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• First community-level analysis of phylogenetic patterns in the southern Balkan Peninsula. • Ravine forests have a higher phylogenetic diversity than the other forest types. • Putative refugial role of ravine forests is supported by their phylogenetic diversity. Patterns of phylogenetic diversity and structure of flora in refugial areas may be very complex due to habitat heterogeneity and legacies of various historical processes. Revealing these patterns can help understand the nature of the refugia. Here we study phylogenetic patterns of the flora in one of the main putative Pleistocene refugia of temperate forest biota in Europe through a community-level analysis for the main types of forests. For this purpose, a database of vegetation plots from deciduous and mountain coniferous forests of northern and central Greece was created. The plots were classified into floristically and ecologically interpretable community types. Faith's phylogenetic diversity, mean phylogenetic distance and mean nearest taxon distance, as well as their standardized equivalents, were used to characterize the mean phylogenetic diversity and structure of each community type. All analyses were applied both for all the vascular plant taxa and for angiosperm taxa only. We related the measures of phylogenetic diversity and structure to ecological factors and compared them among community types. The 25 identified community types differed in their phylogenetic diversity and structure. The observed patterns were significantly different when old evolutionary lineages, such as gymnosperms and ferns, were taken into account. A random or overdispersed phylogenetic structure was observed for most of the community types, while only two oak-dominated community types were clustered. The highest phylogenetic diversity and a notably high proportion of plots with an overdispersed phylogenetic structure were observed in two mesic ravine forest community types (one of these transitional to beech forests). Phylogenetic metrics correlated with ecological conditions, in particular, overdispersion was more common in shaded, cool and moist forests. The high phylogenetic diversity and overdispersed structure of the two ravine community types can be related to the putative refugial role of these forest habitats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Marine protected areas (MPAs) represent the main tool for halting the loss of marine biodiversity. However, there is increasing evidence concerning their limited capacity to reduce or eliminate some threats even within their own boundaries. Here, we analysed a Europe-wide dataset comprising 31,579 threats recorded in 1692 sites of the European Union's Natura 2000 conservation network. Focusing specifically on threats related to marine species and habitats, we found that fishing and outdoor activities were the most widespread threats reported within MPA boundaries, although some spatial heterogeneity in the distribution of threats was apparent. Our results clearly demonstrate the need to reconsider current management plans, standardise monitoring approaches and reporting, refine present threat assessments and improve knowledge of their spatial patterns within and outside MPAs in order to improve conservation capacity and outcomes. Unlabelled Image • Recreational activities and fishing are the main threats affecting European MPAs. • The majority of the threats occur/act both inside and outside the boundaries of the MPAs. • There is heterogeneity in the distribution of threats across European countries. • Standardised monitoring and assessments are needed to improve conservation capacity and outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The delineation of Quiet Areas (QAs) forms nowadays a national obligation of EU countries. Nevertheless the variable applications of QAs among Member-States have highlighted the need for an international common approach for the preservation of Quietness. The objective of this paper is to identify and thus protect QAs of EU. Our methodological design consisted of the implementation of a coarse scale distance-based methodology regarding the identification of QAs among different countries, environmental and altitudinal zones with a view to investigating the spatial pattern of QAs as well as their spatial relation to other protected areas. QAs cover 56.09% of EU territory with most of the sites comprising an area larger than 100 km 2 indicating that Quietness provides a valuable ecosystem service for human well-being. Central Europe demonstrates lower percentages of Quietness whereas Mediterranean and Scandinavian areas contain higher percentages of Quietness. Also our findings regarding the spatial overlap of QAs with Natura 2000 network suggest that QAs actually indicate sites of environmental quality, and could thus be incorporated into environmental policy initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quietness exists in places without human induced noise sources and could offer multiple benefits to citizens. Unlit areas are sites free of human intense interference at night time. The aim of this research is to develop an integrated environmental index of noise and light pollution. In order to achieve this goal the spatial pattern of quietness and darkness of Europe was identified, as well as their overlap. The environmental index revealed that the spatial patterns of Quiet and Unlit Areas differ to a great extent highlighting the importance of preserving quietness as well as darkness in EU. The spatial overlap of these two environmental characteristics covers 32.06% of EU surface area, which could be considered a