. A relatively large portion of Central and Eastern Europe's wetlands tends to be intact (see Box 9P) compared to many, also much smaller, examples found in Western Europe (IUCN, 1990b).
A total of 182 representative sites were selected and are presented on Map 9.8. The sites have been evaluated according to the four classes defined in the legend. This evaluation is based on site-specific data concerning present status of protection, habitat management and prevailing pressures.
The main criterion for selection of representative sites is that they should be recognised as having international importance for the particular ecosystem in question. For illustrative purposes, only the larger well-known wetland locations are examined, as well as some sites in degraded ecological condition. A major reference source has been the important bird areas of Europe identified by Grimmett and Jones (1989) and the Council of Europe reports on peatlands of Western Europe (17 countries). For the EU, all sites have been compared and evaluated with the use of the CORINE Biotopes data (CEC, 1991b).
Bogs, fens and marshes are distributed mostly throughout four geographic regions of Europe: the boreal, Atlantic, central and eastern regions feature each between 600 000 and 1 million ha of these habitat types. Protection appears relatively successful for most of the boreal and Atlantic sites.
However, Figure 9.4 conceals the fact that vast former peatland areas of the Atlantic region have vanished due to land cultivation and/or because they are extremely fragmented so that they were not selected for this study. Limitations of scale and other selection criteria have precluded illustration of many fen and bog habitats, such as the small but important types found in the Alpine region. Although Eastern Europe shows the largest amount of selected wetlands (approximately 1 million ha), reflecting very well the dominance of this habitat type in the eastern and northern landscapes, there are many more to include in future inventories. Data gaps must also be expected for the Mediterranean region, for which the MedWet Project (MedWet 1992) is expected to improve the situation. The sites that have been selected face stresses based on external threats (eg, pollution and eutrophication). Generally the map confirms the expectation that bog/fen/marsh wetlands are predominantly distributed in Northern Europe, mainly due to the supply of precipitation.
Only a small fraction of the continent's wetlands is protected,although most countries are committed to increase the extent of these areas. Van Eck et al (1984) indicated that the protected area of virgin peatland in nine European countries gave a range of 0.1 per cent to 3.1 per cent with a mean of 1.3 per cent. Finland had 70 000 ha of peatland conserved (0.7 per cent of its peatland area), Norway's over 200 mire reserves extending to more than 2 per cent of the total mire area. In Estonia the figure is 13 per cent, but this is only 122 200 ha. With specific reference to raised bogs, the Council of Europe (Goodwillie, 1980) reported that protected areas in 18 countries averaged 3.2 per cent, ranging from 0.8 to 10.2 per cent. The International Mire Conservation Group in Vienna (IMCG) is targeting the protection of peatlands in Europe. Because of human landuse activities and pollution, oligotrophic or calcium-rich bogs and fens belong to the most endangered habitat types in this category. Their protection and regeneration is of great importance for the stabilisation of landscapes. With the exception of the national peat-bog inventories of Ireland, Finland and Sweden, there is presently no definitive policy for wetland protection in Europe as a whole and no comprehensive strategy by which enhanced conservation and rehabilitation of degraded habitats can be achieved. Optimum functioning of these ecosystems requires the protection of their intrinsic hydrological systems as much as appropriate site management.
In a summary of present national inventories incorporating wetlands in Europe, Jones and Hughes (1992) report initiatives in various states of completion in 13 countries: the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, the Slovak Republic, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and the UK. In addition the International Waterfowl and Wetlands Research Bureau (IWRB) is coordinating the project development phase of a wetland inventory for the Baltic Republics, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and Georgia as well as for the whole Mediterranean basin (MedWet, 1992). To date sub- and pan-European projects have culminated in the publication of Important Bird Areas in Europe (Grimmett and Jones, 1989) with an emphasis on water-bird habitats. In order to develop efficient habitat management and protection schemes more specific information on the precise status and functional character of bogs and marshes is vitally necessary (Maltby et al, 1993).
Coastal and marine ecosystems |
More than most terrestrial systems, coastal and marine ecosystems are often exposed to dynamic physical processes. Having evolved over millions of years, the European coastline is continuing to change today. Besides ongoing isostatic adjustments following deglaciation (uplift in the north, subsidence in the south), large-scale processes of sedimentation and erosion are driven by the action of waves and currents, by geomorphological changes of the inland through incoming rivers, by meteorological factors like winds and storms, by alterations of the sea level and by geological processes such as seismic and volcanic activity. These natural processes are increasingly augmented by human alterations to the coast and to river regimes, from the building of groynes and breakwaters to the damming of major rivers and estuaries.
The main habitat types, ecosystem functions and threats of important coastal and marine systems are explained below, followed by an interpretation of data deriving from 135 representative sites, illustrated in Map 9.9.
Coastal areas are among the most attractive for settlement, and some 60 per cent of the world's population lives within 60 km of the shore. The use of coastal land for industrial and urban development is expected to intensify with most growth in less developed areas such as the eastern Mediterranean. Other more recent uses of coastal regions, such as tourism and development of leisure facilities, are also increasing, often in some of the better-preserved stretches of coastline. Based on the classification systems of the Ramsar Convention and the CORINE Biotopes project, this report focuses on the following coastal habitat types: rocky coasts, sand dunes and mud flats, delta areas, estuaries and lagoons.
Rocky coasts
A large part of Europe's coast is made up of rocks: cliffs, fjords, rock plateaus or islands steeply rising out of the sea.
As a result of the dynamics of sand and water, coastal dunes belong to the most richly varied landscapes of the world. In a continuous process, new drift-sand dunes may emerge, alternating with valleys, lakes, moors, bushes or forests. Often they protect mudflats (wadden) or lagoons. These, together with saltmarshes, are often the biologically richest natural areas.
Being situated at the interactive borderline of salt- and freshwater, river deltas form complex and varied landscapes, sometimes encompassing many of the habitat types described in this section.
Through storms and tidal forces, the mouth of a river can extend into vast estuaries fringed by mudflats and saltmarshes. The resulting differences in salinity levels affect waters many kilometres inland and produce great diversity of life forms.
If a bay or estuary gets cut off from the sea by silting or by dune formation, a lagoon may result. Size and depth can vary, and the water can range from saline to almost fresh.
Marine systems may consist of distinct and moving water masses, often identifiable by characteristic planktonic assemblages. The sea bottom (benthic systems) can be defined on the basis of sediment type, again associated with characteristic faunal and floral groups, though in some areas other features such as intermittent or permanent deoxygenation, turbidity, light or salinity are the essential determinants of community development (Mitchell, 1987). Based in Dublin, the BIOMAR project is presently undertaking the development of a classification system for northeast Atlantic marine habitats based on the hierarchical methodology of CORINE (CEC, 1991a), but also including faunistic communities.
Human impacts on open water systems and deeper benthic systems are often not habitat-specific, but there is an increasing number of incidents which may be symptomatic of widespread imbalance in European marine ecosystems, from algal blooms and epizootics to dramatic changes in community composition. Many of these issues are discussed on a regional basis in Chapter 6.
Ecosystem functions for marine and coastal areas can be exemplified in the context of the saltmarshes. Saltmarshes have a high gross and net primary productivity almost as high as in subsidised agriculture. This high productivity is a result of subsidies in the form of tides, nutrient import and abundance of water, that offset the stresses of salinity, widely fluctuating temperatures and alternate flooding and drying. Detritus export and shelter found along marsh edges make saltmarshes important as nursery areas for many commercially important fish and shellfish. Saltmarshes have been shown at times to be both sources and sinks of nutrients, particularly nitrogen (Mitsch, 1986).
Being a saltmarsh habitat of its own, the Wadden Sea is also known as the largest continuous stretch of intertidal mudflats in the world. In terms of biomass (food supply, oxygen reserves) these areas belong, with rainforests, to the most productive systems of the world (Common Wadden Sea Secretariat, 1992).
Together with other habitat types, such as dunes, sandy beaches, rocky shores and lagoons, coastal plains provide the largest and often most undisturbed wetland habitats for millions of breeding and resting birds. By also being very attractive places for recreational activities as well as a leading resource of human food supply, coastal and marine ecosystems are often exposed to strongly competing interests (see Boxes 9Q and 9R).
Algal blooms and pollution of the seas
Land-based pollution and diffuse sources of pollution are the principal agents in a general deterioration in water quality, from PCBs in the Baltic (WWF, 1991) to oil and pesticides in the Caspian (see Chapter 6). Pollution was identified as presenting a threat for 23 (18 per cent) of the representative sites. The most pristine sites are those of the less densely inhabited North Atlantic coast, particularly the fjordal habitats of Iceland and northern Norway. Threats in the Barents and White seas were generally of a specific nature, related to oil exploitation or military activity. However, even in scarcely inhabited areas, no site can be considered immune to the effects of pollutants owing to their dispersal in the marine environment or through the food web. Organic wastes include: sewage, (a seasonal problem in areas such as the Mediterranean ­ see Box 9S where the sewerage infrastructure is insufficient to deal with the summer influx of tourists); by-products from industries (pulp and paper mills or tanneries); and fertilisers contained in runoff from agricultural areas (a problem particularly identified for Caspian sites). Although organic wastes are rapidly degraded, nutrient enrichment from this source is almost certainly a contributory factor to the increased frequency of algal blooms in recent years. Examples of such blooms include the diatom slimes and dinoflagellates in the Adriatic, which principally cause nuisance problems such as fouling of fishing gears and beaches, to the more dangerous toxic Chrysochromulina polyepsis blooms of 1988 which caused massive mortalities to farmed salmonids and necessitated towing Norwegian salmon farm facilities to sheltered waters.
While it is difficult to establish a causal relationship, overfishing may well be responsible for major changes in fish communities subject to intensive exploitation in areas such as the North Sea. However, there may be longer-term ecological mechanisms involved in the 'biomass flips' observed. Competition between fishermen and species is also a growing problem: food shortages may have increased the vulnerability of the striped dolphin (Stenella coeruleoalba) to viral epizooics which led to hundreds of carcasses being washed up on Mediterranean beaches. Lack of food has also had impacts on other populations, from the Mediterranean monk seal (see Box 9BB) to sea-bird communities at Sem'ostrovov in the Barents Sea.
Some fishing techniques have direct detrimental effects on non-target populations. Trawling or dragging of fishing gear can have devastating local impacts on benthic systems such as the rare Norwegian coral communities (Paragorgia arborea) or the diverse communities associated with the horse mussel (Modiolus modiolus) at Strangford Loch (Site 127), threatened by trawling for the queen scallop, which has removed large areas of mussel beds. Drift-netting is particularly notorious for the by-catch of species such as sea turtles, cetaceans and seals. (See also Chapter 24.)
The historical decline in saltmarshes has been dramatic, the principal cause being drainage ­ or reclamation to agricultural polders or pasture. Reclamation continues to threaten many saltmarshes and an estimated 50 per cent of the invertebrate fauna of marshes is now threatened by coastal protection measurements. Overgrazing has been identified as a problem at the Baie du Mont St Michel, one of the few European sites where extensive saltmarsh areas could be managed within a mosaic of coastal habitats. Other important sites in this respect include the entire Wadden Sea area (see Box 9T), Ria de Aveiro (Site 79), Doñana Gualdaquivir Odiel (Site 95), Camargue (Site 25) and Orbetello (Dijkema, 1984).
A wide variety of human uses present specific threats to saltmarsh communities, including dumping, excavation, infilling, aquaculture, tourism, hunting, and changes in the water regime through civil engineering projects and land reclamation (see Table 9.7). These stresses are particularly damaging to marsh habitats in seas such as the Caspian and Black Sea where the spatial distribution of different species is limited by water salinity (Balkas et al, 1990). Such intrusive activities often have a local focus, and are planned on a local basis. Their regional effect or interaction with other activities is all too often overlooked.
Estuaries and deltas: contamination
Estuaries, deltas and their associated habitats are among the most threatened of Europe's coastal habitats. Historically an expedient focus for transportation, estuaries have long been preferred sites for the construction of harbours and ports, and embankments and land reclamation facilities, often for waste disposal. Estuarine sites such as Varde å in the Danish Wadden Sea (Site 13), the Volga (Site 92) and the Tejo Estuary (Site 81) are particularly liable to become contaminated as materials from upstream industrial and urban effluent settle out under the changing salinity and energy regimes where freshwater flows into sea water. Such wastes often contain high quantities of inorganic wastes which may accumulate or disappear only very slowly in the natural environment. Metallic compounds and long-lived contaminants, such as organochloride pesticides residues, may reach dangerous concentrations in more enclosed seas like the Baltic (WWF/HELCOM, 1991).
