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In October, nations of the world will begin negotiations for the post‐2020 Global Biodiversity Framework under the Convention on Biological Diversity. An influential ambition is “bending the curve of biodiversity loss,” which aims to reverse the decline of global biodiversity indicators. A second relevant, yet less prominent, milestone is the 20th anniversary of the publication of The Unified Neutral Theory of Biodiversity and Biogeography. Here, I apply neutral theory to show how global biodiversity indicators for population size (Living Planet Index) and extinction threat (Red List Index) decline under neutral ecological drift. This demonstrates that declining indicators are not solely caused by deterministic species‐specific or geographical patterns of biodiversity loss. Instead, indicators are sensitive to nondirectional stochasticity. Thus, “bending the curve” could be assessed relative to a counterfactual based on neutral theory, rather than static baselines. If used correctly, the 20‐year legacy of neutral theory can be extended to make a valuable contribution to the post‐2020 Global Biodiversity Framework., Global biodiversity indicators for populations (Living Planet Index) and extinction threat (Red List Index) decline under random ecological drift. The consequence of this is that prominent aspirations to “bend the curve of biodiversity loss” may be untenable, at least in terms of current biodiversity metrics. The Unified Neutral Theory of Biodiversity and Biogeography—which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year—could be used as a counterfactual against which to measure progress toward the post‐2020 Global Biodiversity Framework.

The biodiversity crisis we are experiencing requires more than ever the establishment of an observation and monitoring system to help us understand where we have the greatest problems, to inform actions to help halt and reverse biodiversity loss in those places, and to anticipate the impact of our future actions. The Essential Biodiversity Variable framework concept (EBV; Pereira et al. 2013), was conceptually conceived to provide an analytical framework for biodiversity monitoring, which includes functional, structural, and compositional aspects at different levels of organization, from genes to ecosystems, which, as opposed to reductionist approaches, tries to think of biodiversity from a holistic and systemic viewpoint. After some years of working on refining this concept (e.g., Proença et al. 2017, Kissling et al. 2017, Jetz et al. 2019), in collaboration with the Group on Earth Observations Biodiversity Observation Networks (GEO BON) user community, we have taken the next step, which is precisely to work on grounding this concept through a proposed structure, standard, and tools, which facilitates interoperability and the process of sharing and accessing this information. Our vision for boosting the adoption and use of the EBV framework, named for the different dimensions of the planetary life system that it is intended to capture, is to facilitate access to multiple EBV data products organized under a consistent data structure and with standardized annotation across EBV classes. We propose to leverage the Network Common Data Form (NetCDF) data structure in combination with the Attribute Convention for Data Discovery (ACDD) terms and the Ecological Metadata Language (EML) syntax and adapt them to describe hierarchically organized, spatially explicit, gridded data on biodiversity observations, model predictions, and scenarios using a combination of a web portal and an R package for publication and exploration. We believe that this data structure metadata and supporting tools, initially tested using diverse biodiversity datasets that cover the full scope of the Essential Biodiversity Variables framework, will allow us to better serve the community of users interested in different aspects of global change, to be able to ask questions framed in specific times and spaces in order to obtain, analyze, and visualize the time series registered somewhere on the planet and gain knowledge and insights that will inform decision-making and help us drive and direct development trajectories towards a more sustainable future.

The slow adoption by the agricultural sector of practices to promote biodiversity are thought to originate from three interrelated issues. First, we know little about which incentives effectively motivate farmers to integrate biodiversity into daily farm management. Second, few studies so far have produced evidence that biodiversity-based approaches produce benefits in terms of key variables for farmers (yield, profit). Third, there is a large communication gap between the scientists investigating biodiversity-based farming practices and the farmers who have to implement them. To overcome these barriers, SHOWCASE will review and test the effectiveness of a range of economic and societal incentives to implement biodiversity management in farming operations and examine farmer and public acceptance. Focus will be on three promising approaches: (i) result-based incentives, (ii) involvement in citizen science biodiversity monitoring and (iii) biodiversity-based business models. SHOWCASE will co-produce together with stakeholders solid interdisciplinary evidence for the agro-ecological and socio-economic benefits of biodiversity management in 10 contrasting farming systems across Europe. SHOWCASE will also design communication strategies that are tailor-made to farmers and other key stakeholders operating in different socio-economic and environmental conditions. SHOWCASE will develop a multi-actor network of 10 Experimental Biodiversity Areas in contrasting European farming systems that will be used for in-situ research on biodiversity incentives and evidence for benefits as well as knowledge exchange. This network will be used to identify and test biodiversity indicators and targets relevant to all stakeholders and use them in a learning-by-doing approach to improve benefits of biodiversity management on farms, both within the network and beyond.