feasible threshold for protection. This diurnal and nocturnal metric of environmental quality accompanied with all direct and indirect benefits to human well-being could indicate a target for environmental protection in the EU policy and practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The species–area relationship (SAR) is one of the few generalizations in ecology. However, many different relationships are denoted as SARs. Here, we empirically evaluated the differences between SARs derived from nested-contiguous and non-contiguous sampling designs, using plants, birds and butterflies datasets from Great Britain, Greece, Massachusetts, New York and San Diego. The shape of SAR depends on the sampling scheme, but there is little empirical documentation on the magnitude of the deviation between different types of SARs and the factors affecting it. We implemented a strictly nested sampling design to construct nested-contiguous SAR (SA C R), and systematic nested but non-contiguous, and random designs to construct non-contiguous species richness curves (SA S Rs for systematic and SACs for random designs) per dataset. The SA C R lay below any SA S R and most of the SACs. The deviation between them was related to the exponent f of the power law relationship between sampled area and extent. The lower the exponent f , the higher was the deviation between the curves. We linked SA C R to SA S R and SAC through the concept of “effective” area ( A e ), i.e. the nested-contiguous area containing equal number of species with the accumulated sampled area ( A S ) of a non-contiguous sampling. The relationship between effective and sampled area was modeled as log( A e ) = k log( A S ). A Generalized Linear Model was used to estimate the values of k from sampling design and dataset properties. The parameter k increased with the average distance between samples and with beta diversity, while k decreased with f . For both systematic and random sampling, the model performed well in predicting effective area in both the training set and in the test set which was totally independent from the training one. Through effective area, we can link different types of species richness curves based on sampling design properties, sampling effort, spatial scale and beta diversity patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent anthropogenic climate change is strongly associated with average shifts toward earlier seasonal timing of activity (phenology) in temperate-zone species. Shifts in phenology have the potential to alter ecological interactions, to the detriment of one or more interacting species. Recent models predict that detrimental phenological mismatch may increasingly occur between plants and their pollinators. One way to test this prediction is to examine data from ecological communities that experience large annual weather fluctuations. Taking this approach, we analyzed interactions over a four-year period among 132 plant species and 665 pollinating insect species within a Mediterranean community. For each plant species we recorded onset and duration of flowering and number of pollinator species. Flowering onset varied among years, and a year of earlier flowering of a species tended to be a year of fewer species pollinating its flowers. This relationship was attributable principally to early-flowering species, suggesting that shifts toward earlier phenology driven by climate change may reduce pollination services due to phenological mismatch. Earlier flowering onset of a species also was associated with prolonged flowering duration, but it is not certain that this will counterbalance any negative effects of lower pollinator species richness on plant reproductive success. Among plants with different life histories, annuals were more severely affected by flowering-pollinator mismatches than perennials. Specialized plant species (those attracting a smaller number of pollinator species) did not experience disproportionate interannual fluctuations in phenology. Thus they do not appear to be faced with disproportionate fluctuations in pollinator species richness, contrary to the expectation that specialists are at greatest risk of losing mutualistic interactions because of climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The role of nature in tourism is widely acknowledged; yet, information remains limited about the determinants of green tourism development within conservation areas. Here, we aimed to provide a framework for exploring the supportive role of quietness in green tourism development. Because natural quietness is expected to facilitate conservation and promote environment-friendly tourism, we tested whether quiet areas within conservation sites in Greece indicate “hotspots” of green tourism. We found that the percentage of quietness was related to environment-friendly tourism, indicating that the acoustic value of a site contributes towards driving the pattern of green tourism. When more than 30% of the surface area of a conservation site was quiet, activities supporting green tourism were significantly higher. This threshold implies that both the conservation and acoustic value of a site are important in environment-conscious tourism destinations. Overall, we suggest that the acoustic quality of a site might function as a tool for management, facilitating the identification of green tourism “hotspots”. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Highlights: [•] The higher taxon approach could predict soil nematode alpha and beta diversity. [•] Also, functional guilds or trophic groups could serve as a biodiversity surrogate. [•] Both higher taxa and functional surrogates reflect similar community structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Nowadays that biodiversity monitoring is a legal obligation in many countries, monitoring implementation still lags behind the needs for efficient conservation. This is mainly due to three limiting factors that are rarely available for an exhaustive diversity survey, i.e. time consuming, expensive and demands high level of expertise. We propose an alternative monitoring scheme based on the higher taxon approach. This approach allows rapid tracking of biodiversity changes and the utilization of data collected by non-expert volunteers. Here we show, for the first time, that temporal changes in genera or family richness are strongly correlated to, and have similar spatial pattern characteristics as changes in species richness for the breeding birds in New York State. Changes in genera richness proved more reliable in predicting changes in species richness than changes in family richness. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Agricultural decline may pose an important threat to mountain biodiversity but it also constitutes a driving force of socio-economic transformation. The aim of this study is to investigate the implications of alternative agricultural policy scenarios on the sustainable development of Greek mountain areas using a case study approach (Zagori region, Greece). Two agricultural policy scenarios were explored and assessed against a list of sustainability objectives. Causal relationships among drivers of changes and sustainability objectives were explored using Network Analysis. Our analysis has shown that agricultural liberalisation is expected to have devastating effects on the development of the area and it was strongly opposed as an alternative future by the local stakeholders. The analysis of the driver''s causal relationship has also revealed that in order to ensure the sustainable development of the area it is necessary to sustain low input extensive farming, to promote mild tourism development and to enhance the operational efficiency of the National Park. Moreover, in order to reconcile agricultural decline, biodiversity and sustainable development, policy-management recommendations must be drawn at multiple administrative levels and complementary policy interventions within and between levels are required. It is thus, important that EU agricultural policies are complemented by national-regional interventions in order to regulate the fragile balance between agriculture and tourism. Finally, this study has shown that the combination of scenario analysis and sustainability assessment can provide an efficient tool to inform management strategies for sustainable development. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The sea surface temperature (SST) in loggerhead turtle breeding areas affects the species reproductive biology. Less is known about the effects of changes in SST in the species foraging grounds. We used nesting data for the Mediterranean loggerhead turtle population breeding on the Greek island of Zakynthos to study the effect of SST in the population foraging grounds upon the initiation of nesting and the number of clutches laid. We found that the climatic conditions (SST) in the foraging grounds affected the population nesting phenology in the short term (i.e. within the same year); warmer years triggered an earlier onset of nesting. However, the effect of foraging grounds SST upon nesting is comparatively less important than the local conditions at the nesting ground. Although nesting phenology seems to depend on current''s year foraging grounds SST the number of nests in our study rookery were negatively correlated with SSTs recorded 2 years prior nesting, with higher SST leading to fewer nests. From this point of view, climate change at the foraging grounds may influence the reproductive phenology of loggerheads. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Europe's Natura 2000 network (N2K), based on the EU Birds and Habitat Directives, has rapidly expanded protected areas targeting species and habitat types. In Greece, 52.4% of native freshwater fish are considered as species of EU community interest within the Habitats Directive (HD). However, 31.3% of all threatened fish species at a global level and 32.0% at a national level, are not included in the Habitat Directives Annex lists. Fishes in Greece's rivers are understudied, precise knowledge of their distributions is poor for most species. We utilize a large set of site-based electrofishing samples to explore the coverage of these species by the country's Natura 2000 sites. Field surveys recorded 102 species inhabiting rivers within 645 sampling sites. Although the majority of the HD listed, threatened and endemic freshwater fish species exist within the current N2K network, important gaps are evident and four HD species were not found within any Natura 2000 sites. In analyzing fish densities from field sampling, only two upland-stream species, Salmo farioides and Barbus strumicae , show significantly higher abundance inside N2K sites. Applying a Combined Index utilizing IUCN vulnerability status, species rarity and richness, we identified 161 hotspot sites for riverine fishes; 50.9 % of all hotspots are located outside of N2K network, especially in lowland areas. Unprotected areas with a high concentration of hotspots are mapped; the river basins with the highest number of such unprotected hotspots belong to the Strymonas, Pinios, Evrotas and Aoos rivers. With concern for the EU's revised biodiversity conservation strategy, our screening level assessment provides insights for unmet conservation needs and the method is readily transferable to other states and