A total number of 135 representative sites were selected and are presented on Map 9.9. The sites have been evaluated according to the four classes defined in the legend. This evaluation is based on site-specific data concerning present status of protection, habitat management and prevailing pressures.
A number of international designations (World Heritage Sites, Biosphere Reserves, Barcelona Convention, European Diploma Sites, Biogenetic Reserves and Ramsar sites) served as an important pool for the selection of sites. In addition, a vast database of information on European habitats gathered by the World Conservation Monitoring Centre (WCMC, 1990) and by the CORINE project (CEC, 1991b), and over 1241 of the sites described in the CORINE database including areas of coastal habitat, were used. No size limitations were applied.
Figure 9.5 illustrates that the arctic seas (Iceland, Norway and the Barents Sea) and the Mediterranean are the locations of the largest marine and coastal representative sites, most of which are still without any protection. The largest site on Iceland is Breidafjördur (305 000 hectares), consisting of rocky islands and kelp forests/seagrass habitats. One of the environmental stresses is the harvesting of seaweed. For the site at the eastern coast of the Barents Sea (2.56 million hectares) oil pollution and erosion are current and potential risks. Another large North European site, the Franz Josef Land (6.4 million hectares) is outside the area of the map, but nevertheless is a very important feeding ground for polar bears, walrus and white whale, and as a habitat for bird colonies. The Wadden Sea of Denmark, Germany and The Netherlands comprises about 900 000 hectares of highly valuable coastal habitats one of the richest biological resources, even on a global scale (see Box 9T). In the South there are numerous large estuaries of high ecological significance, many of them exposed to external threats (eg, river pollution). Generally, the percentage of sites that are protected and in good condition is relatively small compared to some other ecosystem types.
The impacts of human activities on marine and coastal areas fall into three main categories:
Such activities are presenting threats to many of the important areas presented on Map 9.9. Of these, it is direct intervention in coastal areas which has played the greatest and most immediate role in shaping Europe's coastal environment. Almost half of the sites identified are considered to be threatened by one or more direct activities.
In open waters, pollution and resource abuse are generic problems, but there are no universal solutions these are issues that need to be addressed on a number of fronts, including legislation and policy. Pre-emptive action to forestall a problem is obviously preferential to restoration, although this certainly now has an important role to play in Europe for the conservation of coastal environments and associated species.
The gradual degradation and loss of coastal systems is evidently rooted in a wide range of human activities, from bait digging and bird-watching to harbour development, mineral extraction and toxic waste disposal. In some areas there may be a few principal issues which can be addressed on a local level; in others, the essential inter-linkedness of marine and coastal systems requires that changes be made across the whole spectrum of human interactions. For these and other reasons discussed in Chapter 6, the problems of coastal zones have been identified as a prominent environmental problem of concern for Europe, and are examined further in Chapter 35.
While the selection of representative sites in terms of habitat provides a focus for identification of conservation priorities, such sites cannot be managed in isolation but need to be considered within the marine and coastal system as a whole. Integrated coastal zone management techniques provide a means to do this, to identify areas of particular conflict and to approach solutions through optimum planning (Salathe, 1992).
Mountains: rocks, screes, inland dunes and caves |
This section mainly covers rock and scree habitats above the tree-line; inland sand dunes and caves are covered to a lesser extent owing to lack of data. All of these habitats are summarised here as mountain ecosystems. Rock and scree communities are dominant features of Europe's large mountain regions, for which a brief summary is given below.
In the north, the Scandinavian Highlands and Ural mountains fringe the lowlands of the boreal region. In Central Europe, the Alps form a massive east-west spine, extending to the northeast with the Carpathians, and in the southeast to the Caucasus. In central southeast Europe, the mountains of the Balkan peninsula include extensive karst areas. Important mountain areas can also be found to the west in the Iberian highlands. These are fringed by the high Pyrenees which also possess major karstic landscapes. The Apennines, which form the backbone of the Italian peninsula, represent one of the most active volcanic zones in Europe, next to Iceland.
The main habitat types and threats of important mountain systems are explained below, followed by an interpretation of data deriving from 97 representative sites, illustrated in Map 9.10.
Plant communities of inland rocks and screes are mainly composed of hemicryptophytes (plants having terminal buds close to the ground) and partially of chamaephytes (dwarf shrubs with buds up to 50 cm above the ground). Annual species are very rare due to the short vegetation period and low temperatures (Walter, 1970). Frequently, more than half the weight of mountain plants is located under the surface. Wind is the dominant factor for the distribution of seeds. Scree communities may develop only on steep and dynamic slopes. The vegetation cover of active screes is low (10 per cent), but root intensity and regeneration capacity is high (Wilmanns, 1973). If slopes become stabilised, Alpine grasslands will eventually replace the former scree communities.
The special feature of rock-inhabiting (rupicolous) communities is their high rate of endemic species. In the Alps, 35 to 40 per cent of all endemic species can be found on rocks and screes; half of the 40 species endemic to the Maritime Alps (see Box 9U) are rupicolous (Pawlowski in Ozenda, 1983). Among rupicolous communities, a remarkably diverse but little investigated flora has developed, for example in the genus navelwort (Umbilicus).
Because of the harsh conditions of the high mountain zone, fauna are limited in species and numbers of individuals. Nevertheless, rocks play a significant role as habitats for many especially adapted mammals, such as the endangered ibex (Capra ibex).
In 1986, 65 existing national parks (36 per cent) were completely or predominantly located above the tree-line in mountainous areas. The size of this percentage indicates that European nature conservation efforts have been particularly successful in establishing reserves in mountain regions where there is generally less conflict with human landuse activities (especially cultivation and construction) compared with other ecosystems.
Recreational activities are the main sources of threats for mountain ecosystems (see Chapter 25). In general, for reasons of access, such threats are more intense at lower elevations, but they are also noticeable in higher and more remote regions. While in Scandinavia the impacts on mountains from recreation are rather low (see Box 9V), there are a number of regions in the Alps which appear to have reached their ecological carrying capacity (UNCED, 1992). The still increasing numbers of skiing facilities, including their large support systems, are damaging and altering many valuable mountain habitats. Uncontrolled hunting and selective plant gathering are still having negative impacts on the local fauna and flora, but seem to be on the decline.
Industrial activities in valley corridors and long-range transport of emissions from distant sources can affect the soil and vegetation (especially some sensitive lichen flora) even at the highest elevations. Human landuse activities such as agriculture, forestry and tourism often affect mountain habitats indirectly through soil erosion (see Box 9U).
During the last century, lowland habitats such as sand dunes were often stabilised by pine plantations which made wandering inland sand dunes very rare. Caves are fairly well protected against human activities (although damage is frequently caused by pot-holers), and the effects of pollution may cause only minor damage, due to a very limited species composition of fauna and flora adapted to conditions under exclusion of sunlight.
A total number of 150 representative sites were selected, of which 97 are shown on Map 9.10. The sites have been evaluated according to the four classes defined in the legend. This evaluation is based on site-specific data concerning present status of protection, habitat management and prevailing pressures.
Different information levels have influenced site selection: good information in Western Europe allowed a more accurate determination of specific sites, whereas paucity of information in the far east of Europe (especially the Caucasus ranges) made the evaluation more difficult. Map 9.10 shows habitat types that include screes, rocks, and also some volcanoes and caves.
As shown in Figure 9.6, the boreal region clearly has the largest area of selected sites this is especially due to the sites in Iceland, of which Myvatn-Laxa and Skaftafjell-Grimsvötn (Sites 31 and 32) cover alone 1 million ha. The large mountain areas of Scandinavia are already now the best-protected mountain systems in Europe, and in the near future approximately 50 per cent will enjoy a high protection status. The construction of roads, however, generates stresses in many areas. In the Alps, flora and fauna of all selected sites are affected by noise and air pollution due to heavy road traffic, and mass-tourism in almost all of the Alpine provinces (see also Box 8I). The resulting environmental damage (from cross-country and downhill skiing, ski-lift constructions and serious soil erosion) has been well portrayed (FNNPE, 1992).
Map 9.10 shows that most of the 'mountain' areas are protected sites such as national parks. Their remoteness and inaccessibility limited other landuses and allowed the realisation of conservation goals. However, the increasing exposure of mountainous areas to tourism has affected many of the original habitat functions, making the survival of often endemic plants and animals extremely difficult.
Mountain farming has been the primary cause for a lowering of the upper tree-line by several hundred metres in most mountain ranges outside the boreal zone. Widespread overgrazing has resulted in erosion within alpine grasslands and mountain forest belts, and this, in turn, has increased the exposure of screes and rocky grounds. Erosion has thus become a serious threat in Central and Southern European mountain ranges. Today, the impact of mountain farming has been replaced by an invasion of tourists.
Although the detrimental effects of tourism must be considered more severe on Alpine grasslands and montane forest belts, installation of large ski resorts in high mountain areas affects rupicolous and scree communities (UNCED, 1992).
Overgrazing by domestic reindeer in northern Scandinavian mountain ecosystems deserves special attention. Modern techniques of management (helicopter, snowscooter, four-wheel vehicles) and a lack of surveillance measures have increased population numbers enough to disrupt the ecosystem. Damaged lichen flora, the basic food for reindeer, negatively affects the hydrology and triggers erosion processes.
While overgrazing still plays an important role in Southern Europe, mountain farming has declined in Central Europe in recent decades. Considerable impacts may also result from construction of dams especially in Scandinavia and the Alps, where habitats are destroyed by flooding.
Deserts and tundras |
Deserts are not normally thought to be included among European ecosystems. However, very arid conditions (often linked to high soil salinity) do prevail in parts of southern Italy and Spain, in the Canary Islands (particularly the eastern isles of Fuerteventura and Lanzarote) as well as regions around the northern Caspian Sea. Furthermore, deserts need not be hot and/or saline places: low air humidity can also occur in the Arctic zone, where available water is locked up for much of the year in ice and snow.
In deserts, much of the biomass is represented by soil organisms and the extensive root systems of shrubs. In biogeographical terms, the arid landscapes of Europe belong to the Indo-Saharan zone that extends from India to Mauritania. The vegetation is dominated by species of Euphorbiaceae, Compositae, Caryophyllaceae, Crassulaceae and Leguminosae. The Canary Islands represent a Macaronesian extension of this zone, with several rare endemic indicator species or subspecies that have evolved from more widespread North African species; for example the Purpurarian lizard (Lacerta atlantica) and Canary Islands chat (Saxicola dacotiae). The latter is found only on Fuerteventura, and is threatened by human disturbance and habitat loss. The most threatened bird in the arid region is the Houbara bustard (Chlamydotis undulata), which has an endemic race, Chlamydotis undulata fuertaventurae, confined to Fuerteventura and Lanzarote (see Box 9W).
Almost all of Europe's arid regions have arisen as a consequence of land degradation after centuries of human pressure on scarce resources. The original scrub or open forest vegetation was cleared, leaving very light soils exposed to sun and wind. In some places (such as the Canary Islands) the problem was compounded by water abstraction from wells or tapping springs at the source. The soils soon dried up and eroded through wind action, and the occasional rainfall drew salts to the surface as surface water rapidly evaporated. As a result a characteristic halophytic vegetation developed, usually heavily grazed by livestock (especially goats) so that much of the ground surface remained bare. Fuerteventura, for example, is no longer the lush island of woods with laurel pigeons (Columba junoniae) and permanent streams encountered by the French conquerors of the late 14th century. Perhaps the only natural desert to be found in Europe is the Medano plain of Tenerife, which lies in the rain shadow of El Teide Spain's highest mountain (Bramwell and Bramwell, 1974).
As might be expected, the harsh conditions prevailing in arid landscapes means that biodiversity is rather low. While Europe's deserts are not significant on the global scale in terms of extent, arid landscapes are important for carbon fixation and storage. It has been estimated that dryland vegetation may hold as much as 10 per cent of total global carbon (through below-ground biomass, eg, extensive root systems).
Habitat threats and representative sites
Desert areas are generally threatened. They are easily accessible and thus subject to intensive disturbance by tourists and hunters using off-road vehicles, which further damages the soil and reduces vegetation cover (see Box 9W). Some large areas in Spain are coming under cloche-covered irrigation to produce market crops such as vegetables, fruit and flowers, as well as to establish almond groves. Paradoxically, exposed areas of the Canary Islands have been threatened by the installation of wind-farms to generate electricity.