The amount of High Nature Value farmland (HNVf) is a commonly used environmental indicator for assessing the performance of the Common Agricultural Policy, to support sustainable agriculture and monitor changes in agricultural land use in Europe. HNVf comprises agricultural areas of semi-natural state, low-intensity farming and fine-scale landscape mosaics of different habitat types. For a successful implementation, the identification of HNVf should correctly reflect the variation in biodiversity values between different agricultural landscapes. We examined how well the Finnish HNVf indicator and the sub-indicators constituting it – recalculated for the purposes of this study for five study regions – reflect the variation in bird and butterfly species richness and diversity patterns at different spatial scales. We found that butterfly diversity index was positively associated with the HNVf indicator at the finest scale of 0.5 km × 0.5 km squares. Among the HNVf sub-indicators, extensive cultivation of grasslands was most strongly related to the farmland bird diversity and the density of edge to the butterfly diversity. Thus, the HNVf concept reflects well the distribution of butterflies in the Finnish agricultural landscapes but insufficiently the diversity patterns of farmland birds. Importantly, semi-natural vegetation and long-term pastures – the backbone of the concept – presently occur in small and highly fragmented patches in agricultural landscapes in Finland. The Pan-European concept of HNVf has restricted application to farmland birds of this boreal country and the national HNVf concept may need to be revised.

Biodiversity varies with elevation and is affected by disturbances. However, little is known about how the associations between the diversities of different bryophyte and macrolichen functional-taxonomic groups are altered along elevational gradients and by disturbances. Knowledge on the associations between these functional-taxonomic groups might be of importance in practical conservation biology, as identifying indicator taxa which are easy to monitor could be useful in estimating a wider biodiversity. We sampled the species richness of bryophytes and macrolichens in 92 plots distributed in disturbed and undisturbed stands along elevational gradients in the laurel forest of Madeira. We then calculated a matrix of correlations for all pairwise combinations of 18 different functional-taxonomic bryophyte and macrolichen groups and tested for average differences in correlations with elevation and disturbance history and whether particular functional-taxonomic groups can be used to estimate the richness of other taxa. Associations between the diversities of functional-taxonomic groups within the bryophyte group and within the macrolichen group were always positive and mainly strong. Although changes in elevation and disturbance history changed the associations between the different bryophyte and macrolichen functional-taxonomic groups, we found the species richness of mosses or liverworts to be suitable for predicting overall bryophyte species richness and the species richness of green-algae macrolichens to be reliable for estimating overall macrolichen species richness. Associations between diversities of bryophyte and macrolichen groups were generally weak, suggesting that the two groups have different ecological requirements and do not share the same environmental drivers. The fact that no single bryophyte taxon can be used to predict the richness of any macrolichen group, and vice versa, points to the need to study both bryophytes and lichens. However, we found indicator taxa that are relatively easy to monitor and therefore could be used to estimate the wider biodiversity.