protected area jurisdictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Global climate change is likely to have an important influence on the phenology, behaviour and population dynamics of many species. We investigate climatic related changes in the breeding phenology of Mediterranean loggerhead marine turtles Caretta caretta over a 19 year period and the potential relationship between these changes and reproductive success and performance. We found that the studied population has experienced fluctuating sea surface temperatures (SST) with an increasing trend during the last century. With increasing spring SST there is a trend towards earlier nesting. However, there is no significant relationship between SST and nesting season, defined as the duration between the first recorded emergence and the last nest laid. Our analyses indicate that marine turtles display phenological changes, and thus maintain favorable thermal conditions at the nesting sites. Furthermore, increasing spring SST was correlated with decreasing clutch size and increasing hatching success that resulted in an apparent lack of correlation between SST and hatchling production. This apparent independence might be misleading since it only holds for a limited range of SST values. Thus, if we estimate the effect of climate change on loggerhead population growth as neutral, based on the apparent independence between SST and total number of hatchlings, we will be underestimating the population extinction risk. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: A critical issue in conservation biology is the establishment of a strong relationship between species richness and a surrogate index. Such a relationship could provide the basis for the establishment of cost effective and easy to monitor methods for measuring biodiversity, providing an alternative for the prioritization of sites for conservation. We found that richness of species of conservation interest could reliably be predicted from the richness of higher order taxa, such as genus and family, in amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals. Furthermore, the networks of reserve sites selected based upon the richness of genera or families were as effective in including species diversity, as the ones selected based upon species richness. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this study we experimentally manipulated the precipitation pattern (frequency and intensity) in a Mediterranean pine forest on Mt. Holomon (northern Greece) in order to investigate the response of soil microarthropods (Collembola and oribatid mites). Our experimental treatments included drought, frequent and infrequent irrigation and lasted for 4 months. The treatments affected soil water content, maximum soil temperature and diversity of soil microarthropods. Compared to the undisturbed surrounding area, drought decreased soil water content as well as microarthropod species richness and increased maximum soil temperature. Irrigation treatments increased soil water content and microarthropod species richness. Infrequent irrigation increased maximum soil temperature. Oribatid mites and Collembola responded differently to the irrigation treatments. The collembolan community showed higher species evenness and diversity in the frequently irrigated plots and the oribatid mite community in the infrequently irrigated ones. Our results indicate that irrigation pattern (and the corresponding changes in soil moisture) will have an impact on soil ecosystems in complicated non-linear ways. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Native-alien species relationship is one of the potential mechanisms to explain alien species' success. Most approaches have so far focused on species richness, but species-centric approaches alone are of limited explanatory ability. We utilized the breeding bird atlases of Great Britain at three time points, to examine the temporal patterns of alien bird species assemblages' richness and composition and analyze the spatio-temporal relationship between them and native species functional and phylogenetic diversity. Alien birds were successful in increasing their average local richness and range from the 1970s to the 2010s, without high values of the replacement component of β-diversity in most assemblages and with increasing richness in the majority of atlas cells. Communities with higher native diversity were positively associated with higher alien species richness and overall, our results showed that native biodiversity metrics can act as reliable predictors of alien species richness patterns. Native phylogenetic diversity emerged as an important predictor of alien species richness, whereas functional diversity was not as successful. Phylogenetic diversity may have captured native species' functional differences more effectively and/or the added layer of phylogenetic information increased phylogenetic diversity's ability to predict alien species richness patterns and may be indicative of evolutionary processes reflecting the mechanisms shaping native-alien species' relationship. If we were to predict where these alien birds may spread within the next 20 years, our results point to phylogenetically rich communities. This is likely a reflection of habitat heterogeneity and/or resource availability in these communities. In any case, a multifaceted approach is preferable, as different measures highlight different mechanisms driving communities' invasibility. • Average richness and range of alien birds increased from the 1970s to the 2010s. • Higher temporal turnover was observed in areas where alien species were expanding. • Native biodiversity metrics are reliable predictors of