Without being able to take into consideration the arid regions of Eastern Europe, because of data problems, the very preliminary data collected for this report indicate the existence of more than 200 000 hectares of desert habitats (11 sites) with importance for nature conservation in Spain alone (see Table 9.8). With respect to site designations, ten desert sites covering about 213 000 ha are included in the BirdLife International list of Important Bird Areas (IBAs), while five sites covering up to 207 550 ha (96 per cent of the total area) receive some form of statutory recognition, varying from 'important landscape zone' to National Park.
Reindeer antlers on permafrost, Siberian tundra |
In contrast to arid landscapes, arctic habitats are largely natural, and generally undisturbed by humans. The importance of these areas lies more in their role in biophysical cycles: permafrost and ice-sheets in tundras hold enormous quantities of the world's freshwater and any change in global climate could have a very significant impact on the hydrological cycle of Europe. This habitat type can be found only where harsh temperatures do not permit trees and larger shrubs to grow: in the northern boreal region and in high Alpine altitudes. Tundra occurs in a narrow band in northern Norway, expanding further east into Russia with a total of 1.8 million km2 (including Siberia). Iceland and the Svalbard Islands also support extensive areas of tundra which are very important as breeding areas for migratory species of auks, geese, ducks and waders. (A branch of tundra-like habitat also occurs on the highest plateaus of the Cairngorm Mountains of Scotland, but this is more related to Alpine grassland and has been included in the section of this chapter on scrub and grassland.) While the wild reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) is a rare and threatened species (occurring as tundra reindeer in Norway and as forest reindeer in a few Finnish sites) there is an overpopulation of domesticated reindeer which has caused severe management problems (eg, overgrazing).
Habitat threats and representative sites
The European tundra zone is generally well protected (if only by lack of interest) although locally the extraction of mineral resources and excess tourism eroding the vegetation can cause conservation problems. From the very preliminary data collected during the preparation of this report, it appears that Europe has at least 3.3 million hectares of tundra habitat (6 sites) of nature conservation importance (Table 9.9). With respect to site designations, five tundra sites covering about 3 million ha are included in the BirdLife International list of IBAs, all of which receive some form of statutory recognition.
The above statistics clearly show that there is considerable under-recording of desert and tundra ecosystems in Europe, particularly so in arid regions in Eastern Europe, and for tundra in the European part of the Russia Federation. More examples of these habitat types are known to exist in other countries. For example, some sites in Italy, such as parts of Foggia in the southeast, and areas in Sardinia, as well as regions in Eastern Europe, are clearly arid in character, but have not been specifically identified in this report. Lack of data and lack of attention to such habitats has precluded both a reliable identification of representative sites and adequate assessment of threats.
Agricultural and urban ecosystems |
With the exception of scrub and grasslands, this chapter has mainly focused on natural or quasi-natural ecosystems. Agricultural and urban landscapes, though closely related to human landuse, comprise a number of habitats that are also very important for many adapted species. By being strongly exposed to and often a product of the human cultural environment, these habitat structures form a link between the artificial and the natural worlds and provide a large number of social and ecological benefits. As such, they are important components of sustainable land management.
Over the last decade, there has been increasing controversy concerning the problems associated with the intensification of farming practices, such as the destruction of hedgerows, the drainage of wetlands, the use of pesticides and fertilisers, and the spread of monoculture. Their negative impacts on the natural environment and on human health are well documented.
Urban ecosystems appear in many forms: open lots, meadows, green fingers, parks, gardens, river banks, ponds, lakes, forests and even 'wasteland' are all urban open spaces and can serve as a refuge for specific plants and animals, having important functions for what is commonly known as urban ecology. The statement 'More nature in cities makes cities more human' (McHarg, 1969) unveils in a surprisingly simple way the natural bond that exists between people and their 'habitat'. However, for a number of reasons (including the price of property) the amount of open spaces in urban areas is continually decreasing and often replaced by shopping centres, offices and car parks.
Because of their entirely different character, it was not possible to integrate urban and agricultural landscapes into the evaluation process that has been applied for the other ecosystems included in this chapter. However, Chapters 8, 10 and 22 combined provide an overview of Europe's agricultural and urban environments, describing their functional aspects, as well as their environmental values and problems.
Conclusions |
The incomplete availability, coverage and consistency of data on the distribution and condition of Europe's ecosystems makes it difficult to provide a systematic and comparative evaluation of the present situation. However, the selection and analysis of approximately 2000 representative sites for seven ecosystem groups, together with information from the most recent literature and reports, as well as a peer review by international experts and their associated networks, have allowed the following tentative conclusions to be framed:
FAUNA AND FLORA |
Introduction |
Habitat requirements of plants and animals vary considerably among species. The cross-sectional character of their life cycles, feeding habits and migrational patterns make animal species frequent the components of many ecosystems. The previous section portrays only species which could be considered as parameters for assessing the condition of individual ecosystems. However, the state of major species classes, groups, families and some selected individual species across all European ecosystems deserves special attention.
Throughout evolution, plant and animal species have appeared and disappeared; some remained without ever changing and others divided up into subspecies. The climatic impacts in particular of several ice ages were probably responsible for developing endemic European subspecies. With the exception of major geological or cosmic impacts (volcanic eruptions, collisions with meteors) the decline and appearance of species usually takes place in geological periods of time (Olschowy, 1985).
During the last 10 000 years, however, the most dramatic impacts on the environment have been caused by the relatively rapid and omnipresent changes due to human activities. Today it is arguable that there is no place in Europe below 2000 metres that has not been altered by humans in one way or another. Human impacts often create new ecological conditions. Furthermore, many changes occur too quickly to allow species to adapt (such as in agriculture, where a succession of human modified systems may replace each other every few years). The net result is a progressive diminution of the number of plant and animal species in many parts of Europe. Since a number of them are endemic, their disappearance also means their total extinction. Even where species are not becoming overall extinct, 'gaps' appear in the ecological networks of many European regions and show detrimental effects on ecosystems and their component habitats.
The specific functions of all plants and animals in the natural processes of ecosystems make species monitoring an integral component of successful ecosystem management (Blab, 1986). Ultimately, the quality of an ecosystem is described by the presence of individual species as well as by the 'completeness' of the living communities within it. While these communities have been identified and classified relatively comprehensively within the field of plant sociology, there are still no satisfying concepts to define faunistic communities: the life-cycles of most animals are far more complex and more interlinked with multiple ecosystems, making classification very difficult (Riecken, 1990). After the description (in the previous section) of the state of ecosystems, mainly on the basis of physical and phytosociological qualities, this section attempts to examine the main species groups (especially classses). Again, data on fauna and flora are far from complete. Inventories are available for some national or regional areas, but not for others. Those which do exist vary considerably in their reliability, due, for example, to the data being significantly out of date.
For the largest species group, the invertebrates, not all the species have been identified and classified, let alone inventories made of them. Nevertheless, long-term monitoring of species, undertaken by scientific organisations (universities, museums, NGOs, etc) and individual experts, provides the basis for describing the state of flora and fauna. The focus is on occurrences and the reasons for species decline, endemism, introduction, migration and wildlife trade.
In Table 9.10, the percentages of species threatened by extinction are given for Europe and for the world. Several groups of species are not included in this overview because of a lack of data; these are microorganisms (algae, bacteria, fungi, protozoa, viruses), nematodes, mites, lower plants (bryophytes, lichens) and soil macrofauna (Remmert, 1980). In a global comparison, relatively more species are threatened or have become extinct in Europe. Habitat loss and modification (fragmentation and pollution), overexploitation and the introduction of exotic species have been identified as the most important threats to biodiversity (McNeely et al, 1990). The correlation between the decline of individual species or species groups and their ecosystems and habitats, against the background of environmental stresses, can be expressed with the help of a radial plot (see Figure 9.7). This figure presents data on selected species and habitats in the reference period 1900 to 1950
The figure shows that in all parts of Europe, particularly in the central and western regions, parameters such as area size, species numbers, habitat diversity and water quality identified to describe the quality of ecosystems have declined severely. Species related to traditional agriculture practices are affected throughout Europe, as are organisms associated with primeval/natural forests. Several studies have shown substantial decline in areas covered by wetlands; only the boreal region has partly improved.
Mammals |
Europe is home to nearly 250 species of mammals belonging to nine different orders, making up 5 per cent of the world's mammals. The great majority of species are indigenous (223 species, or 91 per cent of the total number of species found in Europe), while others (21 species, or 9 per cent of Europe's fauna) are not native to Europe but were introduced by humans, often on a very local scale. Such introductions have been particularly important in Britain, France, Germany and Italy. Certain species (44 species or 18 per cent of indigenous species) are endemic, that is, they are found only in Europe. Endemic species are found especially in Southern Europe, and in the Alps and the Caucasus.
No mammal species has become extinct throughout Europe in the last century. However, the smaller the geographical unit of reference (national, regional, local), the more evidence there is of species becoming extinct or endangered. About 60 per cent of Europe's indigenous mammal fauna (137 species) can be considered common, while nearly 40 per cent (86 species) are rare or found only in very localised populations, live in scattered populations, are on the decline or are endangered. Twenty-four of the 698 species of mammals which are considered endangered on a world scale (IUCN, 1990a) are found in Europe; this is 11 per cent of indigenous mammals (Beaufort, 1993). Map 9.11 presents the situation of mammals as the percentage of nationally threatened species (see Box 9X).
Not only are mammal species under threat, but today's remaining European populations of, for example, red deer (Cervus elaphus), bear little relationship to their indigenous ancestors. The genetic uniqueness of all autochthonous red deer populations has been lost due to extensive introductions of, and subsequent hybridisation with, other red deer subspecies, wapiti (Cervus elaphus canadensis) and sika deer (Cervus nippon). The critically endangered chamois subspecies, Rupicapra rupicapra cartusiana is threatened by genetic swamping from the introduced alpine chamois Rupicapra rupicapra rupicapra. Competition or hybridisation with introduced non-native species or feral domestic animals (eg, house cats) is a major (and usually ignored) factor in the decline of European mammals (IUCN-PSU, 1993).
The most threatened species include large and medium-sized land-dwelling carnivores and omnivores such as the brown bear (Ursus arctos, see Box 9Y), the wolf (Canis lupus), the Spanish lynx (Lynx pardina), European mink (Mustela lutreola) and the otter (Lutra lutra, see Box 9Z), which are considered a 'nuisance' in all intensively used areas because of their habitat requirements, their predatory habits or even their economic impact. Today, they are very unevenly distributed: they have become extinct in many countries and 60 to 85 per cent of their populations are found in the least intensively used areas of Europe, mainly in the east. Certain species are naturally rare and localised, such as the Pyrenean desman (Galemys pyrenaicus) or the Bavarian vole (Microtus bavaricus); some are marginal to Europe, such as the genet (Genetta genetta), mongoose (Herpestinae) and Asian wild dog (Cuon javanicus); while others are confined to very specific habitats, such as wolverine (Gulo gulo), arctic fox (Alopex lagopus) and polar bear (Thalarctus maritimus) in the Arctic zone. The main introduced species are deer (Cervidae), which have either escaped from parks or were introduced for hunting, carnivores such as the raccoon-dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides), the raccoon (Procyon lotor), and large rodents such as muskrat (Ondata zibethicus), coypu (Myocastor coypus), North American beaver (Castor canadensis), or the grey squirrel (Sciurus griseus) (Council of Europe, 1976b).
Existing nature reserves are mostly too small to accommodate viable populations of Europe's larger mammals so there are few possibilities for re-introduction of these species to parts of their range where they have become extinct. Loss of large predatory species has led to a need for repeated culling of deer by humans. Loss of beaver has led to the disappearance of certain types of wetlands created by their river-damming activities. The soil-upturning role of the wild boar in various types of forest cannot easily be replicated, leading to complications in tree regeneration in woodland reserves where the boar is absent.
Attempts to secure the future of Europe's wild fauna are by and large focused today upon sites from which the large mammal fauna has already been lost and in which the small mammal fauna is severely modified. Without a network of larger sites which can accommodate such species there is little hope for long-term survival of either the mammals or the habitats in which they evolved to play their part in ecosystem dynamics.
Among aquatic mammals, the fate of whales has attracted much public attention. Whales and whaling have become a symbol for the dramatic decline of the world's large animal species, leading to one of the most controversial issues in today's debate on environmental ethics. The technological innovations in hunting techniques at the beginning of this century resulted in massive depletion of successive cetacean stocks, including blue (Balaenoptera musculus), fin (Balaenoptera physalus), sei (Balaenoptera borealis), minke (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) and humpback (Megaptera novaeangliae) whales. Cetaceans are among the most vulnerable to overfishing because of their slow growth, low fecundity and, possibly also through the link between social behaviour and reproductive success. During the earlier part of the twentieth century, some of these species came very close to extinction, and for some species, even with protected status, the situation is still precarious (eg, blue and humpback whales).
