Gauzere, P. | Search bioRxiv

bioRxiv2025

Threats to Nature's Contributions to People provided by terrestrial vertebrates across Europe

Aim.Species and ecosystem processes offer essential benefits to people, known as Natures Contributions to People (NCP). However, we still lack a comprehensive understanding of NCP provided by terrestrial vertebrates on a large scale, and of the threats they face. To bridge this gap, we built a comprehensive dataset that documents the NCP provided by terrestrial vertebrate species in Europe, and analysed the conservation status and threats to NCP provider species. Location.Europe Methods.We synthesised existing literature on NCP associated with European terrestrial vertebrates, and leveraged ecological traits and trophic interactions from previously established datasets. We identified 15 NCP (10 regulating NCP and 5 non-material NCP), with 860 species providing at least one NCP (out of 1,168 vertebrate species considered in total). Then, we harnessed species distribution data and a novel European land system map to create species-mediated NCP maps across Europe at a 1km{superscript 2} resolution, including societal demand for each NCP. Results.We found that i) for each NCP, at least 25% of NCP provider species are assessed as threatened with extinction; ii) NCP multifunctionality is lowest in high-intensity land systems; and iii) direct exploitation and agricultural intensification are major threats to species-mediated NCP, impacting both non-material and regulating NCP provider species. Main conclusions.Protecting threatened NCP provider species, and reducing direct exploitation are key to maintain regulating and non-material NCP. Our results suggest that de-intensifying agricultural practices, through maintaining heterogeneous mosaic landscapes and promoting diversified practices, could increase NCP multifunctionality. Our work enables a comprehensive understanding of NCP provided by terrestrial vertebrates in Europe, their biogeography, and the threats they face, which can in turn inform spatial conservation planning to improve the conservation of both biodiversity and NCP.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2025

Unraveling Biodiversity Change: A multi-scale decomposition of changes in European breeding bird diversity

AimDetecting and describing temporal changes in biological communities is fundamental to biodiversity research and applied ecology. Species richness remains a widespread metric in long-term monitoring, yet it obscures underlying processes since changes in species richness are often only the result of turnover, homogenisation and/or shifts in relative abundances. Furthermore, biodiversity trends and their drivers can vary across spatial scales, demanding spatially explicit approaches. This study aims at unravelling how changes in community structure shape trends in richness across spatial scales, offering a more mechanistic view on biodiversity trend detection. LocationEurope Time period1975 - 2023 Major taxa studiedBirds MethodsWe first assessed trends in breeding bird richness on local (site-level) and national scale for 25 European countries or sub-divisions using linear models. Next, we applied the multi-scale Measures of Biodiversity (MoB) framework in a temporal context to decompose changes in species richness into contributions from individual density, species-abundance distribution, and con-specific spatial aggregation. We then quantify how these components drive species richness from local plots to national extents. Analyses were further conducted separately for farmland and forest guilds, as well as across ecoregions. ResultsThree general patterns emerged beyond variation among countries and functional guilds: Aggregation dominates local richness dynamics, evenness governs broad-scale trends, and density plays an intermediate role. Findings of distinct local and national trends in bird richness agree with previous findings, albeit we find more heterogeneous average trends among countries on local scales. Distinct trends and components patterns vary among ecoregions within countries, highlighting the need for sub-national analyses. Main conclusionsThis scale-explicit, component-based approach reveals how changes in community structure shape trends in species richness from local to national scales. Such mechanistic insights of biodiversity change might enable more precisely targeted conservation strategies and identification of external drivers.

ecology↗