alien species richness patterns. • Native phylogenetic diversity was the best predictor of alien species richness. • This is likely a reflection of habitat heterogeneity and/or resource availability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Often climatic niche models predict that any change in climatic conditions will impact species abundance or distribution. However, the accuracy of models that just incorporate climatic information to predict future species habitat use is widely debated. Alternatively, environmental conditions may simply need to be above some minimum threshold of climatic suitability, at which point, other factors drive population size. Using the example of nesting sites of loggerhead sea turtles ( Caretta caretta ) in the Mediterranean (n = 105), we developed climatic niche models to examine whether a climatic suitability threshold could be identified as a climatic indicator in order for large populations of a widespread species to exist. We then assessed the climatic suitability of sites above and below this threshold in the past (∼1900) and future (∼2100). Most large sites that are currently above the climatic threshold were above the threshold in the past and future, particularly when future nesting seasonality shifted to start 1–2 months earlier. Our analyses highlight the importance of future phenological shifts for maintaining suitability. Our results provide a positive outlook for sea turtle conservation, suggesting that climatic conditions may remain suitable in the future at sites that currently support large nesting populations. Our study also provides an alternative way of interpreting the outputs of climatic niche models, by generating a threshold as an index of a minimum climatic suitability required to sustain large populations. This type of approach offers the possibility to benefit from information provided by climate-driven models, while reducing their inherent uncertainties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] We aimed to unravel the criteria used for prioritizing Greek Natura 2000 sites. [•] Management history criteria (e.g. management actions) were the critical components of the selection process. [•] The Greek prioritized sub-network was not considered as optimal based on ecological factors. [•] Socioeconomic drivers were undervalued in the prioritization process. [•] Conservation effort on sites consistently scoring high for all criteria is important. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• Empirical test of functional differentiation of forests at a regional scale. • Functional identity but not diversity differentiates forest community types. • Decoupled functional diversity and identity patterns highlight their complementarity. We studied the differentiation among plant communities of deciduous broadleaved and mountain coniferous forests in terms of functional diversity and identity at a regional scale (northern and central Greece). We asked if patterns of functional differentiation among communities are consistent between the overstorey and understorey layers and if they can be influenced by deep past environmental conditions. Functional Richness (FRic) and Functional Dispersion (FDis), as well as their standardized effect sizes, were employed to assess the multivariate functional diversity of the community types. In contrast, single-trait Community Weighted Means (CWMs) were used as surrogates of functional identity. The aforementioned indices were calculated for three datasets, namely all the vascular plant taxa found in individual vegetation plots (total community), all phanerophyte (tree and shrub) taxa (overstorey) and all non-phanerophyte vascular plant taxa (understorey). We found that community types and especially four broad forest types (beech, ravine, pine and oak forests) are well differentiated in terms of functional composition (identity), as indicated by Non-Metric Multidimensional Scaling (NMDS). After conducting an NMDS for the three datasets, functional identity based on the total floristic composition was found to be the best discriminator of the studied communities. However, contrasting patterns were found for some specific traits or their categories between overstorey and understorey layers. The patterns of functional diversity of the community types (based on multivariate indices), revealed by calculating the standardized effect sizes of FRic and FDis based on the richness null model, did not differ substantially from random expectations for most of the studied community types when the dataset of all the vascular plant taxa was analyzed. However, the patterns revealed for the overstorey layer differed from those for the understorey layer. For the latter layer, the clustered structure was revealed in many community types based on the ses.FDis metric. Indications of deep past influence on the functional composition were found for certain community types (i.e. ravine forests) based on single-trait metrics, but no indication of such influence was found based on multivariate indices. Our findings highlight the complementarity and the additive explanatory value of the simultaneous use of single- and multi-trait approaches and their application to different layers in forests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modern water resource management requires biomonitoring of the structure and functioning of freshwater ecosystems, which may be better illuminated by functional trait distribution patterns and responses across human-induced pressure gradients. In this study, we applied the RLQ, the fourth-corner and their novel combination methods, in order to assess the relationship between the distribution of 30 aquatic