Abstract
(Englisch)
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This project addresses the need to monitor changes in biodiversity, This need has long been recognised and is explicitly included in, amongst other places, the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), which the EU and all its Member States are parties to, the EU Biodiversity Strategy and the Ministerial Process for Protection of Forests in Europe. However, the major problem with monitoring biodiversity is that it is impossible to assess changes in the high number of species present in any place. Thus there is a need for indicators of biodiversity that can be used to rapidly assess changes in biodiversity. An ideal method for assessing biodiversity is one that provides an early warning of changes in biodiversity, particularly in relation to possible threats to biodiversity (such as pollution and alien species), specific initiatives intended to alleviate these threats (such as the CBD), and policy reforms which may affect biodiversity (such as the adjustments to the EU's Common Agricultural Policy, Transport Policy, etc.).
The overall objective of this project is to develop methods for assessing the biodiversity of inland terrestrial ecosystems in Europe. These methods, or `biodiversity assessment tools' will be made up of sets of indicators of biodiversity, specifically intended to assess changes in biodiversity in Europe. The approach of the project is first to consider the major factors, particularly policy-related factors, influencing biodiversity in Europe and, therefore, to assess where the greatest needs for indicators of biodiversity exists. This will be done in dialogue with a wide range of stakeholders in meetings and in an electronic conference, leading to guidelines for the development of biodiversity assessment tools. From this dialogue, a series of indicators will be proposed and measured in conjunction with a wide range of biodiversity, specifically different groups of plants and animals. The indicators will include, in particular, those that can be measured remotely from aerial photographs and satellite. The measurement of biodiversity, and biodiversity indicators, will take place across land-use gradients, from forests to intensively managed agricultural areas, in large test sites in Portugal, Spain, France, Switzerland, Hungary, Ireland, Finland and the UK, involving scientists from these countries and from Germany and the Netherlands.Thus the approach of the project is also designed to measure the impact of land-use change on selected major components of biodiversity, including earthworms, ground-beetles, butterflies, plants, lichens and birds.
During the second project year the Swiss team has finished the identification of the first year's biodiversity assessment and it has completed the overall field work. The analysis of RS data was carried out in close co-operation with the German project partner.
For butterflies and lichens the Swiss test site revealed the highest species number in the project. Preliminary analyses of the lichen data were presented during a project workshop in Hungary. More detailed analyses are scheduled for the third project year.
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