Though already founded in 1946 to 'protect all species of whales from further overfishing', the International Whaling Commission (IWC) continued to be driven by the economic interests of its 36 member states. Today this situation has clearly been improved, making whale conservation one of the prime targets of the Commission. However, the IWC's 1985 moratorium on commercial whaling did not succeed in preventing further exploitation. Since the moratorium came into effect in 1986, over 15 000 whales have been killed, 90 per cent of which have been minke whales (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) (Lean, 1990). Box 9AA provides some details of another threatened aquatic mammal, the common porpoise (Phocaena phocaena).
Seals have been hunted as intensively as whales in the Nordic region. Several arctic pinniped species, including the bearded seal (Erignathus barbatus) and the walrus (Odobenus rosmarus) are protected, following heavy overexploitation. In recent years, restrictions and slackening demand have also reduced the scale of hunting for species of seals that are still comparatively common. The catching of seals in Norway mainly includes the harp seal (Pagophilus groenlandicus) and the hooded seal (Cystophora cristata). Currently, pups are no longer killed in either the Jan Mayen area or the White Sea, and the greater part of the catch has consisted of harp seals that are one year old or more (Central Bureau of Statistics of Norway, 1993). In Iceland the catch of seals consists mainly of the young of both the common seal (Pocha vitulina) and young grey seals (Halichoerus grypus). The number of common seals taken in Iceland has declined sharply in recent years (765 common seals in 1990; Icelandic Ministry for the Environment, 1992). Even if the pressure from hunting has eased, the populations of seals in northern Europe are still threatened by toxic pollutants (eg, PCBs), and virus epidemics, possibly related to human activities (eg, the 1988 phocine distemper virus in the Kattegat, Skagerrak and the Wadden Sea): both are cause for concern. The Mediterranean monk seal (Monachus monachus, see Box 9BB) continues to be one of the most endangered species, being driven close to extinction by direct killing.
With more than 40 per cent of species under threat, European mammals are one of the most critical groups. While the number of hoof mammals seems to be increasing, predatory species like the brown bear (Ursus arctos), the wolf (Canis lupus), the lynx (Lynx lynx) and others have become restricted to only a few, and often remote, regions. All large mammals have in common that they require large, coherent habitats which are not dissected or fragmented and where human landuse activities are not in conflict with the animals' demands for undisturbed space and shelter. Such habitat types have become especially rare in Central and Western Europe. Other threatened carnivores include wetland species such as the otter (Lutra lutra) and the European mink (Mustela lutreola), indicating the dramatic degeneration of many river systems. Despite the existing moratorium on commercial whaling (by the International Whaling Commission), large sea mammals continue to be threatened and require utmost international attention. The same applies to the Mediterranean monk seal (Monachus monachus) as one of the most endangered mammal species. However, recovery programmes have been initiated.
Birds |
General public interest in wildlife, birds and bird protection isplaying an especially significant role (not least because of bird mobility) in fostering an international awareness and responsibility for seeking to remove specific threats to birds and their populations. Evidence of this can be seen in the growing membership of a number of bird protection organisations (in the UK for example, adult and junior membership of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds now totals over 800 000), in the establishment of a regular system of communication between the different European bird protection societies, and the increasing liaison on particular issues within international agencies such as BirdLife International (formerly the International Council for Bird Preservation), the International Waterfowl and Wetlands Research Bureau and the European Bird Census Council (EBCC). These organisations have undertaken substantial research and international collaboration resulting in the identification of more than 2400 sites of European importance for the conservation of birds, the so-called Important Bird Areas. Presently, 29 out of 520 recorded species (6 per cent) of the European avifauna are believed to be threatened with global extinction (Collar and Andrew, 1988), while 78 (15 per cent) are threatened in Europe. Map 9.13 presents the situation of birds as the percentage of nationally threatened species (See Box 9X).
Data presented in Figures 9.8 and 9.9 are taken from the BirdLife International/European Bird Census Council European Bird Database 1993 which was established as part of BirdLife's Dispersed Species Project and the European Ornithological Atlas Project. The BirdLife Dispersed Species Project aims to establish wide-scale habitat conservation measures for European birds that are in need of adequate action and cannot be conserved by a network of protected areas alone (BirdLife, 1993). Preliminary analysis of these data reveals that at least 280 European bird species (over 50 per cent) are of conservation concern, and are referred to as Species of European Conservation Concern (SpECs). These species are divided into four categories: the top three categories, which are depicted in Figures 9.8 and 9.9, encompass those species which are declining, rare or very localised, including those that are globally threatened (Collar and Andrew, 1988); the fourth category includes species with a large part of their global population in Europe but which are currently considered to deserve attention.
Over one third of the bird species occurring in Europe are rare, declining or very localised at a few sites, and these occur in roughly the same proportions in different biogeographic regions where they constitute a significant percentage of the breeding avifauna (Figure 9.8). These species occur in a wide variety of habitats, although agriculture and grasslands, wetlands and forests support particularly large numbers. (Figure 9.9).
The intensification of agriculture, fishing and forestry, together with continued urbanisation and industrialisation, have reduced the diversity and degraded the quality of Europe's natural and semi-natural bird habitats, and continue to do so. Significant problems arise from the drainage and reclamation of wetlands with which birds such as herons (Ardeidae), ducks (Anas spp), geese (Anser spp), swans (Cygnus spp), and shorebirds, are intimately linked for their survival. These important groups contain over 150 species, among them some of the most striking and colourful in the region, such as the elegant yet bizarre greater flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber).
The importance of individual wetlands often varies greatly, reflecting seasonal movements of huge numbers of migratory birds. The need to maintain a network of wetland 'service stations' throughout their flyways to provide food and shelter is clearly vital (Hollis and Jones, 1990). Despite the growing awareness of the importance of wetlands for wildlife, economic pressures for more land from agriculture, tourist developments, industry, water supply, and so forth, continue to lead to the loss of important ornithological wetland habitats each year.
Birds of prey constitute a group of species that is especially exposed to environmental threats like pollution and contamination. Due to their position at the top of a food-chain they are exposed more than other birds to the danger of accumulating larger amounts of poisonous substances in their organisms. Hunting, disturbances and fragmentation of habitats also have negative impacts (see Boxes 9CC and 9DD).
Birds enjoy more attention from both conservation groups and the larger public than any other species group, a fact that is mirrored in the existence of more and better legislative action. Especially the EC Bird Directive, but also the Bonn Convention on Migratory Species and the Ramsar Convention on the Protection of Wetlands, are international responses to necessary cross-boundary cooperations and strategies. The progressive implementation of the EC Bird Directive has significantly contributed to improving the biological situation of most species. Several breeding species are no longer threatened with extinction in the EC, although the status of many of these species still gives cause for concern. There has been an increase in the population of almost all species of ducks (Anatidae). Nevertheless, 15 per cent of Europe's avifauna are considered to be threatened, of which especially the wetland species and larger predators are suffering from loss of habitats, tourism and of course hunting and trapping, especially of migratory birds. Coupled to this, the depletion of food resources, through increasing use of pesticides, is an important factor in the decline of some bird species, particularly insectivorous birds with specific food requirements inhabiting agricultural areas.
Amphibians and reptiles |
Although amphibians and reptiles constitute two different vertebrate classes with different habitats and different conservation needs, they are traditionally taken together under the name of herpetofauna. Moving south in Europe, there is a clear increase in the number of species; the highest numbers of species are found around the Mediterranean and in southeastern Europe. A number of endemic species occur, and many others have restricted geographical ranges within Europe, or reach the borders of their natural areas of distribution. Currently in Europe there are 71 species of amphibians and 199 species of reptiles, including the marine turtles.
Amphibians and reptiles suffer on a large scale from habitat destruction, which is the main cause for their decline in Europe. Near-'sedentary' habits combined with hibernation needs make temperate amphibians and reptiles especially vulnerable to human-made changes to, and disturbance of, their habitats. Even short-term and modest changes in habitats can be catastrophic in their permanent effects. The speed of habitat change is often too great to allow survival or adaptation. Accordingly, many species are now in decline. Apart from this, many other human activities change and adversely affect herpetofauna habitats. Some modern forestry and agriculture practices destroy natural ecosystems on a large scale, and reforestation can prevent the development of habitats (see Boxes 9EE and 9FF). Reptile habitats are particularly vulnerable to fires, which both destroy the habitat and kill animals. Many of the best herpetofauna habitats are regarded as 'waste land' and are still being lost to agriculture. Large-scale monocultures replace the old-fashioned small-scale agriculture that has such value as herpetofauna habitat. In areas with low-level grazing, often rich herpetocoenoses were found because of the diverse vegetation structure. Now there is a tendency towards over grazing, destroying this structure. On the other hand, when grazing has been abandoned, the important half-open vegetation mosaic becomes too closed and loses its function as a habitat, particularly for reptiles.
Modern long-line fishery techniques are estimated to cause yearly at least 12 000 mortalities among marine turtles in the Mediterranean (Council of Europe, 1990). The very large increase in tourism during the last decade (see Chapter 25) has had large impacts on the herpetofauna. For example, seaside resorts attract people to the threatened marine turtle nesting beaches and to the sand dunes with important reptile habitats. Urbanisation and industry often lead to total habitat destruction. Motorways, other major roads, and canals constitute barriers in the landscape and they isolate habitats. Human settlements radiate negative effects on many neighbouring landscapes, frequently resulting in the decline or disappearance of amphibian or reptile populations. Trade and capture for pet use is reported to have increased. Rare species attract high prices, and declining numbers may seriously threaten remaining populations. Reptiles still suffer from persecution for various social and cultural reasons. Snakes particularly are often killed, sometimes systematically encouraged by bounty systems (Corbett, 1989).
Maps 9.17 and 9.18 present the situation of amphibians and reptiles as the percentage of nationally threatened species, and overall species distribution.
The actual status of many European amphibians and reptiles is insufficiently known. However, the most endangered species living in the area of the Council of Europe member states have been identified and habitat conservation proposals have been made. Nevertheless, there are also species known to be threatened, but where no comprehensive habitat proposals can be made without further field assessment and survey. A few examples from the different groups of the most threatened taxa in Europe are given in Table 9.11.
Amphibians and reptiles are now heavily threatened animal groups in Europe and require urgent protection measures. The lack of critical site protection and of adequate habitat management have a direct bearing on the inability to control any or all of the above problems or to lessen the threats facing so many species. Amphibians and reptiles have not yet received a proportionate degree of conservation action or resource allocation in Europe compared to other species groups, such as birds and mammals. Their endangered status as well as their value as indicators for habitats with rich and diverse biocenoeses ought to elevate their significance in European nature conservation.
Fish |
Due in part to the recent glaciations, the freshwater fish fauna of Europe are much less diverse than those of the tropics, and even within the continent there is, as for amphibians and reptiles, a marked reduction in species from south to north. Human impact has destroyed fish habitats on a wide scale and many populations of rare species have disappeared over the last two centuries. In addition, numerous distinct stocks of common species and many important fish populations have become extinct.
Of the 227 species of freshwater fish found in Europe, 200 are regarded as native and 27 as introduced (mostly from North America). Altogether, 122 of the native species are now included in the Berne Convention, 4 in Appendix II and 118 in Appendix III. Only a few of these species are also protected under the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES). This leaves 78 unlisted species which are assumed to require no protection at all. In fact, little information is available on the status and distribution of freshwater fish in many countries and substantial work remains to be done if conservation strategies for the fish fauna of Europe as a whole are to be properly developed. Map 9.22 presents the situation of fish as the percentage of nationally threatened species.
Certain characteristics of freshwater fish are especially relevant to the structure of their communities and to their conservation. Their habitats are discrete and thus fish are contained within particular bounds. This leads to the differentiation of many independent populations with individual stock characteristics developed since their isolation. This is true even of migratory species: here, even though there is substantial mixing of stocks in the sea, the homing instinct has meant that there is a strong tendency for genetic isolation.
Because each population is confined to a single waterbody, within which there is usually significant circulation, the entire population is vulnerable to the effects of waterborne threats such as pollution and disease. Thus for each species the number of separate populations is usually of far greater importance than the number of individual fish. Migrations are a feature of the life-cycles of many fish and at these times they may be particularly vulnerable. In particular, in diadromous riverine species (which migrate seasonally between upstream sections of the river and oceanic waters), the whole population has to pass through the lower section of its river to and from the sea. If this section is polluted, obstructed or subject to heavy predation, populations of several species may disappear, leaving the upstream community permanently impoverished (Maitland, 1977).
