ALBERT

Description: Research Highlights: The developed National Set of Indicators for the Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystems and their Services (MAES) implementation in Greece at the national level sets the official, national basis on which future studies will be conducted for MAES reporting for the achievement of targets within the National and the European Union (EU) biodiversity Strategy. Background and Objectives: Greece is currently developing and implementing a MAES nation-wide program based on the region’s unique characteristics following the proposed methodologies by the European Commission, in the frame of the LIFE-IP 4 NATURA project (Integrated actions for the conservation and management of Natura 2000 sites, species, habitats and ecosystems in Greece). In this paper, we present the steps followed to compile standardized MAES indicators for Greece that include: (a) collection and review of the available MAES-related datasets, (b) shortcomings and limitations encountered and overcome, (c) identification of data gaps and (d) assumptions and framework setting. Correspondence to EU and National Strategies and Policies are also examined to provide an initial guidance for detailed thematic studies. Materials and Methods: We followed the requirements of the EU MAES framework for ecosystem services and ecosystem condition indicator selection. Ecosystem services reported under the selected indicators were assigned following the Common International Classification of Ecosystem Services. Spatial analysis techniques were applied to create relevant thematic maps. Results: A set of 40 MAES indicators was drafted, distributed in six general indicator groups, i.e., Biodiversity, Environmental quality, Food, material and energy, Forestry, Recreation and Water resources. The protocols for the development and implementation of an indicator were also drafted and adopted for future MAES studies in Greece, providing guidance for adaptive development and adding extra indicators when and where needed. Thematic maps representing ecosystem services (ES) bundles and ES hotspots were also created to identify areas of ES importance and simultaneously communicate the results at the national and regional levels.

Description: Climate change poses a great challenge for biodiversity conservation. Several studies exist regarding climate change’s impacts on European plants, yet none has investigated how climate change will affect the extinction risk of the entire endemic flora of an island biodiversity hotspot, with intense human disturbance. Our aim is to assess climate change’s impacts on the biodiversity patterns of the endemic plants of Crete (S Aegean) and provide a case-study upon which a climate-smart conservation planning strategy might be set. We employed a variety of macroecological analyses and estimated the current and future biodiversity, conservation and extinction hotspots in Crete. We evaluated the effectiveness of climatic refugia and the Natura 2000 network of protected areas (PAs) for protecting the most vulnerable species and identified the taxa of conservation priority based on the Evolutionary Distinct and Globally Endangered (EDGE) index. The results revealed that high altitude areas of Cretan mountains constitute biodiversity hotspots and areas of high conservation and evolutionary value. Due to the “escalator to extinction” phenomenon, these areas are projected to become diversity “death-zones” and should thus be prioritised. Conservation efforts should be targeted at areas with overlaps among PAs and climatic refugia, characterised by high diversity and EDGE scores. This conservation-prioritisation planning will allow the preservation of evolutionary heritage, trait diversity and future ecosystem services for human well-being and acts as a pilot for similar regions worldwide.

Description: Research Highlights: This is the first review of existing knowledge on the Lamiaceae taxa of Greece, considering their distribution patterns and their linkage to the ecosystem services they may provide. Background and Objectives: While nature-based solutions are sought in many fields, the Lamiaceae family is well-known as an important ecosystem services provider. In Greece, this family counts 111 endemic taxa and the aim of the present study is to summarize their known occurrences, properties and chemical composition and analyze the correlations between these characteristics. Materials and Methods: After reviewing all available literature on the studied taxa, statistical and GIS spatial analyses were conducted. Results: The known properties of the endemic Lamiaceae taxa refer mostly to medicinal and antimicrobial ones, but also concern nutritional and environmental aspects. Essential oils compositions with high concentrations in molecules of interest (e.g., carvacrol, caryphyllene oxide, etc.) have been found in some taxa, suggesting unexploited applications for these taxa. Distribution patterns show a higher concentration of endemic Lamiaceae on the island of Kriti and southern Peloponnisos; patterns of the endemics’ properties are also highlighted in the biodiversity hotspot of Kriti. However, the lack of data for two thirds of the taxa, regarding their properties or specific distribution, shows a gap of knowledge. Results on endemic Lamiaceae properties and composition are correlated with the supply or potential supply of ecosystem services and the relevant hotspots have been identified. Conclusions: The Greek endemic Lamiaceae taxa are proved to be of great importance, regarding their chemical composition and the properties they confer. The distribution analysis suggests the existence of clustering patterns of plant species with common properties. Finally, this study highlights knowledge gaps that should be filled in order to ensure the conservation of the endemic Lamiaceae taxa and the preservation of the ecosystem services they provide or could potentially provide.

Description: Human-induced biodiversity loss has been accelerating since the industrial revolution. The climate change impacts will severely alter the biodiversity and biogeographical patterns at all scales, leading to biotic homogenization. Due to underfunding, a climate smart, conservation-prioritization scheme is needed to optimize species protection. Spatial phylogenetics enable the identification of endemism centers and provide valuable insights regarding the eco-evolutionary and conservation value, as well as the biogeographical origin of a given area. Many studies exist regarding the conservation prioritization of mainland areas, yet none has assessed how climate change might alter the biodiversity and biogeographical patterns of an island biodiversity hotspot. Thus, we conducted a phylogenetically informed, conservation prioritization study dealing with the effects of climate change on Crete’s plant diversity and biogeographical patterns. Using several macroecological analyses, we identified the current and future endemism centers and assessed the impact of climate change on the biogeographical patterns in Crete. The highlands of Cretan mountains have served as both diversity cradles and museums, due to their stable climate and high topographical heterogeneity, providing important ecosystem services. Historical processes seem to have driven diversification and endemic species distribution in Crete. Due to the changing climate and the subsequent biotic homogenization, Crete’s unique bioregionalization, which strongly reminiscent the spatial configuration of the Pliocene/Pleistocene Cretan paleo-islands, will drastically change. The emergence of the ‘Anthropocene’ era calls for the prioritization of biodiversity-rich areas, serving as mixed-endemism centers, with high overlaps among protected areas and climatic refugia.

