Mediterranean wetland conservation in the context of climate and land cover change

Geijzendorffer, Ilse R.
Gaget, Elie
Gwelmami, Anis
Galewski, Thomas
Pereira, Henrique M.
Guerra, Carlos A.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-020-01655-0
Persistent URL: http://resolver.sub.uni-goettingen.de/purl?gldocs-11858/10769
Geijzendorffer, Ilse R.; Mediterranean Wetlands Observatory, Tour du Valat, Research Institute for the Conservation of Mediterranean Wetlands, Sambuc, France
Gaget, Elie; Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Centre d’Ecologie et des Sciences de la Conservation-CESCO - UMR 7204 MNHN-CNRS-UPMC, Paris, France
Gwelmami, Anis; Mediterranean Wetlands Observatory, Tour du Valat, Research Institute for the Conservation of Mediterranean Wetlands, Sambuc, France
Galewski, Thomas; Mediterranean Wetlands Observatory, Tour du Valat, Research Institute for the Conservation of Mediterranean Wetlands, Sambuc, France
Pereira, Henrique M.; Institute of Biology, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle, Germany
Guerra, Carlos A.; Institute of Biology, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle, Germany
Abstract
Wetlands are known to support diverse and unique species assemblages. Globally, but particularly in the Mediterranean basin, they are threatened by climate change and natural habitat loss. Despite an alarming decline of wetlands over the last century, standardised and systematic site assessments at large scale do not exist. Here, we perform an integrated assessment of Mediterranean wetlands by evaluating the combination of wetland protection and anthropogenic pressures, namely climate and land cover change, and the subsequent impact on wintering waterbirds. We used a multivariate partial triadic analysis to quantify climate and land cover change for each site between 1990 and 2005. We found that wetland sites in the southeast of the Mediterranean basin combined low or no protection cover with the highest increases in temperature and losses in natural habitats. Despite these findings, these sites also lack observation data on biodiversity, which may underestimate the resulting impacts. However, there are examples where active conservation measurements contributed positively to slow down wetlands’ reduction. Biodiversity data coverage needs to be ensured, regularly updated, and extended across sites regardless of their protection level, to allow for the assessment of biodiversity trends. This should be further extended to include current investments in remote sensing approaches.