Search

The Mediterranean basin is one of the most varied areas worldwide in terms of biodiversity and species richness due to its climatic and geomorphological features, and it is characterized by multi-faceted habitats where forests play a crucial role. Nowadays, the geographic distribution of forest species is well known and multiple geographic datasets are available with different spatial details. However, protection and conservation strategies need more specific information to identify areas with high conservation priority or more vulnerable to the ongoing environmental change ("hot spots"). To this purpose, tree species distribution data were investigated through hot spot analysis using Geographic Information Systems. The analysis was carried out on presence data of ten relevant forest tree species/classes across Mediterranean Europe. By combining spatial analysis and spatial statistics, we identified high and very high hot spot areas for the selected species/classes, which were validated by assessing their biological significance. Given the sub-continental extent of the study, a multiple scale approach was applied ranging from regional, subregional to local scale, coherently with the potential multi-level and multi-sector users of similar data and tools. Our results confirm the feasibility of the approach used to increase the quality and quantity of information achievable from available forest distribution datasets. The hot spot maps obtained are a useful support for further spatial evaluations, and may help environmental decision makers to identify priority areas for forest protection and conservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Degradation, a reduction of the ecosystem's capacity to supply goods and services, is widespread in tropical forests and mainly caused by human disturbance. To maintain the full range of forest ecosystem services and support the development of effective conservation policies, we must understand the overall impact of degradation on different forest resources. This research investigates the response to disturbance of forest structure using several indicators: soil carbon content, arboreal richness and biodiversity, functional composition (guild and wood density), and productivity. We drew upon large field and remote sensing datasets from different forest types in Ghana, characterized by varied protection status, to investigate impacts of selective logging, and of illegal land use and resources extraction, which are the main disturbance causes in West Africa. Results indicate that functional composition and the overall number of species are less affected by degradation, while forest structure, soil carbon content and species abundance are seriously impacted, with resources distribution reflecting the protection level of the areas. Remote sensing analysis showed an increase in productivity in the last three decades, with higher resiliency to change in drier forest types, and stronger productivity correlation with solar radiation in the short dry season. The study region is affected by growing anthropogenic pressure on natural resources and by an increased climate variability: possible interactions of disturbance with climate are also discussed, together with the urgency to reduce degradation in order to preserve the full range of ecosystem functions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]