macrophyte functional traits and 14 indicators of anthropogenic pressures across 16 freshwater lakes. Our findings showed that there is a statistically significant relationship between the distribution of specific functional traits and anthropogenic pressures. Eutrophication was the dominant pressure and the shift from a submerged-macrophyte dominated vegetation community to an emergent one was the most important functional response. Aerial reproduction and dispersal traits were found to replace water-related ones under higher nutrient concentrations. Trophic and light preferences of macrophytic species increased, while their leaf morphology was found to change from tubular/capillary leaf types with low leaf area values to entire leaf types with greater leaf area. These results provide hints on the changes in ecosystem functioning occurring as a response to human-induced drivers. Therefore, this assessment approach could provide important support to the tasks of biomonitoring, conservation and management planning in freshwater ecosystems. Image 1 • RLQ and fourth-corner combined were applied to assess traits-environment relations. • Strong correlation found between aquatic plant traits and anthropogenic pressures. • Emergent life forms replace submerged ones in increased eutrophication levels. • Reproduction, dispersal, trophic, light, and leaf traits respond to eutrophication. • Trait assessment approaches can support conservation and restoration management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the mechanisms of community assembly is of great importance to biogeography and ecology. Simultaneous investigation of the functional and phylogenetic facets of diversity has been proposed as a useful approach that allows inferences about such mechanisms. This study applies such an approach to explore diversity and structure within and among the main plant community types of mountainous forests in northern and central Greece. Functional and phylogenetic diversity and structure were measured in 25 community types of broadleaved deciduous and mountainous coniferous forests. Functional richness and Faith's phylogenetic diversity were used to assess diversity, while mean pairwise functional and phylogenetic distances were used to investigate structure. Relationships between both facets of diversity and structure, as well as community types, were tested using boosted regression trees separately for all vascular plant taxa and taxa occurring in the forest understorey. Phylogenetic diversity was positively correlated with functional diversity, but phylogenetic structure was not a good predictor of functional structure. The understorey dataset revealed non-random structure for more vegetation plots than the dataset with all taxa. Habitat effects, represented by community types, were found to be better predictors of functional structure than phylogenetic structure, highlighting the need to account for habitat variability in studies of community assembly. In our study system, the two diversity facets provide complementary information on the structure of community types since most of the vegetation plots studied were found statistically significantly structured for one diversity facet (functionally clustered or phylogenetically overdispersed) and random for the other. Our results indicate that functional and phylogenetic measures provide different insights into the mechanisms driving the assembly of the forest community types studied. • Functional and phylogenetic measures provide complementary information. • Habitat effects are good predictors of functional structure. • Forest layers are characterized by partially different assembly mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the patterns of species richness and their environmental drivers, remains a central theme in ecological research and especially in the continental scales where many conservation decisions are made. Here, we analyzed the patterns of species richness from amphibians, reptiles and mammals at the EU level. We used two different data sources for each taxon: expert-drawn species range maps, and presence/absence atlases. As environmental drivers, we considered climate and land cover. Land cover is increasingly the focus of research, but there still is no consensus on how to classify land cover to distinct habitat classes, so we analyzed the CORINE land cover data with three different levels of thematic resolution (resolution of classification scheme ˗ less to more detailed). We found that the two types of species richness data explored in this study yielded different richness maps. Although, we expected expert-drawn range based estimates of species richness to exceed those from atlas data (due to the assumption that species are present in all locations throughout their region), we found that in many cases the opposite is true (the extreme case is the reptiles where more than half of the atlas based estimates were greater than the expert-drawn range based estimates). Also, we detected contrasting information on the richness drivers of biodiversity patterns depending on the dataset used. For atlas based richness estimates, landscape attributes played more important role than climate while for expert-drawn range based richness estimates climatic variables were more important (for the ectothermic amphibians and reptiles). Finally we found that the thematic resolution of the land cover classification scheme, also played a role in quantifying the effect of land cover diversity, with more detailed thematic resolution increasing the relative contribution of landscape attributes in predicting species richness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]