Humans have been interacting with fish populations for many thousands of years, and it is often difficult to separate the effects of human impact from changes which have taken place due to more natural processes. Over the last 200 years, and particularly during the last few decades, various new and intense pressures have been applied to freshwaters and very many species have declined in range and in numbers. Many of the pressures are interlinked, the final combination often resulting in a complex and sometimes unpredictable situation.
The pollution of freshwaters is probably the single most significant factor in causing major decline in the populations of many fish species in Europe. In 1990 about 6300 of the 83 000 lakes in Sweden which are larger than 1 hectare had a pH below 5 (Bernes, 1991; see also Chapters 5 and 31).
Most pollution comes from domestic, agricultural or industrial wastes and can be so toxic that all the fish species present are killed, or that a few sensitive species are selectively removed altering the environment in such a way that some species are favoured and others not. Considerable research has been carried out in this area and sensible water-quality criteria for fish are now available.
The impact of landuse changes (land drainage schemes, monoculture forests, filling in of ponds) often results in problems such as silting, increased acidification and alterations of the hydrology, affecting formerly important sites for fish. River and lake engineering works (see Chapter 5) have been responsible for the elimination of fish species, eg, different species of salmon, in freshwaters all over Europe (see Box 9GG).
Migratory species are particularly threatened by dams and other obstructions, and, if such fish are unable to reach their spawning grounds, they may become extinct in a few years. The combination of obstacles (weirs, locks, etc), severe pollution in lower river reaches and commercial fishing in estuaries has undoubtedly been a major cause in the decline of sturgeon (Acipenseridae, see Box 9HH), shad (Alosa spp), smelt (Osmerus eperlanus) and other migratory fish across the whole of their European distribution (Maitland, 1986).
The impact of fisheries (both sport and commercial) on the stocks which they exploit can cause extinction or lead to an ideal stable relationship of 'recruitment' and 'cropping' (see Chapter 24). The essence of success in fisheries management is to have a well-regulated fishery where statistics on the catch are consistently monitored and used as a basis for future management of the stock.
There is still substantial work to be done in the field of fish conservation. In addition to establishing the status of fish across Europe, the specific conservation goals of the most endangered species need to be identified and appropriate measures implemented. As well as habitat restoration, one of the most positive areas of management lies in the establishment of new populations, either to replace those which have become extinct or to provide an additional safeguard for isolated populations. Any species which is found in only a few waters is believed to be in potential danger, and the creation of additional independent stocks is an urgent and worthwhile conservation activity.
The general conclusion reached from this brief review is that there is insufficient information available on the status and distribution of freshwater fish in many parts of Europe. Although there has previously been some legislation and management in relation to both fish and various general aspects of conservation (such as the establishment of nature reserves), little of this has been aimed directly at the protection of fish species. If this situation is not improved it is very likely that many endemic European fish species and further valuable stocks of other native species will be lost. For commercial fish species (eg, sturgeons and salmonids), the eventual long-term value of restored stocks will be worth many times the actual cost of restoring them.
Invertebrates |
Apart from the vertebrates, 18 animal phyla are recognised as occurring in Europe. These 'invertebrates' (animals without an internal skeleton) are represented in Europe by some 200 000 species; 100 000 of these are either freshwater or terrestrial, the rest are marine. The four largest taxonomic groups are the insect orders Coleoptera (beetles), Diptera (flies), Hymenoptera (ants, bees, wasps, parasitic wasps and sawflies) and Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths).
A consistent data coverage on the distribution of European invertebrates does not exist. To consider the state of one major taxonomic group at national level, reasonably complete national lists exist for the Diptera of former Czechoslovakia, Finland and the UK, but not for other European countries. It might be expected that programmes for making inventories of the species occurring in national parks, nature reserves and other protected areas would by now be well advanced. But in reality, few such programmes exist and the sort of computerised databases needed to handle inventory information effectively have been set up for only a handful of national parks, (eg, the Berchtesgaden National Park in Germany). The same situation exists for nature reserves. Only one or two European countries have national systems up and running, such as the 'Recorder' system now in use for nature reserves in the UK.
One of the best-known families of Diptera are the Syrphidae, or hoverflies, many of whose larvae are recognised as beneficial because they consume aphids and other plant bugs, and whose adults are important as pollinators. Map 9.23 shows the availability of national lists for this insect family in various European countries. Essentially, the map shows that for less than half of the surface of Europe usable regional lists of these insects exist; for the rest of the continent none are available. Similar pictures could be presented for other invertebrate taxonomic groups. For Ireland, which has a relatively small fauna, it was recently calculated (Ashe et al, 1988) that, in the case of the Diptera alone, in excess of 1500 species remain to be added to the national list and that, with the current level of effort and available resources, the task of listing the Irish Diptera will not be completed within less than 30 years.
Invertebrates can be seen as the glue which holds the biosphere together. One of the more important functions of invertebrates is pollination, mostly carried out by various insects, whose importance as pollinators has been responsible for a major development in plant evolution. But the role of invertebrates in recycling organic debris through the ecosystem is at least as important, if not more so. Between 30 and 50 per cent of European invertebrate species are involved in breakdown of the remains of plants or animals or their waste products. These breaking down processes are usually complex and involve joint action by invertebrates, fungi and microorganisms. An important aspect of the invertebrate activities is rendering materials quickly accessible to the other decomposers, either by drilling holes through otherwise impermeable materials, such as bark, or by reducing them to small fragments through comminution the chewing or rasping action of the animals breaking through cell walls. The role of certain types of invertebrates, such as earthworms (Lumbricidae and related families) can be seen to be of direct benefit for humans: in agricultural soils earthworm activity helps both to aerate and to maintain drainage capacity and is also important in soil mixing. For the most part, however, knowledge of the precise role of individual species is not available and for many invertebrates only very general functions can be identified, like helping in the regulation of populations of potential pests, or providing food for various vertebrates. With the exception of the land tortoises (Testudo spp), the majority of Europe's reptiles and amphibians are dependent upon invertebrates for food. Furthermore, 90 per cent of Europe's fish and bird species and many mammals, from the blue whale (Sibbaldus musculus) to the pygmy shrew (Sorex minutus) rely on invertebrates for their food supply.
Few groups of invertebrates have received sufficient attention for firm statements to be made concerning the European status of their species. A rare exception are the millipedes (Myriapoda), for which data, like those shown in Map 9.24, for the species Proteroiulus fuscus, are beginning to appear (Kime, 1990). Rather more taxonomic groups have been the subject of comprehensive study in one part of Europe, or one European state, but not in others. Very localised endemic species form a category which has received close attention. In parts of Southern Europe endemism among invertebrates is a matter of some considerable significance. More than 900 endemic invertebrate species are already known from the Canary Islands alone.
Although the available information concerning the status of the vast majority of invertebrate species in Europe is far from adequate, the data from both well-studied and poorly studied taxonomic groups all point in the same direction: invertebrates are demonstrably as much affected by loss of habitat and general environmental deterioration in Europe as are other animals and plants. In habitat terms, one of the greatest concentrations of threatened invertebrates occurs in ancient forests. Economic exploitation of Europe's remaining forests has led to total eradication of over-mature trees from vast areas causing the virtual elimination of dead woody parts of trees from the ecosystem, a particularly rich habitat for many invertebrates.
In some cases, levels of human exploitation have been such as to lead either directly, or indirectly, to the inclusion of particular species, eg, white-clawed crayfish (Austropota-mobius pallipes), escargot (Helix pomatia), on lists of invertebrates requiring protection at the European level (eg, in the annexes of the Berne Convention). In general, and in contrast to the situation for vertebrates and plants, the collection of specimens by people cannot be identified as a factor causing significant reduction in populations of European invertebrates. Known instances relate to a few showy dragonflies, butterflies and shells.
The mechanism recommended by IUCN for establishing the threat category into which a species should be put, is thus to a significant extent inapplicable to invertebrates, because invertebrate specialists have been forced to develop a methodology for assessing threat status which is largely restricted to the use of present-day distribution data. In consequence, the number of invertebrate species recognised as under threat is probably under-estimated, and possibly quite dramatically so. Nonetheless, disjunct distribution patterns like those now exhibited by Rhysodes sulcatus (see Box 9II) imply that, on a regional scale, hundreds, if not thousands of species have disappeared over wide areas.
Particular effort has been put into establishing the status of the species of a small number of taxonomic or ecological groups of invertebrates at international level: butterflies (Heath, 1981), dragonflies (van Tol and Verdonk, 1988), saproxylic invertebrates (Speight, 1989), non-marine molluscs (Wells and Chatfield, 1992). The most recent of these studies, on non-marine molluscs, provides evidence that more than 15 per cent of the European species are under threat, most of them endemic to the continent. This confirms other studies, which demonstrate that between 15 and 40 per cent of the species reviewed are under threat at European level. Extrapolating to the situation of the entire invertebrate fauna of both freshwater and terrestrial systems, suggests that a minimum of 10 000 invertebrate species may now be under threat in Europe. As mentioned above, there are grounds for believing that this must represent an underestimate of the actual situation. No studies of marine invertebrates have been conducted that would enable a similar estimate to be made of the proportion of invertebrate sea-life under threat.
The year 1988 saw incorporation of a list of close to 100 invertebrates into the appendices of the Berne Convention, as species requiring special measures to be taken for their protection in the territory of states ratifying the Convention. Recognition of the need to take special measures to protect an invertebrate implies a knowledge of the requirements of the species. All too frequently adequate information on the autecology of invertebrates is lacking and there are few taxonomic groups for which the available data have been brought together in a form usable for habitat management purposes. An exception is provided by the species accounts compiled for dragonflies by Dommanget (1987). More general prescriptions for habitat management to conserve invertebrates are also required, as attempted by Kirby (1992). But, without detailed information on the autecology of invertebrate species, site management remains an uncertain tool, and as yet insufficient research has been carried out to establish the particular needs of most threatened European species.
Developing parallel with work on invertebrate conservation has been the use of invertebrates as tools in environmental interpretation. Increasingly, there is feedback between these two fields of endeavour. Sampling the freshwater invertebrate fauna now provides a standard tool in water quality assessment, and application of the same techniques to site evaluation processes, for 'environmental impact survey' purposes, has heightened interest in lists of internationally or nationally threatened invertebrate species as aids in gauging site quality.
Although estimates suggest that more than 10 000 species are currently under threat, existing nature reserves and other protected areas in Europe have been selected almost entirely without any reference to the invertebrate fauna. Furthermore, management plans have been developed without reference to invertebrates. One pressing need is to establish what role these protected areas can play in the protection of Europe's invertebrates and how their management can be modified to accommodate the requirements of the invertebrate fauna. This objective requires making inventories of invertebrate faunas of protected sites, which in turn requires field surveys by specialists, and invertebrate distribution information.
While it is true that many invertebrates are linked directly (by, for instance, food plants) or indirectly (by ecological parameters) to particular phytosociological associations, other organisms live at the boundaries of different associations, such as some flying insects along the sides of woods and hedges. The importance of such ecotones should not be overlooked. Also, the larval stages of many invertebrates have ecological requirements very different from those of the adults so that the juxtaposition of different types of habitats becomes important. Biodiversity is related to spatial variability of the terrain, and particular combinations of biotopes (Kime, 1993).
Unless and until a more comprehensive, coordinated effort is made, at the international level, to identify species requiring protection and sites appropriate for protection of their habitats, many invertebrate species and sites will be lost before the significance of the situation is recognised. Better autecological data pertaining to invertebrates require research and funding for that research.
Higher plants |
Compared with other parts of the world, Europe is relatively poor in plant species. As a result of several ice ages during the last million years, the richness of flowering plants (some 12 500 species) shows an unequal distribution across Europe (Tutin et al, 1964/1980). A considerable proportion of Europe's endemic plants (see Box 9LL) grow in mountain regions such as the Alps, Apennines, Pyrenees, Sierra Nevada, Carpathians and those of the Baltic region and Balkan peninsula. These areas are recognised as major locations of diversity and endemism by the World Conservation Union (IUCN) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). Some of these mountain areas have a very high concentration of endemic species (Map 9.28). The Sierra Nevada, for example, houses about two-thirds of Spanish (mainland) plant endemics and Mount Olympos in Greece has 26 endemic plant species. Although more than 2200 species are recorded as endangered, vulnerable, rare or indeterminate according to IUCN categories of threat, only 27 higher plants have been recorded to have become extinct in Europe (Heywood, 1993) Map 9.29 presents the situation of plants as the percentage of nationally threatened species.
Because of differences in natural conditions and human impact, the main plant geographical areas of Europe are discussed separately, as follows.