International audience; Tree-related microhabitats (TreMs) are important features for the conservation of biodiversity in forest ecosystems. Although other structural indicators of forest biodiversity have been extensively studied in recent decades, TreMs have often been overlooked, either due to the absence of a consensual definition or a lack of knowledge. Despite the increased number of TreM studies in the last decade, the role of drivers of TreM profile in primary forests and across different geographical regions is still unknown. To evaluate the main drivers of TreM density and diversity, we conducted the first large-scale study of TreMs across European primary forests. We established 146 plots in eight primary forests dominated by European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) in the Carpathian and Dinaric mountain ranges. Generalized linear mixed effect models were used to test the effect of local plot characteristics and spatial variability on the density and diversity (alpha, beta, and gamma) of TreMs. Total TreM density and diversity were significantly positively related with tree species richness and the proportion of snags. Root mean square tree diameters were significantly related to alpha and gamma diversity of TreMs. Both regions reached similarly high values of total TreM densities and total TreM densities and diversity were not significantly different between the two regions; however, we observed between the two regions significant differences in the densities of two TreM groups, conks of fungi and epiphytes. The density and diversity of TreMs were very high in beech-dominated mountain primary forests, but their occurrence and diversity was highly variable within the landscapes over relatively short spatial gradients (plot and stand levels). Understanding these profile provides a benchmark for further comparisons, such as with young forest reserves, or for improving forest management practices that promote biodiversity.

Governments have committed to global targets to slow biodiversity loss and sustain ecosystem services. Biodiversity state indicators that measure progress toward these targets mostly focus on species, while indicators synthesizing ecosystem change are largely lacking. We fill this gap with three indices quantifying past and projected changes in ecosystems using data from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Ecosystems. Our indices quantify changes in risk of ecosystem collapse, ecosystem area and ecological processes, and capture variation in underlying patterns among ecosystems. We apply the indices to three case studies of regional and national assessments (American/Caribbean forests, terrestrial ecosystems of Colombia, and terrestrial ecosystems of South Africa) to illustrate the indices’ complementarity and versatility in revealing patterns of interest for users across sectors. Our indices have the potential to fill the recognized need for ecosystem indicators to inform conservation targets, guide policy, and prioritize management actions.

Motivation and objective: Because biodiversity conservation in forest management planning is necessary for ensuring regular ecosystem functioning, resilience and sustainability, the specific objective of this research was to quantify biodiversity at the landscape level in a forest plantation. Case study: Vale de Sousa, Forest Intervention Zone (ZIF), is located in the North of Portugal. ZIFs were formed all over the county with the objective to prevent forest fires, desertification and the abandonment of rural areas. The total case study area is 14.773 ha, mainly covered by plantation forests. The predominant forest species are maritime pine (Pinus pinaster) and blue gum (Eucalyptus globulus) either as pure or mixed stands. Methods:Fuzzy-logic system can serve as a platform for bundling expert knowledge on estimating ecosystem services provision and examining the consequences of contradictory expert views. The method was used to evaluate biodiversity as was recently proposed and demonstrated by Biber et al. (2018) in the context of the European Union (EU) project ALTERFOR (Alternative models and robust decision-making for future forest management - https://www.alterfor-project.eu/key-facts.html). In this study, we applied a fuzzy-logic approach for testing three biodiversity indicators: resident birds, heterogeneity of tree species diameter, and tree and shrub species richness. This approach generates scores for the rotation period of each plantation species between 0 (very low) and 1 (very high) for biodiversity categories. It also allows qualitative value rules regarding the above indicators. Scores are established according to stakeholder’s knowledge and validated by experts. Initially, the scores for each indicator are expressed as coloured matrices, but a final fuzzy output of biodiversity is expressed as a score between 0 and 1. Results: Our fuzzy outputs demonstrated low scores for biodiversity in monoculture stands, but medium scores in mixed stands. Tree and shrub species richness and diameter heterogeneity have low scores in analysed plantations but need to be tested in other forest types. However, the score for resident birds had medium values in monoculture forests, but due to the low score of the other biodiversity indicators, the overall biodiversity score is low. Conclusion: The results demonstrate that monocultures have the lowest score for biodiversity due to the zero level of all biodiversity indicators after the clear cut. Mixed stands have different periods of clear cut and this contributes to a higher score for biodiversity in general (fuzzy output). The fuzzy-logic approach is a very useful tool that may contribute to include biodiversity conservation in forest management decisions. This approach can be potentially used for the assessment of other biodiversity indicators (e.g. deadwood, large trees) in other forest types (including semi-natural and natural forests).

