Kacergyte, I. | Search bioRxiv

bioRxiv2025

Vulnerability and adaptations to climate change in EU protected areas: a Natura 2000 managers' perspective

The Natura 2000 (N2K) network is a key conservation instrument in the European Union, but its effectiveness is challenged by climate change. We surveyed 382 N2K managers to investigate their perceptions of climate change and related site adaptation strategies. Warming and precipitation shifts were frequently perceived as threats, with vulnerability of N2K sites highest in the Mediterranean and lowest in the Boreal region. Our results suggest that the official N2K site information stored in the Standard Data Forms greatly under-report managers assessment of vulnerability. Around half of the surveyed managers implemented adaptation strategies, which, when characterised following a Resist-Accept-Direct framework, aimed not only at resisting, but also at directing and accepting the effects of climate change. Managers also highlighted the need for scientific knowledge on local vulnerability and increased funding to improve the implementation of adaptation strategies inside protected areas.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2023

Soil seed bank richness, abundance and density across spatial scales and global biomes

Soil seed banks are an important component of plant population and community dynamics, buffering temporal heterogeneity and allowing populations to recover following disturbance. At the same time, patterns in soil seed banks are likely to reflect scale-dependent patterns in above-ground vegetation, patterns that differ strongly across world regions. Here, we investigate components of diversity in the soil seed bank across global biomes and ecosystems. We found that patterns of species richness in the soil seed bank diverged from patterns of seed density, although there were high levels of uncertainty, especially at smaller spatial scales. Importantly, habitat degradation consistently led to lower richness, potentially limiting future ecosystem recovery. Among ecosystems, mediterranean and tropical regions had high species richness, but seed density m-2 in the soil was highest in wetlands and arable systems. Lower seed densities were found in both high-diversity tropical biomes that are characterised by short-lived seeds, and low-diversity boreal and tundra biomes with more stable established vegetation. Our findings of divergences between species richness and seed density across global biomes, and how they are impacted by habitat degradation, give valuable insights to the understanding of plant biodiversity worldwide.

ecology↗