This area comprises Northern Scandinavia, the Northern Baltic region and the North-European part of the Russian Federation. In analysing the causes of threat, the Northern part of Britain and Ireland can also be included here, but the highly industrialised areas of Southern Sweden and Denmark should be excluded.
Only a small number of threatened species have their distribution centres in boreal or arctic zones and causes of threat are mainly indirect:
A system of rather large national parks and nature reserves, coupled with a well-developed monitoring system, allows effective nature conservation. The St Petersburg region and some areas of Northern Russia (eg, the Kola Peninsula) have problems caused by heavily polluting industries.
Here, the flora is relatively poor in species, with only a few endemics concentrated on the southeastern part, especially the Eastern Alps. The main problem is not extinction of species but the dramatic loss of species diversity in almost all ecosystems. This also concerns the naturally rare species (see Box 9JJ) that are typical elements for ecosystems, and the naturally not rare (see Box 9KK).
Central Europe has the highest percentage (25 to 35 per cent) of threatened plant species. The main causes of threats are:
A well-developed system of nature reserves and monitoring can often avoid species extinction, but is increasingly only able to keep species in the garden-like situation of small nature reserves. Most of the existing nature reserves are too small for effective species conservation and there is no effective protection against indirect influence such as through the input of nutrients.
The Mediterranean and Macaronesian regions have the largest number of species in Europe, often with a high percentage of endemics (up to 48 per cent endemics for the flora of the Canary Islands). Like the Mediterranean region, large parts of the Balkan Peninsula, central France and the southern slopes of the Alps are influenced by a long history of human cultivation and landuse activities. Due to difficulties in regenerating woodland ecosystems, a number of species have become very rare.
Although species extinction and decline are key problems of southern regions, the percentage of threatened species as part of the whole flora appears to be relatively low (1 to 10 per cent), simply due to the overall species richness (see Map 9.28). However, because of the small size of their original habitats (sometimes only a few square kilometres) endemics continue to be endangered.
The main causes of threat are:
Based on replies to questionnaires presented in Box 5E, a survey of the past (period 190050) and present distribution of 108 aquatic plant species in Europe has been undertaken. The species were divided into four categories of threat, as proposed by the IUCN in their Red Data Book Category Definition: common, rare but not threatened, vulnerable or endangered, and extinct.
Due to the homogeneity of the aquatic medium most aquatic plants are spread all over Europe, some even over the world. The most species-rich aquatic flora is presently found in countries with a great diversity of aquatic habitats (eg, UK, Sweden and the Russian Federation) where 60 to 70 aquatic plant species are considered to be common and only small distributional changes have occurred over the years. On the contrary, countries in Central and Eastern Europe (eg, Austria, the Czech Republic, Poland, Latvia, Moldova and Ukraine) have many fewer common species, ranging from seven in the Czech Republic to 28 in Latvia. For the same countries a dramatic change in species occurrence has taken place, implying that many species that were common in the past have now become rarer or even extinct. For example, the Czech Republic and Moldova have lost five aquatic species in this century.
For Europe as a whole results from the questionnaires received from 18 countries (expressed as the average of distributional changes within countries) show that 74 per cent of the aquatic plant species which were common in the past are still common, 9 per cent of formerly common species have become rare but not threatened, 10 per cent vulnerable or endangered and 1 per cent have become extinct. For the remaining 6 per cent, information about their present distribution is not available. For those species which were rare but not threatened or vulnerable or endangered in the past, the present situation is of more concern. For each of these groups, 34 and 32 per cent of the species respectively have moved towards the endangered group or have become extinct. It should be noted, however, that these figures illustrate country averages and it should be stressed that no aquatic plant species has disappeared from Europe in this century.
Due to differences in the location of their leaves in the water column, not all aquatic species are equally threatened. In particular, rooted species with their photosynthetic organs developed as floating leaves (Nymphaeids) or the free floating Lemnids, are less affected by water pollution than are the species with their leaves in rosettes on the bottom (Isoetids) or on long shoots in the water (Elodeids). The latter two groups are the first to disappear when light penetration through the water column becomes reduced due, for example, to eutrophication.
The number of threatened plant species in Europe, especially in Central Europe, is high and will continue to increase. The traditional strategy of conservation by the establishment of nature reserves can stop the extinction of species only by keeping them as rarities; this approach cannot avoid the loss of species diversity. For Central and Northern Europe the main task is the conservation of species diversity. A considerable number of species have almost lost their original Central European range of distribution, now with higher occurrences being restricted to Eastern Europe. However, economic growth and intensification of agricultural production in Eastern Europe might result in further extinctions, if adequate action for safeguarding existing valuable plant resources is not taken in time.
The unique diversity of habitats and the large number of endemic plants in some eastern and southern regions, such as the Carpathian, Transcaucasian and Balkan mountains, the Maritime Alps, Cyprus, the Greek mountains, Crete, Sierra Nevada and the Canary Islands, make their decline or loss a matter of global importance.
The establishment and promotion of a network of large nature reserves such as Natura 2000 as part of the EC's Fauna-Flora-Habitat Directive (92/42/EEC), is an important contribution to the successful, long-term protection of rare and endangered plant species. Further steps in support of species diversity include:
Introduced species |
Introduction of new species has been a widespread phenomenon in Europe for thousands of years. This process sometimes also referred to as 'biological invasion' results from events such as climatic changes, and from a large variety of human activities: migration, trade, colonisation, agriculture, introduction of domestic and wild species. The release of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) is discussed in Chapter 17. Many of these activities have influenced and continue to influence the distribution of species in Europe and the world.
In some cases the introduction of new species has been devastating. Thus a disease introduced to Europe by North American crayfish (Procambarus clarkii) has contributed to the near disappearance of Europe's native crayfishes, Astacus astacus and Austrapotamobius pallipes.
The introduction of species has not been limited to individual continents but occurs everywhere and on a global scale. This is well documented for species such as the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) in Australia and Chile, the rat (Rattus rattus) and the house mouse (Mus musculus), the blackberry (Rubus) in Chile, and the maritime pine (Pinus pinaster) in South Africa (Drake et al, 1989). On the other hand, whole plant communities have also been altered as a result of introductions. For example, the native species of the grazing lands of California, Chile, Argentina, South Africa and Australia have been partially replaced by Old World species, particularly Mediterranean basin herbs.
The percentage of alien species in Europe and the Mediterranean basin, especially among vascular plants, is much lower (5 per cent) than in most other regions of the world. On the other hand, 80 per cent of all aliens in these regions are of Eurasian origin.
With the Old World 'discovery' of the American and Australian continents, species introduction into European ecosystems began. Among them are very conspicuous and peculiar examples such as Agave americana, Yucca and particularly Opuntia succulents that have become characteristic in Mediterranean landscapes. In addition, some notable shrubs or trees have been successful invaders, including: Nicotiana glauca from South America, Robinia pseudoacacia from North America, Acacia and Eucalyptus from Australia. Most new plant invaders (also cereals) became established in disturbed and open sites and arable fields. Only a very few introduced plants such as Canadian pondweed (Elodea canadensis), early goldenrod (Solidago gigantea), Indian balsam (Impatiens glandulifera), a grape-vine (Vitis riparia), or Canadian fleabean (Erigeron canadensis) have proved able to colonise natural ecosystems. However, nowhere in Europe is there a scale of natural ecosystem invasions that can match that of South Africa by Hakea (from Australia) and by Pinus pinaster (from Europe).
Invasions have taken place in most European rivers: fish such as Gambusia affinis, Salmo gairdneri (rainbow trout), Ameiurus nebulosus, all from North America, and several molluscs and parasites. Mammals, like the North American muskrat (Ondatra zibethica), raccoon (Procyon lotor) and nutria (Moyocaster coypus) from South America, and even the water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes), have also invaded European riverine ecosystems.
The environmental impacts of these species on Europe's ecosystems, especially in correlation with environmental stresses such as forest decline, eutrophication of waterbodies and their repercussions on the extinction rate of native species are not yet known.
Wildlife trade |
Many of the products obtained from wildlife are exploited commercially. Worldwide, the commercial trade in wild plants and animals has been valued at $5 billion a year (Lean, 1990). Most of it is entirely legal, controlled by national laws and the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES, see below). However, about a third to a quarter of the trade worth around $1.5 billion a year is unlawful commerce in rare and endangered species, usually poached and smuggled across frontiers.
Confiscation of ivory and rhino horns at |
Millions of live animals are shipped around the world every year to supply the pet trade. Furs, leather and even ivory are also traded in vast quantities. Lean (1990) estimates that typically a single year sees 50 000 live primates, tusk ivory from 70 000 African elephants, 4 million live birds, 10 million reptile skins, 15 million pelts, about 350 million tropical fish and about 1 million orchids bought and sold around the world. Meanwhile the African elephant has been included in CITES Appendix I (1989) and since 1992 all commercial trade in ivory is banned under CITES; enforcement and control, however, are still insufficient.
Europe is a major marketplace for reptile skins, monkeys and small cats, and trade in small exotic birds is still taking place in many European cities.
Conclusions |
Although relatively few species of Europe's fauna and flora have actually become extinct during this century, the continent's biodiversity is affected by decreasing species numbers and the loss of habitats in many regions: approximately 30 per cent of the existing 1200 vertebrates and 21 per cent of the 12 500 higher plants are classified as 'threatened' according to IUCN categories. Threats are directly linked to the loss of habitats due to destruction, modification and fragmentation of ecosystems, as well as from overuse of pesticides and herbicides, intensive farming methods, hunting and general human disturbances. The deterioration of air and water quality adds to the detrimental influence. Insufficient knowledge on most of the 200 000 invertebrates and on lower plants makes it very difficult to give an accurate assessment of their current situation. Some data show, however, that also lower species of fauna and flora suffer from the environmental problems mentioned above.
The analysis of existing data and expert opinion on the major taxonomic groups of fauna and flora can be summarised as follows:
Available data on species are often patchy and incomplete, affecting the quality of international status reports and the compilation of 'red lists'. The identification, monitoring and active management of endangered, introduced and migrating species is a prime objective for national and international nature conservation. The role and function of indicator species for assessing environmental conditions needs to be further explored. All these activities require reliable information on the distribution, condition and vulnerability of plants and animals, especially for the species listed in the EC Habitats and Bird Directives, CITES, the Bonn Convention and other international agreements discussed below.
NATURE CONSERVATION |
Although action to conserve nature has historic roots in Europe, for many centuries the motivation was the preservation of game for hunting. It is only in the past 100 years or so that countries have begun to develop policies for the protection of nature (national parks were first set up in Sweden in 1909 and in Spain in 1918). And it is only in the past few decades that international action for the protection of nature has developed within Europe.
A number of trends can be identified in the development of nature conservation policies in recent years in Europe, the most important of which are trends aways from:
The present position in Europe as regards the conservation of nature and wildlife is very complex. Each country has its own set of policies for conservation; these can vary greatly and are often developing fast. There is, however, increasing harmonisation of some aspects of national policy through international agreements.
In order to provide an overview of this situation, this section:
This section thus attempts to integrate the assessment of ecosystems and fauna and flora, presented above, into the context of nature conservation as a human response. The state of 'Nature and Wildlife' is closely linked to and influenced by policies and programmes that exist at national and international levels. There is in fact only a fine division between the assessment of ecosystems, species and nature conservation policies discussed in this chapter. Nature conservation is discussed here separately since the various legal and strategic concepts encompass different sets of habitat types or species lists and thus a full description of them in the assessments were not possible.
Since nature conservation is an issue that goes beyond the borders of protected areas, this section can also be seen as a bridge to those parts of the report that deal with human activities such as agriculture, forestry, fisheries, tourism, transport and others.
National action for nature conservation |
National action for the protection of nature and wildlife varies greatly from country to country. In some, this subject excites a high level of public and political interest and numerous laws have been passed. In others, there has been far less action. Some countries have adopted a centralised approach; others, politically decentralised, have to delegate responsibility for nature and landscape protection to provincial or regional governments ('Länder' or 'cantons', for example). In many countries, local governments right down to the commune level have an important part to play. In some countries, non-governmental bodies are significant owners of specially protected areas.
This variety cannot be discussed fully here, but instead some broad generalisations are made, illustrated with some specific examples of action at the national level. Three kinds of action taken to conserve wildlife and nature can be identified:
The development of the 'Red Data Books' concept by Sir Peter Scott during the 1960s was the starting point for many initiatives to categorise species at risk according to the severity of the threats facing them and the estimated imminence of their extinction. While originally compiled exclusively on a global level, the concept was soon adopted at the national and supranational level in several countries. Today, almost all European countries (and even federal states or 'Länder' and 'cantons') have produced their individual lists of nationally threatened species groups, often differentiating the following categories, based on a former approach of IUCN:
(Although these IUCN categories were altered in 1993, this report as well as most 'Red Data' lists are still based on the original concept.)