The Convention on Biological Diversity uses six indicators to assess progress toward Aichi Biodiversity Target 14 (ecosystem services), leaving many elements of the target untracked. We identify 13 ecosystem services as directly essential for human well-being, and select a set of 21 datasets as indicators of the state of natural capital underpinning those services, the benefits derived from them, and distribution of access to those benefits. Analysis of these indicators supports previous conclusions that there is no overall progress toward Target 14. Sixty percent of our “benefit” indicators have positive trends, whereas 86% of our “state” indicators show a decline in natural capital. This suggests that well-being is increasing in the near-term despite environmental degradation, and that unsustainable use of natural capital may fuel human development. As regulating services such as “soil fertility” continue to decline, however, it seems unlikely that this trend can continue without future negative impacts on humanity.

This study investigated the impact of exotic Tamarix species on vascular plant biodiversity in riparian ecosystems in the Western Cape Province, South Africa. Vegetation was sampled, using 5 m wide belt transects, along the Leeu, Swart, and Olifants riparian areas, which had varying invasion intensities. Each transect was split into three zones (Zone 1: 0&ndash, 15 m, Zone 2: 15&ndash, 35, and Zone 3: &gt, 35 m), which were identified at each site based on species composition across each riparian zone. Woody plant species were identified, counted, and their heights measured within the transects that were laid out from the waterpoint (Zone 1) outwards (Zone 2 and 3). Herbaceous aerial cover (HAC) was determined subjectively and objectified using the Walker aerial cover scale. Leeu River had the highest species richness (Dmg = 2.79), diversity (H&prime, = 2.17, &minus, ln&lambda, = 1.91, N1 = 8.76 and &alpha, = 4.13), and evenness (J&prime, = 0.80). The Swart River had the lowest species richness, which declined from Dmg = 1.96 (Zone 1) to Dmg = 1.82 (Zone 3). Exotic Tamarix species ranked in the top three most abundant woody vascular plant species along the Swart and Olifants rivers, where they ranked first and third, respectively. The Jaccard&rsquo, s and Sorenson&rsquo, s coefficients of similarity indicated that species differed greatly between the different sites, x&macr, &lt, 27% for both indices. The indices also indicated that the Swart River had the lowest level of species distinctness between zones (x&macr, &gt, 80%) while the Leeu River had the highest level of species distinctness (x&macr, 50%) between the different zones. These findings suggest a possible displacement of herbaceous and woody tree species by exotic Tamarix invasion, inter alia, a decrease in ecosystem functions and services associated with the loss in biodiversity, as well as significant bearings on the agricultural ecosystem by reducing the faunal diversity such as crop pollinators, inter alia.

Land-use intensification is a key driver of biodiversity change. However, little is known about how it alters relationships between the diversities of different taxonomic groups, which are often correlated due to shared environmental drivers and trophic interactions. Using data from 150 grassland sites, we examined how land-use intensification (increased fertilization, higher livestock densities, and increased mowing frequency) altered correlations between the species richness of 15 plant, invertebrate, and vertebrate taxa. We found that 54% of pairwise correlations between taxonomic groups were significant and positive among all grasslands, while only one was negative. Higher land-use intensity substantially weakened these correlations (35% decrease in r and 43% fewer significant pairwise correlations at high intensity), a pattern which may emerge as a result of biodiversity declines and the breakdown of specialized relationships in these conditions. Nevertheless, some groups (Coleoptera, Heteroptera, Hymenoptera and Orthoptera) were consistently correlated with multidiversity, an aggregate measure of total biodiversity comprised of the standardized diversities of multiple taxa, at both high and low land-use intensity. The form of intensification was also important; increased fertilization and mowing frequency typically weakened plant–plant and plant–primary consumer correlations, whereas grazing intensification did not. This may reflect decreased habitat heterogeneity under mowing and fertilization and increased habitat heterogeneity under grazing. While these results urge caution in using certain taxonomic groups to monitor impacts of agricultural management on biodiversity, they also suggest that the diversities of some groups are reasonably robust indicators of total biodiversity across a range of conditions. Read More: http://www.esajournals.org/doi/10.1890/14-1307.1

