1 CEABN/InBIO, Centre for Applied Ecology “Prof. Baeta Neves”, Institute of

Agronomy, University of Lisbon, (Portugal) 2 INIA-CIFOR, Dpto. Selvicultura y Gestión de Sistemas Forestales, (Spain)

Inês Marques Duarte 1, Leónia Nunes 1, Susana Dias 1, Vasco Silva 1, Iciar Alberdi 2, Francisco Rego 1

Management of Natura 2000 Network is a responsibility for all Member States. Tools to understand the scale of responsibility of conservation of each habitat area needed

Assess the relevance of the forest habitats in Iberian Peninsula, using a methodology already tested for Portugal (Duarte et al., 2016) and expanded for the Iberian Peninsula

DUARTE, I., REGO, F. C., CASQUILHO, J., ARSÉNIO, P. 2016. A Relevance Index for the habitat areas of Natura 2000 Network based on their Rarity and Representativeness. Ecological Indicators Journal. 61, 202-213

Fig. 1. Natura 2000 Network (EEA, Sept 2013)

4

5

Number of

EEA records

Number of

EEA records

used

Percentage

used (%)

Nr. Sites of Community Importance 22 149 21 113 95.3 %

Nr. Habitat areas 135 408 124 013 91.6 %

Nr. Habitat types 231 225 94.9 %

Nr. Countries 27 25 92.6 %

Table 1. Comparison of records used in this study with the ones

available in the EEA database in 2013, regarding habitat Directive.

(-)Area info

6310 Dehesas with evergreen Quercus spp.

91B0 Thermophilous Fraxinus angustifolia woods

91D0 * Bog woodland

91E0

* Alluvial forests with Alnus glutinosa and Fraxinus excelsior (Alno-Padion, Alnion incanae, Salicion albae)

9230 Galicio-Portuguese oak woods with Quercus robur and Quercus pyrenaica

9240 Quercus faginea and Quercus canariensis Iberian woods

9260 Castanea sativa woods

92A0 Salix alba and Populus alba galleries

92B0

Riparian formations on intermittent Mediterranean water courses with Rhododendron ponticum, Salix and others

92D0

Southern riparian galleries and thickets (Nerio-Tamaricetea and Securinegion tinctoriae)

9320 Olea and Ceratonia forests

9330 Quercus suber forests

9340 Quercus ilex and Quercus rotundifolia forests

9380 Forests of Ilex aquifolium

9520 Abies pinsapo forests

9530 * (Sub-) Mediterranean pine forests with endemic black pines

9540 Mediterranean pine forests with endemic Mesogean pines

9560 * Endemic forests with Juniperus spp.

9570 * Tetraclinis articulata forests

9580 * Mediterranean Taxus baccata woods

Rarity Representativeness

Rarity measured using the habitat areas (yi) :

𝒚𝒊 = −𝒍𝒏𝒂𝒊𝑨

where A is the total area (51.7 million hectares) and of all 𝑘 habitat types (225) considered and (𝑎𝑖) the area of the habitat type

Representativeness is the proportion, or the relative weight (𝜔𝑖𝑗), of that area (𝑎𝑖𝑗) in the total area of that habitat type in Natura 2000 Network (𝑎𝑖):

𝝎𝒊𝒋 = 𝒂𝒊𝒋

𝒂𝒊

7 (Duarte et al, 2016)

𝒛𝒊𝒋- Relevance index of a habitat area (Natura 2000)

𝒁𝒋 - Relevance index of a set of habitats

𝒛𝒊𝒋 is the product of the Rarity of a type and the Representativeness of the habitat area (𝒊)

𝒛𝒊𝒋 = 𝒚𝒊 . 𝝎𝒊𝒋

We can obtain regional or national

values for 𝑍 by adding all the 𝑧𝑖𝑗 of a region, or country. And we can compute also the relevance of the forest areas in Iberian Peninsula by

adding all the 𝑧𝑖𝑗 of each type, present in the study area

𝒁𝒋 = 𝒛𝒊𝒋

𝒌𝒋

𝐢=𝟏

8 (Duarte et al, 2016)

6310

23%

91B0

2%

91D0

0,001%

91E0

2% 9230

10%

9240

5% 9260

2% 92A0

3%

92B0

0,2%

92D0

2%

9320

1%

9330

6%

9340

23%

9380

1%

9520

0,04%

9530

5%

9540

9%

9560

4%

9570

0% 9580

1%

Presence of forest habitats

Images from: http://eunis.eea.europa.eu/habitats.jsp & http://www.icnf.pt/portal/naturaclas/rn2000/

9230 Galicio-Portuguese oak woods with Quercus robur and Quercus pyrenaica

9340 Quercus ilex and Quercus rotundifolia forests

6310 Dehesas with evergreen Quercus spp.

9540 Mediterranean pine forests with endemic Mesogean pines

95,9% 97,2%

0,0%

20,0%

92,8% 100,0%

22,6%

49,4%

100,0%

80,9%

33,3%

81,0% 68,1%

82,7%

100,0%

57,3% 64,9%

93,4% 99,0% 91,2%

6310 91B0 91D0* 91E0* 9230 9240 9260 92A0 92B0 92D0 9320 9330 9340 9380 9520 9530* 9540 9560* 9570* 9580*

Representativeness

6,3 6,4

3,6 3,2

6,0 6,0 5,3

4,6

9,4

5,1 6,0 6,2

4,4

7,4

10,1

6,2 5,7 6,3

9,6

7,3

6310 91B0 91D0* 91E0* 9230 9240 9260 92A0 92B0 92D0 9320 9330 9340 9380 9520 9530* 9540 9560* 9570* 9580*

Rarity values of the habitat types in the Natura 2000 Network

Habitats with highest relevance index correspond to rare habitats or to highly represented in a region, as in the Iberian Peninsula case

The relevance index is a helpful tool to identify on which we have greater responsibility, providing information to regions and Natura 2000 management boards

The output of this index can support the monitoring/assessment of Natura 2000 habitats

To funding projects: priority status is important for conservation planning

Also relevance index can be considered to support management and financial decisions

It is important to improve the knowledge of habitat status. Also the National Forest Inventory of each region can be a helpful tool to provide data to characterize and update the current status of the habitats

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