In recent years attention has spread from terrestrial vertebrates to invertebrates and plants. The situation of plant protection based on lists for endangered species is illustrated in Table 9.12 for international and national levels and two regional levels in Germany. While the total number of identified plant species decreases as the size of the reference area becomes smaller, the number of 'threatened plants' follows the same principle only down to the national level. As the table shows, the federal state of Lower Saxony has monitored more higher plants that are threatened (767 or 36 per cent) within its boundaries than the federal agency in the list for the whole of Germany (664 or 24 per cent). This difference illustrates the fact that species which are not threatened for a whole country might still be declining dramatically in some smaller regions. The same applies for different listings between the federal state and a community (in this case between the federal state of Lower Saxony and its community of Osnabrück). This indicates the basic need for identifying biogeographical regions on the reference areas for endangered species. Such a system would allow specific regional aspects to be taken into account.
When establishing threatened species lists on the regional level, it is important to keep in mind that species can have their natural distribution boundaries outside a region making its rareness a natural feature rather than a matter of concern. However, regional governments should be encouraged to make inventories and monitor threatened species and to respond with appropriate protection programmes. In the case of Lower Saxony, a special programme for the protection of rare and endangered farmland wild flowers has been designed. This programme lists 262 species that have previously been typical of farming landscapes, and for which special protection measures are proposed and financial compensations for participating farmers and communities are offered. Only 91 plants (35 per cent) of these are also included in the regional threatened plants list of Lower Saxony thereby extending possibilities for various farmlands to participate in the programme throughout the region.
Since international lists do not respond to the national level of species decline (eg, the Berne Convention covers only 18 plant species in Central Europe), national and regional governments face more responsibility to ensure that biodiversity is maintained and enhanced on each level. The results of these activities, listings and programmes could be the basis of an hierarchical model for an extended list that includes Europe's nationally and regionally threatened species.
Red Data Books and species protection programmes can be successful only if they are flanked by initiatives that regulate activities which affect flora and fauna, such as the use of pesticides, methods and seasons of hunting, and physical constructions etc.
Every country in Europe has passed legislation for the protection of certain sites of importance to the conservation of nature as 'protected areas'. IUCN (1993) defines a protected area as:
an area of land and/or sea especially dedicated to the protection of biological diversity, and of natural and associated cultural resources, and managed through legal or other effective means.
The titles given to such protected areas at the national level in Europe vary greatly, however. As well as national parks and nature reserves, there is national legislation to establish biogenetic reserves, forest reserves, marine reserves, nature parks and regional nature parks, protected landscapes, wildlife reserves and many more besides. To complicate matters further, the same name means different things in different countries, even sometimes in the same country (eg, 'nature reserve' in Sweden); and the same kind of protected area will often be classified differently at the national level.
To help clarify this confused situation, IUCN has developed a system of protected area categories. These have recently been revised, following the IVth World Congress on Protected Areas in Caracas in 1992 (see Box 9MM). The logic behind such a system is as follows:
The application of the categories system in Europe enables comparisons to be made between countries, and between Europe and the rest of the world. The World Conservation Monitoring Centre (WCMC) has collected data under these categories from across the world (though with a minimum cut-off of 1000 hectares, many smaller protected areas are excluded). Table 9.13 compares the distribution of the first five types of protected areas between the world and Europe (excluding the former USSR).
Category V, Protected Landscape areas (see also Chapter 8) in the European region, accounts for nearly two thirds of the 42.45 million hectares which are recorded by WCMC as being under protection. In many such protected landscapes, the protection of landscapes and of nature and wildlife are achieved through integrated policies: by protecting the landscape, the setting for wildlife is secured, and by protecting wildlife, essential elements in the landscape are safeguarded.
Occurrence of the different categories varies greatly between countries. Thus some Scandinavian countries have much of their protected land in categories I and II (over 62 per cent of Finland), whilst several of the most intensively settled countries (eg, Denmark and the UK) have little or no land in these categories.
The total size of protected areas in Europe has expanded rapidly in recent years. Two thirds of all protected land in Europe has been so designated in the 20 years after the 1972 Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment; and 10 million hectares have been added (an area larger than Hungary) since 1982.
However, the designation of protected areas is not, unfortunately, a guarantee of their success. A recent review undertaken by the Commission on National Parks and Protected Areas of IUCN and the Federation of Nature and National Parks of Europe for the Caracas Congress concluded as follows:
Despite these conditions, the prospects for protected areas in Europe are generally good, and certainly better than in many other parts of the world. There are few countries in Europe where population pressures and rural poverty create demands on wild areas as they do in many developing countries. The existence of surplus agricultural capacity in Europe (and to some extent surplus military land) means that it is possible to think about restoring the nature conservation values of land where this has been lost or damaged in the past (eg, restoring the wildlife value of farmland that has been subject to intensive farming).
International action for nature conservation |
International action has mainly addressed two issues: the protection of species, and the protection of sites. There are three ways in which this has been done: through international conventions (treaties); through international programmes; and within the EU European legislation.
In terms of geographical areas covered there are initiatives of five distinct types:
Table 9.14 presents an overview for six types of internationally designated areas as well as 'national parks' a national category of protection which differs in terms of status and regulation from country to country. Table 9.15 lists European strategic initiatives for conservation of biological, landscape and marine diversity by type, responsible body and objectives.
The Convention on Wetlands of International Importance was signed in 1971 in the Iranian city of Ramsar and came into force in 1975. The Convention's Bureau is backed by the International Waterfowl and Wetlands Research Bureau (IWRB) and the IUCN. It is a worldwide agreement, bringing together 70 nations which have expressed a common interest in resolving the environmental problems and opportunities of wetland areas in their countries. The Convention works through countries pooling their technical and financial resources. Sharing a common belief in the value of wetlands as valuable and irreplaceable economic, cultural, scientific and recreational resources, these countries commit themselves to proper management of wetlands for the present and future benefit of their people.
When signing the Ramsar Convention a country gives four main undertakings:
So far 362 wetlands have been designated in Europe (from a total of 632 sites), covering over 5 million hectares. Designated wetlands vary enormously in size and nature. For example in Europe the Danube Delta with its vast, varied but fragile waterfowl population on the Romanian Black Sea coast covers 650 000 hectares, whilst Llyn Idwal in the Snowdonia National Park, North Wales, is only 14 hectares, though still possessing vital and fascinating natural communities for protection and study. Worldwide, a Ramsar site can be a coral reef, a river valley, or a tropical mangrove swamp.
Article 1 of the Ramsar Convention describes wetlands as areas of marsh, peatland or water, whether natural or artificial, permanent or temporary, with water that is static or flowing, fresh, brackish or salt, including areas of marine water the depth of which at low tide does not exceed six metres.
The Ramsar Convention has three main ways of achieving action at local level. It monitors the situation of wetland sites in the contracting countries and helps actions to prevent deterioration or destruction of wetlands, particularly those on the Ramsar list. It coordinates the 'Rational Use of Wetland Project', which gives governments detailed guidance, based on current project work, on how to make rational use of natural resources which local communities derive from wetlands, taking into account the natural, institutional, legal and technical factors involved. Lastly, in 1990, the Convention set up the Ramsar Fund, a wetland conservation fund for developing countries.
Thus, with its established network of wetlands and wide local experience, Ramsar forms one important element in the environmental protection of specific sites in Europe and throughout the world.
Adopted in Paris in 1972, the Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage came into force in December 1975. The Secretariat is provided by UNESCO. The convention aims to designate sites of 'outstanding universal value' as World Heritage Sites, and promotes international cooperation in safeguarding these important areas. Sites may be considered for their cultural or natural qualities (Chapter 8 describes how cultural sites may include certain cultural landscapes here, only natural sites are considered). Criteria for inclusion in the World Heritage List are agreed by the World Heritage Committee, and the advice of IUCN is sought on sites nominated by states party to the convention. There are at present 20 natural and 120 cultural sites in Europe on the World Heritage List. All European countries except Albania, Belgium, Iceland and Luxembourg have joined the World Heritage Convention. Conservation bodies have repeatedly called on those states which have not done so to join, and asked all members to nominate suitable sites.
The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) was signed in 1973. Its Secretariat is provided by the United Nations Environment Programme and is based in Geneva, Switzerland. The convention attempts to prevent commercial trade in species which are in danger of extinction or might become so if their trade was allowed to continue unchecked. The Convention covers not only live plants and animals, but also their derivatives. Most European States have joined CITES, but the following are not yet members: Albania, Greece, Ireland, Romania, San Marino, Vatican City and the states of former Yugoslavia. CITES has been ratified by over 110 states worldwide. The Convention has financed studies of particularly endangered species in order to establish the degree and nature of the threat presented by such trade. The trade in species covered and listed in the three appendices mentioned above is subject to progressive levels of restriction.
The Bonn Convention
The Convention on Migratory Species was signed in Bonn and came into force in 1979. The Convention requires that 'range States', that is those which share certain endangered migratory species, cooperate in joint measures for conservation, research, management, etc. Few countries in Europe are members of the Convention, which also suffers from a lack of finance.
Developed under UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere programme (MAB), Biosphere Reserves differ from other types of site in that they are not designated purely to protect the site per se. They are chosen rather as representative international examples of biogeographical habitats and ecosystems where practical management and research can be practised, and where exchanges of information with managers, policy makers, researchers and local inhabitants and interests can take place. They combine the preservation of ecological and genetic diversity with consideration of the local economy, research, environmental monitoring, education and training.
The intention is that each site should consist of a central core which is managed primarily for its ecological value, surrounded by a larger buffer zone where experimental research and management can take place side by side with normal human activities and traditional landuses. One aim is to demonstrate both to local people and to the international community that sustainable modes of living in close touch with the natural environment, and in harmony with it, can help to maintain a viable local economy in the long term.
The Biosphere Reserve concept first emerged from the UNESCO's Man and Biosphere (MAB) programme in the early 1970s. It was the 'Biosphere Conference' convened by UNESCO in 1968 that recommended the setting up of an intergovernmental and interdisciplinary programme of research. Since 1971 when the MAB programme officially began, a total of 122 reserves have been established in Europe. The demand from governments was for an emphasis on finding practical, low-cost, sustainable solutions to problems by putting long-discussed ideas on ecological approaches to land management to the test at field level.
Convention on Biological Diversity
A recent development is the signing at the 1992 Earth Summit of the Convention on Biological Diversity. The impact of the convention is yet to be felt (the convention entered into force on 29 December 1993). Its significance is discussed below.
The Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats (Berne Convention) came into force in 1982. The Convention was promoted and developed by the Council of Europe and now includes most Western European countries, the European Community, some African states and, more recently, certain Eastern European countries in negotiation with, or now with membership of, the Council of Europe.
The principal aim is to protect flora and fauna and their habitats, and to promote international cooperation amongst the contracting parties in resolving transfrontier issues, with particular emphasis on the protection of endangered and vulnerable species and their habitats, particularly migratory species. The convention includes three annexes, listing these species. There is a governmental 'standing committee' which monitors the enforcement of the Convention. This committee can organise international seminars and special studies to promote understanding of the issues, and adopts recommendations to the governments of contracting parties designed to further the protection of specific habitats and species.
These areas are representative samples of various natural habitat types and have been promoted by the Council of Europe since 1975. Under Resolution (76)17 of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, a Biogenetic Reserve is one which can be shown to contribute to the maintenance of the biological balance and the conservation of representative samples of Europe's natural heritage, and act as a living laboratory for research into the operation and evolution of natural ecosystems. The intention is that the scientific knowledge gained from this can be put to use in campaigns to generate public interest in environmental issues, and to provide information, education and instruction material.
By 1993 over 3 million hectares within 288 reserves had been designated. The areas concerned are natural or semi-natural. A Biogenetic Reserve could consist of anything from a tiny island with rare plants or animals to a large area of heathland or moor. Priority is given to reserves according to the degree to which the species found there are unique, endangered, rare or typical for a particular habitat. The criteria for selection are the value of the site for nature conservation and the effectiveness of the protection being given to them.
Biogenetic Reserves enable member states of the Council of Europe to cooperate and coordinate elements of their nature protection policies with reference to the biogenetic reserves in their partner countries and the exchanges of information which designation stimulates. The Council of Europe sees its biogenetic reserve programme as giving substantial support to national undertakings to conserve the habitats of wild flora and fauna as agreed under Article 4 of the Berne Convention.