Since 2003 the MCPFE-Forest Europe process has adopted a set of Pan-European Indicators that has become a policy instrument to monitor, evaluate and report progress towards sustainable forest management (SFM). Two new experimental tools have been introduced in the framework of the «State of Forests and Sustainable Forest Management in Europe 2011»: (i) pilot reporting by 14 classes of European Forest Types (EFTs) for a selection of quantitative SFM indicators; (ii) key parameters for monitoring progress for all quantitative indicators. The main aim of this paper is to discuss whether reporting by EFTs of key forest biodiversity-related parameters can improve the way forest biodiversity conservation policy targets are addressed and evaluated in Europe. Accordingly, data on SFM indicators for a sample of European countries (ranging from 6 to 28, depending on indicators) have been processed and analyzed in a pilot study using a question-driven approach, so that information from monitoring could direct policy action. The main findings show that: – forest area has been significantly increasing (>0.2% per year) in the period 2000–2010; however, annual changes in forest cover by EFTs reveal a polyedric picture at country level, in terms of gain and loss of forest habitat dominated by native and introduced tree species; – old even aged forests (>140 yrs) are fairly consistent (>5%) only in a few countries and limited to specific EFTs; – in naturally species-poor EFTs (e.g. Boreal forest, Alpine coniferous forest, Broadleaved evergreen forest) single species stands cover from 15–100% of the total area, while in species rich EFTs (e.g. Mesophytic deciduous forest, Thermophilous deciduous forest) the maximum share of single species is in the order of 30%; – deadwood amount ranges from 9 to 26 m3 ha 1, a value which is however far below natural reference values found in European old growth forests (160 m3 ha 1). Findings from this test demonstrate that reporting of key forest biodiversity-related parameters by EFTs enables question-driven monitoring in many ways: (i) reporting by EFTs helps to interpret the variability in the values taken by the indicators explicitly considering ecological differences between EFTs; (ii) temporal trends in forest area can be interpreted in terms of expansion or loss of forest habitats dominated by native and introduced tree species; (iii) progress in implementing biodiversity friendly strategies (e.g. increasing share of old even aged forests, promotion of multispecies stands and accumulation of deadwood) can be quantitatively evaluated against baselines. L'articolo è disponibile sul sito dell'editore http://www.sciencedirect.com

The status and trends of global biodiversity are often measured with a bias towards datasets limited to terrestrial vertebrates. The first global assessment of an insect order (Odonata) provides new context to the ongoing discussion of current biodiversity loss. A randomly selected sample of 1500 (26.4%) of the 5680 described dragonflies and damselflies was assessed using IUCN’s Red List criteria. Distribution maps for each species were created and species were assigned to habitat types. These data were analysed in respect to threat level for regions and habitat types. We have found that one in 10 species of dragonflies and damselflies is threatened with extinction. This threat level is among the lowest of groups that have been assessed to date, suggesting that previous estimates of extinction risk for insects might be misleading. However, Odonata only comprise a small invertebrate order, with above-average dispersal ability and relatively wide distribution ranges. For conservation science and policy to be truly representative of global biodiversity a representative cross-section of invertebrates needs to be included. Fil: Clausnitzer, Viola. Philipps-University of Marburg; Alemania Fil: Kalkman, Vincent J.. National Museum of Natural History; Países Bajos Fil: Ram, Mala. Zoological Society of London. Institute of Zoology; Reino Unido Fil: Collen, Ben. The Zoological Society Of London; Reino Unido Fil: Baillie, Jonathan E.M.. The Zoological Society Of London; Reino Unido Fil: Bedjanič, Matjaž. No especifica; Fil: Darwall, William R.T.. Unión Internacional para la Conservación de la Naturaleza; Reino Unido Fil: Dijkstra, Klaas-Douwe B.. National Museum of Natural History; Países Bajos Fil: Dow, Rory. No especifica; Fil: Hawking, John. Latrobe University; Australia Fil: Karube, Haruki. Kanagawa Prefectural Museum of Natural ; Japón Fil: Malikova, Elena. Blagoveshchensk State Pedagogical University; Rusia Fil: Paulson, Dennis. University of Puget Sound; Estados Unidos Fil: Schütte, Kai. Universitat Hamburg; Alemania Fil: Suhling, Frank. Universität Braunschweig; Alemania Fil: Villanueva, Reagan J.. Ateneo de Davao University,; Filipinas Fil: Von Ellenrieder, Natalia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Salta. Instituto de Bio y Geociencias del NOA. Universidad Nacional de Salta. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales. Museo de Ciencias Naturales. Instituto de Bio y Geociencias del NOA; Argentina Fil: Wilson, Keith. No especifica

