East meets West – a workshop to discuss transferring conservation approaches between Eastern and Western European farmed landscapes

From dehesas to machair, from steppe to alpine grasslands we live on a diverse continent, especially where farmed landscapes are concerned. What we share, however, is a growing conservation problem, and a need to produce both locally appropriate and internationally coherent biodiversity strategies.

One major barrier to this is the underrepresentation of eastern countries in European conservation. Despite being some of the most species rich areas in Europe, due to higher proportions of semi-natural habitats and lower levels of agricultural intensification, relatively little research is carried out in Eastern Europe and published internationally.

ISI Web of Science search, 2012: (agricultur* OR farmland) AND ("species richness" OR biodivers*). 3500 papers were summarized. With thanks to András Báldi for kindly providing the illustration.

As a result, we are facing a situation where, for example, inappropriate conservation measures based on western research in highly modified landscapes are being applied in semi-natural eastern areas. Vice versa, restoration measures are being carried out in western habitats without full knowledge of what could be restored, which could be gained from intact eastern landscapes.

In order to address this mismatch, 45 participants working in farmland conservation from 21 European countries gathered in Göttingen between the 13^th-15^th February 2013 to discuss East-West differences in conservation, and how these might be addressed. Organised by researchers from the University of Göttingen and financed by the Volkswagen Foundation, the workshop consisted of 39 talks covering a wide range of systems and geographical areas, culminating in a discussion session to link up the issues raised over the previous two days.

Participants of the East meets West workshop

We’d like to thank all the participants who contributed their time, knowledge and enthusiasm to make this a successful and enjoyable workshop! We hope that this will be the start of many new collaborations and initiatives to fill the research gaps as well as improving the application of the knowledge that we have. For more information please visit the workshop website.

Related publications:

Báldi A, Batáry P (2011): Spatial heterogeneity and farmland birds: different perspectives in Western and Eastern Europe. Ibis 153: 875-876.

Tryjanowski, P., Hartel, T., Báldi, A., Szymański, P., Tobolka, M., Herzon, I., Goławski, A., Konvička, M., Hromada, M., Jerzak, L., Kujawa, K., Lenda, M., Orłowski, G., Panek, M., Skórka, P, Sparks, T.H., Tworek, S., Wuczyński, A. & Żmihorski, M. (2011). Conservation of farmland birds faces different challenges in Western and Central-Eastern Europe Acta Ornithologica, 46, 1-12.

Laura Sutcliffe (http://www.uni-goettingen.de/de/mitarbeiter/73082.html)

Péter Batáry (http://www.nhmus.hu/~batary)

Urs Kormann http://www.uni-goettingen.de/de/198733.html)

Teja Tscharntke (http://www.uni-goettingen.de/en/92552.html)

University of Göttingen, Germany

A new global map displays the functionality of ecosystems

A new study explores which continental areas have the highest functionality. These are of major relevance for the sustainability of the biosphere and they are areas, which supply most services to humanity. Especially with regard to climate change these exceptionally functional areas deserve particular protection.

Ecosystems absorb solar energy and convert it to ecosystem services usable by humans. For example they provide biomass, which can serve as food, construction material or energy resource, or they regulate the climate and store water. Basic functions such as photosynthesis and the maintenance of nutrient circles are crucial for the provision of ecosystem services. The ability of Earth´s surface to absorb, transform and store energy is a result of ecosystem processes. In this respect, some ecosystems are more efficient than others. According to current theories and outcomes, this is a result of the complexity and diversity of ecosystems with higher functionality leading to a diversification of pathways for energy storage and dissipation. Furthermore, the amount of living and dead biomass is of high significance. Ecosystems with higher functionality are more resilient towards disturbances such as fluctuations in temperature and precipitation. Functional ecosystems have a special importance for mankind because they also regulate the adaptability of nature to climate change.

The study was carried out by the Centre for Econics and Ecosystem Management of Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development and published in the international journal “Ecological Complexity”. It addresses the question where the most functional regions are located. The team of authors led by Lisa Freudenberger identified indicators for the functionality of ecosystems, combined and mapped them for all continents. Highest values were found in many tropical and subtropical rain forests such as the Amazon region. Nevertheless, boreal and temperate zone in Canada, Russia and Scandinavia were found to be important as well. Global conservation strategies give less consideration to these areas due to their relatively low levels of species richness if compared to the tropics. “In the global context, the regions we have identified in the study are the most important ones for the provision of ecosystem services and deserve particular protection”, says Lisa Freudenberger. “Our work is the basis for a new approach to priority-setting in nature conservation”, says Prof. Pierre Ibisch, head of the research group.

The study was carried out in the framework of the cooperative graduate programme “Adaptive Nature Conservation to Climate Change” of the University for Sustainable Development Eberswalde, Potsdam University and the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research as well as the junior research group “Regional adaptation strategies towards accelerating climate change – Ecosystem Services/Biodiversity”. This research project is supported by the Ministry of Science, Research and Culture through funds of the European Social Fund and the Land Brandenburg.

Reference: Freudenberger L, Hobson P R, Schluck M, Ibisch P L (2012) A global map of the functionality of terrestrial ecosystems. Ecological Complexity 12:13-22, Doi: 10.1016/j.ecocom.2012.08.002.