Description: Research Highlights: This is the first approach that integrates biodiversity data into Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystem and their Services (MAES) implementation and natural capital accounting process, at the national scale, using an extensive vascular plant dataset for Greece. Background and Objectives: The study aims to support the MAES implementation in Greece, by assessing, as a pilot, the woodland and forest ecosystem type; the targets of the study are: (a) Identify and map ecosystem type extent; (b) identify ecosystem condition using biodiversity in terms of plant species richness (i.e., total, ecosystem exclusive, endemic, ecosystem exclusive endemic diversity); (c) develop ecosystem asset proxy indicators by combining ecosystem extent and ecosystem condition outcomes; (d) identify shortcomings; and (e) propose future steps and implications for the MAES implementation and natural capital accounting, based on biodiversity data. Materials and Methods: Following the national European Union’s and United Nations System of Environmental Economic Accounts-Experimental Ecosystem Accounting (SEEA-EEA) guidelines and the adopted National Set of MAES Indicators, we developed a set of four proxy ecosystem asset indicators to assess ecosystem types with respect to ecosystem area extent and ecosystem condition. This was as interpreted by its plant diversity in terms of species richness (total, ecosystem exclusive, endemic, and ecosystem exclusive endemic diversity). Results: The results revealed that when indicators use well-developed biodiversity datasets, in combination with ecosystem extent data, they can provide the baseline for ecosystem condition assessment, ecosystem asset delineation, and support operational MAES studies. Conclusions: The relation among biodiversity, ecosystem condition, and ecosystem services is not a linear equation and detailed, fine-scale assessments are needed to identify and interpret all aspects of biodiversity. However, areas of importance are pinpointed throughout Greece, and guidance is provided for case-study selection, conservation strategy, and decision-making under the perspective of national and EU environmental policies.

Description: Land-Use/Land-Cover (LULC) products are a common source of information and a key input for spatially explicit models of ecosystem service (ES) supply and demand. Global, continental, and regional, readily available, and free land-cover products generated through Earth Observation (EO) data, can be potentially used as relevant to ES mapping and assessment processes from regional to national scales. However, several limitations exist in these products, highlighting the need for timely land-cover extraction on demand, that could replace or complement existing products. This study focuses on the development of a classification workflow for fine-scale, object-based land cover mapping, employed on terrestrial ES mapping, within the Greek terrestrial territory. The processing was implemented in the Google Earth Engine cloud computing environment using 10 m spatial resolution Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 data. Furthermore, the relevance of different training data extraction strategies and temporal EO information for increasing the classification accuracy was also evaluated. The different classification schemes demonstrated differences in overall accuracy ranging from 0.88% to 4.94% with the most accurate classification scheme being the manual sampling/monthly feature classification achieving a 79.55% overall accuracy. The classification results suggest that existing LULC data must be cautiously considered for automated extraction of training samples, in the case of new supervised land cover classifications aiming also to discern complex vegetation classes. The code used in this study is available on GitHub and runs on the Google Earth Engine web platform.

Description: We introduce a field survey method to assess the conservation condition of landscapes. Using a popular rapid assessment format, this study defines observable “stressed states” identified through the use of general metrics to gauge landscape degradation. Fifteen metrics within six thematic categories were selected through a literature review and extensive field trials. Field tests on the Greek island of Samothraki show a strong correlation between a single expert’s scores and five assessor’s scores at 35 landscape sites. Only three of the metrics did not maintain a high consistency among assessors; however, this is explained by the difficulty of interpreting certain anthropogenic stressors (such as livestock grazing) in Mediterranean semi-natural landscapes with culturally-modified vegetation patterns. The protocol and proposed index, with five conservation condition classes, identified areas of excellent and good quality, and reliably distinguished the most degraded landscape conditions on the island. Uncertainties and difficulties of the index are investigated, and further research and validation are proposed. The protocol effectively goes beyond a traditional visual aesthetic assessment; it can be used both by experts and non-scientists as a conservation-relevant multi-disciplinary procedure to support a holistic landscape diagnosis. The combination of an on-site experiential survey and its simple integrative format may be useful as a screening-level index, and for promoting local participation, landscape literacy and educational initiatives.

Description: Industrial wind farms are being developed within many protected areas, such as in EU Natura 2000 sites; this includes proposals on small Mediterranean islands, such as Samothraki in Greece. Scarce wild land areas on islands may be particularly vulnerable to landscape-scale degradation; this may have serious negative societal impacts. Samothraki's resident perceptions were surveyed in the wake of such a proposal, in June 2018. Of 98 respondents, 48% reported they were against the wind farm plan, while 22% did not take sides. We compare for-and-against sub-group perceptions of the proposed wind farm with potential impacts on the landscape and explore residents’ opinions on ecosystem services and environmental pressures and threats. Conflict over the wind farm was prevalent; residents most frequently reported that the proposal threatens aesthetic and landscape qualities. Aesthetic qualities were also the second highest ranked ecosystem services, after freshwater provision. However, other threats, such as livestock overgrazing, top residents' opinion of major environmental problems on the island. The questionnaire survey used provides a scoping assessment, which may assist in identifying "conflict hotspots" for wind farm development. A critical review of wind farm planning in protected areas is presented in light of insights gained from this survey and other relevant studies.