Assessing temporal changes in species extinction risk is necessary for measuring conservation success or failure and for directing conservation resources toward species or regions that would benefit most. Yet, there is no long-term picture of genuine change that allows one to associate species extinction risk trends with drivers of change or conservation actions. Through a review of 40 years of IUCN-related literature sources on species conservation status (e.g., action plans, red-data books), we assigned retrospective red-list categories to the world's carnivores and ungulates (2 groups with relatively long generation times) to examine how their extinction risk has changed since the 1970s. We then aggregated species' categories to calculate a global trend in their extinction risk over time. A decline in the conservation status of carnivores and ungulates was underway 40 years ago and has since accelerated. One quarter of all species (n = 498) moved one or more categories closer to extinction globally, while almost half of the species moved closer to extinction in Southeast Asia. The conservation status of some species improved (toward less threatened categories), but for each species that improved in status 8 deteriorated. The status of large-bodied species, particularly those above 100 kg (including many iconic taxa), deteriorated significantly more than small-bodied species (below 10 kg). The trends we found are likely related to geopolitical events (such as the collapse of Soviet Union), international regulations (such as CITES), shifting cultural values, and natural resource exploitation (e.g., in Southeast Asia). Retrospective assessments of global species extinction risk reduce the risk of a shifting baseline syndrome, which can affect decisions on the desirable conservation status of species. Such assessments can help conservationists identify which conservation policies and strategies are or are not helping safeguard biodiversity and thus can improve future strategies.

Ecosystems are under increasing pressure from human activities, with land use and land use change at the forefront of the drivers that provoke global and regional biodiversity loss. The first step in addressing the challenge of how to reverse the negative outlook for the coming years starts with measuring environmental loss rates and assigning responsibilities. Pinpointing the global pressures on biodiversity is a task best addressed using holistic models such as Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). LCA is the leading method for calculating cradle-to-grave environmental impacts of products and services; it is actively promoted by many public policies, and integrated as part of environmental information systems within private companies. LCA already deals with the potential biodiversity impacts of land use, but there are significant obstacles to overcome before its models grasp the full reach of the phenomena involved. In this review we discuss some pressing issues that need to be addressed. LCA mainly introduces biodiversity as an endpoint category modeled as a loss in species richness due to the conversion and use of land over time and space. The functional and population effects on biodiversity are mostly absent due to the emphasis on species accumulation with limited geographic and taxonomical reach. Current land use modeling activities that use biodiversity indicators tend to oversimplify the real dynamics and complexity of the interactions of species among each other and with their habitats. To identify the main areas for improvement, we systematically reviewed LCA studies on land use that had findings related to global change and conservation ecology. We provide suggestion as to how to address some of the issues raised. Our overall objective is to encourage companies to monitor and take concrete steps to address the impacts of land use on biodiversity on a broader geographical scale and along increasingly globalized supply chains.

