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Climate plays a major role in shaping biodiversity patterns over time and space, with ongoing changes leading to the reorganization of ecosystems, which challenges conservation initiatives. Identifying areas that could serve as possible climate change refugia for future biodiversity is, thus, critical for both conservation and management. Here, we identify potential future climatic refugia within the Euro‐Mediterranean biome, which is a global biodiversity hotspot, while accounting for multiple emission climate change projections over the next 50 years. We developed two metrics of climatic variability: temporal stability and spatial heterogeneity. We then used a systematic conservation planning approach to identify climate‐based priority areas. While we used a climate‐based, species‐neutral methodology, we deliberately implemented low climatic velocity thresholds, so that the identified climatic refugia would even be compatible with the needs of species with low dispersal capacity, such as plants. Our projections showed that future climatic refugia would be more frequently observed in mid‐altitudes, for gradients with steep elevations, and mainly in the eastern part of the Euro‐Mediterranean biome, with possible conflicts with existing land uses and future conservation implications. Climatic, land use, and topography results indicated that only a limited number of refugia would be hosted by high elevation habitats (>1500 m), raising possible concerns about the biodiversity of Mediterranean mountain regions. Our analyses show that the current network of protected areas captures future climatic refugia disproportionally, despite their importance for safeguarding present and future biodiversity in the Mediterranean. Key climatic refugia could limit the impacts of future climate change on biodiversity in mid‐altitude and mountainous regions, and should be included in management guidelines for a climate‐ready conservation design in the Mediterranean biome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: Artificial light at night (ALAN) represents a significant threat to biodiversity. Given that protected areas (PAs) are in relative darkness compared to the surrounding sites, they could be considered an effective tool towards eliminating the impacts of ALAN. However, the extent to which climate change-induced shifts would drive species out of PAs and thus, alter their exposure to ALAN remains an open question. Objectives: We assessed the extent and protection coverage of dark areas across the current and future distributions of 39 raptor species of European conservation interest. Methods: We initially developed a set of distribution models using current and projected climatic variables. Next, we used a satellite dataset of nighttime lights composite to determine the spread of ALAN within the raptors' ranges. Finally, we applied three indices of proportional changes in the expansion of suitable habitats and dark areas to quantify patterns in ALAN within the current and future raptors' ranges across Europe. Results: Our analyses revealed that potential future distribution shifts of raptors will lead to changes in the exposure of species to ALAN, with these patterns being rather unfavourable for most of them. Still, PAs in Europe were found to offer a relative high proportion of dark areas which overlap with the current and future raptors range. Conclusions: Our findings provided some first insights into the spatial conflict between species ranges and ALAN, considering potential distribution shifts driven by climate change. The proposed methodology offers the means to identify potential dark refugia towards prioritizing conservation actions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The majority of research on GI in Europe is focused on urban land use types. • GI research mostly adopts ecosystem services as its primary research objective. • The broad definition of GI results to a high diversity in research objectives. Green Infrastructure (GI) is defined as a network of natural and semi-natural areas that is strategically designed and managed to deliver a wide range of ecosystem services and to enhance human wellbeing. In Europe, the GI concept has been strongly related to the concepts of multifunctionality, climate change, and green growth, particularly in the last decade, leading to a research and policy agenda that varies greatly, targeting different audiences and topics. Here, we provide an up-to-date review of the key characteristics of GI research by focusing on the countries of the European Union. We consider the conceptualizations of GI, key research priorities, and thematic clusters within the existing literature. We demonstrate that the ambiguous definition of GI has generated a high diversity in research objectives and outputs. We also show that urban green spaces and ecosystems services are the most frequent topics and that more research is needed on the social aspects of GI. We suggest that an explicit incorporation of both nature conservation and social-environmental justice goals is essential for GI research to support sustainability transitions within and beyond the city. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Freshwater ecosystems are threatened worldwide, with 1/3 of freshwater species being under extinction risk. Yet, systematic conservation planning has received little attention as a means to prioritize freshwater conservation areas. Here, we develop a comprehensive approach to spatially delineate key areas for freshwater conservation across Europe, considering directed-connectivity, climate change and human-related disturbances. We assess the adequacy of the current reserve network in protecting European freshwater ecosystems and provide guidelines for expansion. We conducted 13 prioritization scenarios for 18,300 sub-basins across Europe, accounting for the distribution of 1,668 freshwater species. Connectivity properties, metrics of climatic stability and human induced pressures were incorporated into the spatial prioritization framework. We highlight the critical importance of specific regions in Central and Southern Europe, the Mediterranean Basin, and parts of the Balkan Peninsula for future freshwater conservation efforts. However, our analysis also reveals the complete inadequacy of the current reserve network, as protected sub-basins only cover 4 % of the study area and encompass on average only 3 % of freshwater species distributions. In contrast, expanding current reserves to cover the top 17 % of high priority areas across Europe could substantially improve the overall coverage of species distributions, reaching an average of 61.5 % for all freshwater species and even exceeding 93.1 % for species of conservation interest (critically endangered, endangered and vulnerable species). The priority freshwater conservation network derived from the analysis provides specific spatial recommendations to help achieve conservation goals if the current reserve network is appropriately expanded. • Freshwater species are at risk worldwide and conservation planning is overlooked. • A new comprehensive approach prioritizes key areas for European freshwaters. • Critical regions for conservation exist in Central Europe and the Mediterranean. • Current reserves are inadequate covering only 4 % of Europe's freshwater ecosystems. • Expanding reserves can result in a 20-fold increase in species coverage within PAs. [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., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Climate and land use changes are major threats to biodiversity. To preserve biodiversity, networks of protected areas have been established worldwide, like the Natura 2000 network across the European Union (EU). Currently, this reserve network consists of more than 26000 sites covering more than 17% of EU terrestrial territory. Its efficiency to mitigate the detrimental effects of land use and climate change remains an open research question. Here, we examined the potential current and future geographical ranges of four birds of prey under scenarios of both land use and climate changes. By using graph theory, we examined how the current Natura 2000 network will perform in regard to the conservation of these species. This approach determines the importance of a site in regard to the total network and its connectivity. We found that sites becoming unsuitable due to climate change are not a random sample of the network, but are less connected and contribute less to the overall connectivity than the average site and thus their loss does not disrupt the full network. Hence, the connectivity of the remaining network changed only slightly from present day conditions. Our findings highlight the need to establish species-specific management plans with flexible conservation strategies ensuring protection under potential future range expansions. Aquila pomarina is predicted to disappear from the southern part of its range and to become restricted to northeastern Europe. Gyps fulvus, Aquila chrysaetos, and Neophron percnopterus are predicted to locally lose some suitable sites; hence, some isolated small populations may become extinct. However, their geographical range and metapopulation structure will remain relatively unaffected throughout Europe. These species would benefit more from an improved habitat quality and management of the existing network of protected areas than from increased connectivity or assisted migration.