In 1965 the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe inaugurated the European Diploma. Up to 1993, a total of 41 awards had been given for natural areas, sites or features of international value and European interest which can be shown to be adequately protected.
There are three categories:
In practice a government will suggest to the Council of Europe that they wish to enter a site or defined area for the Diploma. Not all applications succeed. In any case a local examination is undertaken and systematically repeated every five years, when the Diploma is due to be renewed, or when the area is threatened with the possibility to withdraw it. This control over Diploma sites instils a pride and sense of achievement in those involved, often key to the sites' protection and maintenance. Those awarded can include the sponsoring government, the site managers and their employers, wardens, local councillors or the NGO which manages the site. Experience of the resulting benefits is twofold:
At local level the prestige which results from the Diploma status can help all those involved in the area participate in its conservation, encouraging in turn greater cooperation from all concerned the farming and local residential communities, local firms, potential tourist or mine concerns, or military neighbours. Knowing that a review of this status takes place every five years can also help to encourage all concerned to keep on top of the environmental status at the site into the future.
The Bird Directive
The EC Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds (79/409/EEC) is legally binding on all Member States. All states are duty bound to 'preserve, maintain or re-establish a sufficient diversity and area of habitats' for all wild birds. They must ensure that a sufficient habitat is maintained to enable the survival of all migratory species and a list of 175 specifically mentioned species. Sites set aside for this must be classified as Special Protection Areas (SPAs). The European Court of Justice has ruled that EU Member States have no power to modify or reduce the extent of such areas once they have been defined. So far more than 800 sites have actually been designated, covering a total of more than 7 million hectares. However, the ICBP and IWRB claim that twice as many sites qualify as SPAs, covering an area of 14 million hectares, and that their protection is mandatory if the Directive is to succeed in its aim. These organisations are of the opinion that the sites designated so far fail to form an effective network for internal movement or vital international migration, and that Member States are being slow to designate sites and comply fully with the Directive.
The EC Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC) is a recent EC legislative instrument, following on from the Bird Directive. It establishes a common framework for 'the conservation of natural and semi-natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora' and allows the development of a network of special areas of conservation called Natura 2000, described below. The Habitats Directive aims to combine the concern to protect endangered species with a wider concern to protect and enhance habitats of interest in their own right. It is further planned that measures should be taken to allow species to move between sites (identification of habitat corridors) and increase their range or regain lost territory.
For the purpose of the Directive, 'Habitat' means a natural or semi-natural area with particular, unique biogeographical characteristics. Annex I of the Directive lists 200 habitat types including rare and small habitats, such as Alpine lakes and shifting dunes, as well as habitats known for their high biological diversity, such as calcareous grasslands. Other examples are estuaries (important for migratory species), traditionally managed agricultural lands (eg, 'dehesas', see Chapter 8) and certain continental broadleaved forests.
The Directive establishes a list (Annex II) of 134 vertebrates (no birds), 59 invertebrates and 278 species of plants whose habitats must be protected for their survival. Annex IV provides strict protection for another 173 species of plants, 71 species of invertebrates and 160 species of vertebrates. A ban is placed on the deliberate capture and killing of the animal species concerned and on the disturbance of these species, particularly during critical stages of their life-cycle (breeding, rearing, hibernation and migration); deliberate picking, collecting, uprooting and destruction of the plants are prohibited.
Concerning the implementation of the Habitats Directive it is foreseen that within six years of the adoption of the Directive (by 1998), the European Commission should have drawn up a list of sites of Community importance on the basis of national information. Within a further six years (ie by 2004) Member States should have designated the sites, to be called Special Areas of Conservation (SACs), which are intended to form the network Natura 2000. Adequate protection measures are to be taken by Member States, who will also be obliged to strengthen the ecological coherence of the sites.
There are a number of other initiatives (including conventions) which affect certain parts of Europe only. Some of these, (eg, those for the Arctic and the Mediterranean), extend to cover adjoining areas outside Europe. The most important are:
In addition, the Danube Convention developed to encourage international action to protect the river's environment was signed in June 1994.
Transfrontier parks are needed where important biogeographical areas are artificially divided by national boundaries. Parks of this kind not only provide joint protection and management of resources and environments, but can also help promote the cause of peace, and preserve and enhance cultural values and diversity among human communities living in or near such areas. Many of Europe's nations share important areas with their neighbours, notably mountain ranges (eg, Alps, Pyrenees, Balkans, Carpathians, and in Scandinavia), regional seas (eg, Mediterranean, Baltic, North, Black and Wadden seas), and river basins (eg, Danube, Rhine and Elbe). With its many small countries, Europe has particular need of this approach. Examples of international cooperation of this kind include the Green Lungs of Europe (Box 9NN), the Ecological Bricks initiative (Box 9OO) and the cooperation between the Argentera Nature Park in Italy and its trans-Alpine neighbour the Mercantour National Park in France (they were twinned in 1987, and cooperate in the administration, promotion and scientific work of the parks).
New initiatives |
The current preoccupation of those concerned with the environment in Europe is that in spite of all the measures taken over the last century or so, ecological diversity is still declining on a regional scale. Areas have been protected, anti-pollution laws, controls and campaigns have been instituted; positive management programmes to protect threatened species have been initiated. Furthermore, today every European country has some type of environmental agency or administrational unit to carry out this work. Considerable energy goes into international cooperation on the treaties and other positive measures, examples of which have been mentioned above. Nevertheless the decline of species and the loss of habitats continues in many regions.
For this reason a number of organisations feel that it is time to look at the way national measures for nature conservation and environmental protection are viewed in relation to the international scene as a whole. Hence, several new initiatives, both governmental and non-governmental, are currently being developed at the international level which are designed to exploit these opportunities in an imaginative way and which could become powerful mechanisms for carrying forward the intentions of European governments as, for example, set forth in their decisions at the European conference of environmental ministers held in Lucerne in April 1993. These include:
The signing of the Convention on Biological Diversity was one of the principal achievements of the Earth Summit. Virtually all European States signed the convention at Rio de Janeiro and many have now started the process of ratification. Under Article 6, each signatory has to prepare national plans for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, and to integrate these into other sectors. To help achieve one of its main objectives the conservation of biodiversity Article 8 (a) requires States to 'establish a system of protected areas or areas where special measures need to be taken to conserve biological diversity'. In conserving biodiversity, the Convention gives priority to in situ measures, including protected areas, and sees the main purpose of ex situ efforts (botanic gardens, zoos etc) as to complement in situ conservation.
The real value of the Convention lies not so much in its measures, which are in general rather imprecise, but in the achievement of putting this matter onto the international agenda and the follow-up action required at the national level. Properly used, the Convention could become the foundation for efforts in each country of Europe for the conservation of endangered species and ecosystems (see also Chapter 29).
Developed for the EU, the term and concept of Natura 2000 is a component of the directive on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and Wild Fauna and Flora (92/43/EEC) which states under Article 3(1):
A coherent European ecological network of special areas of conservation shall be set up under the title Natura 2000. This network, composed of sites hosting the natural habitat types listed in Annex I and habitats of species listed in Annex II, shall enable the natural habitat types and the species' habitats concerned to be maintained or, where appropriate, restored as a favourable conservation status in their natural range. The Natura 2000 network shall include the special protection areas classified by the Member States pursuant to Directive 79/409/EEC.
Based on the Bird and Habitats Directives, the network sets the minimum standard for biodiversity conservation in the 12 Member States, encompassing a wide range of issues and containing a number of concrete obligations. This concept is strengthened by the Treaty of Rome (Article 139r), amended by the single European Act and later by the Maastricht Treaty, according to which all Community policies and instruments must comply with the Community's environmental statutes, including the Habitats and Bird Directives.
In 1991 the Institute for European Policy, in collaboration with several European research institutes, proposed the creation of a European Ecological Network under the name EECONET (IEEP, 1991). The objective of EECONET is to conserve the ecosystems, habitats and species which are of European importance and to enhance the ecological coherence of the continent. The initiative includes a proposal to develop an international cooperative framework through which necessary action can be followed.
The physical ecological network comprises four main elements:
The design of the network was the subject of a seperate study which considered future landuse in the EU (Bischoff and Jongman, 1993). An international conference on EECONET was held in Maastricht in November 1993. The EECONET Declaration, adopted by the Conference (Bennett, 1994), urged the Council of Europe to coordinate the preparation of a European Biological and Landscape Diversity Strategy, for submission at the October 1995 Sofia conference of European Environment Ministers.
The IUCN Action Plan for Protected Areas in Europe was developed and launched during 1994. It has the aim of developing an adequate, effective, well-managed network of protected areas in Europe by proposing a set of recommendations for actions by governments and others, and by identifying some 2030 priority international projects of a catalytic nature. The plan gives much attention to placing Europe's protected areas in their wider context, to addressing the needs of priority sub-regions and countries, to improving management, and to creating the climate of public and political support needed to ensure the success of protected areas. By taking into account existing initiatives such as EC Directives, Natura 2000 and EECONET, the plan has been drawn up through a continent-wide process of consultation among those who deal with protected areas on a day-to-day basis (IUCN, 1993).
The protection of species and of sites has traditionally formed the cornerstone of national efforts to conserve nature, but it has become increasingly apparent that this approach alone will fail. Just as species cannot be safeguarded unless their habitats are also protected equally, a reliance on a network of protected areas, however good that network may be, will not suffice. If protected areas are treated as 'islands' of conservation, then:
For these reasons, it is now accepted that the conservation of nature requires that it be integrated into national and regional planning at every level. In particular, the following are the key areas for action:
Equally important, conservation needs to be integrated into sectoral policies, such as agriculture, forestry, tourism, transport and industry.
CONCLUSIONS |
Europe has a rich and varied nature and wildlife, despite the extent of modification to which the natural environment has been subjected. The trends, however, give cause for concern: valued ecosystems are everywhere facing stresses and decline, and the list of endangered species continues to lengthen, and for many species there is a lack of information. Much action has been taken, at the international and national levels, to address these problems, especially in the past 20 years.
Global initiatives like the protection of 362 wetlands under the Ramsar Convention, the designation of about 120 Biosphere Reserves and 20 World Heritage Sites are supplemented by European approaches like the Network of Biogenetic Reserves (288 sites) or the 41 European Diploma awards, both established by the Council of Europe. For the European Union, more than 800 Special Protection Areas have been classified in application of the Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds, while the Habitats Directive was adopted in 1992, encompassing more than 200 habitat types and 500 plant and animal species. Although several of these initiatives could do with strengthening, a bigger problem is that habitat protection is progressing too slowly in many countries.
However, on the national level, a large variety of site designations (130 different types of protection areas have been identified alone within the European Union) has led to an estimated 40 000 protected sites in Europe. Less than 900 of these sites are included in the United Nations list of protected areas requiring a minimum size of 1000 hectares. Much has been done during the last ten years: the area of national parks increased 50 per cent with over 50 000 ha created in each of Austria, Bulgaria, former Czechoslovakia, Finland, Germany, Norway, Romania and former Yugoslavia. A large number of actions have been initiated, financed or backed by non-governmental organisations, making them one of the driving forces in national and international nature conservation.
One important component for the preparation as well as the implementation of future strategies, regulations and actions is the availability of reliable information on the state of ecosystems, species and protection for the whole of Europe. Although far from being complete, data gathered for this report clearly indicate that all existing initiatives have not yet succeeded in stabilising Europe's ecosystems and stopping the decline of fauna and flora. Activities in favour of nature are still clearly outnumbered in time and space by those human activities which have the reverse effect. There are a host of threats to nature and wildlife from, among other things, pollution, the destruction of habitats, poorly planned agricultural and forestry operations, short-sighted tourism, urbanisation of formerly rural areas, damaging infrastructure schemes, and unregulated or poorly regulated taking of species.
Conservation of biodiversity has taken on a new urgency since UNCED in 1992. Due to the high level of public awareness and concern in Europe, there is realisation of the need to complement an essentially defensive approach, based on protection, with new policies designed to create or restore nature and wildlife in Europe. Concepts like Natura 2000 are promoting more actions to be taken outside the strictly 'protected areas' and to introduce the principles of sustainability for all forms of natural resource management. In this context, priorities need to be identified to ensure that the most valuable areas are preserved or regenerated first. Parallel to the systematic reduction of pervasive environmental stresses, linkages between important, but fragmented, conservation areas need to be established. In response, new network strategies and new approaches towards sustainable landuse outside protected areas are being discussed and are also the theme of the 1995 European Nature Conservation Year (ENCY), organised by the Council of Europe. Biological diversity is considered further in this report as a prominent environmental problem of concern to Europe, in Chapter 29.