The adequate selection of indicator groups of biodiversity is an important aspect of the systematic conservation planning. However, these assessments differ in the spatial scales, in the methods used and in the groups considered to accomplish this task, which generally produces contradictory results. The quantification of the spatial congruence between species richness and complementarity among different taxonomic groups is a fundamental step to identify potential indicator groups. Using a constructive approach, the main purposes of this study were to evaluate the performance and efficiency of eight potential indicator groups representing amphibian diversity in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Data on the geographic range of amphibian species that occur in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest were overlapped to the full geographic extent of the biome, which was divided into a regular equal-area grid. Optimization routines based on the concept of complementarily were applied to verify the performance of each indicator group selected in relation to the representativeness of the amphibians in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest as a whole, which were solved by the algorithm “simulated annealing,” through the use of the software MARXAN. Some indicator groups were substantially more effective than others in regard to the representation of the taxonomic groups assessed, which was confirmed by the high significance of the data (F = 312.76; P < 0.01). Leiuperidae was considered as the best indicator group among the families analyzed, as it showed a good performance, representing 71% of amphibian species in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest (i.e., 290 species), which may be associated with the diffuse geographic distribution of their species. In this sense, this study promotes understanding of how the diversity standards of amphibians can be informative for systematic conservation planning on a regional scale.

The scientific community has recognized the importance of livestock diversity. In the Global Plan of Action for Animal Genetic Resources, the value of livestock diversity and the need to increase the awareness on preserving this diversity is underlined. In this context the development and use of monitoring indicators, will allow the description of the current situation and estimate the changes and trends at national, regional and international level. This paper aims to investigate the possibility of development and use of appropriate indicators in order to monitor the biodiversity of farm animal breeds in Greece. For this purpose, the population data of Greek sheep breeds were used and different sets of indicators were implemented aiming at analyzing the current situation of biodiversity and formulating proposals on appropriate indicators.

Aim To test whether functional homogenization of bird communities is promoted by anthropogenic landscape transformation, using specialization and habitat pref- erence indices that account for the multidimensionality of niches. Location Catalonia, north-east Iberian Peninsula. Methods We used data on bird species occurrences and landscape features in 2834 1-km2 squares. Three orthogonal landscape gradients, which were taken as niche dimensions, were defined by means of principal components analysis (PCA). Specialization and habitat preference indices were created for 103 terrestrial bird species on the basis of their frequency of occurrence variation along the landscape gradients. These indices, together with species rarity, were then averaged for bird communities. We then analysed the patterns of variation of communities’ mean specialization, mean rarity and mean habitat preference values along a gradient of agricultural–forest habitat mosaics. Results Wherever we found a significant variation in the degree of specialization along the agricultural–forest gradient, agricultural habitats held more specialized bird communities than did forest ones and bore, on average, rarer species. Thus, results contradicted our initial hypothesis that humanized areas would bear more functionally homogenized bird communities. Higher a-diversity values tended to be associated with generalist communities and with those having rarer species. Main conclusions Estimations of bird community specialization for different niche dimensions can behave differently along certain landscape gradients, and some of these differences can be explained by the variation of mean habitat pref- erences. Thus, we argue that a multidimensional approach to assess average niche breadth of communities can be more informative than a unidimensional measure. Our results suggest that widespread land abandonment and current secondary forest expansion throughout the Mediterranean area are promoting functional homogenization of bird communities. It would be desirable to construct larger- scale indicators of functional homogenization in order to monitor communities’ responses to widespread landscape changes

Landscape analysis is regarded as a new tool for monitoring and judging land use patterns in terms of sustainability of human activity systems at local level. A case study of evaluation for sustainability based on habitat patch diversity in an ecoregion of Central Italy is presented. In this region, ongoing land use patterns reflect both historical adaptation to local environmental constraints and positive, social-oriented management. More protective land use patterns are mostly widespread in fragile physiographic conditions like those of the mountain areas, where woodland, shrub, and grassland patches are larger and cover more than 90% of the land. This situation is regarded as a positive outcome of the traditional public ownership regime, because public lands amount to more than 70% in the mountain areas. The hilly areas, where public property drops to 28%, presents landscape metrics showing a well balanced situation between agricultural land use and protective native woods and grasslands, which provides a fine-grained and harmonious Mediterranean landscape. In the low-land areas, with anthropic pressure and more favourable conditions for crop productivity, there is much more agricultural land, even if some mitigation in terms of biodiversity maintenance is offered by the presence of hedgerow ecotones. In these areas, landscape analysis is not able to supply meaningful information about cropping system design and practices which can maintain a sustainable level of soil fertility and quality of natural resources and processes, and further analysis at cropping system level should be carried out.