Representativeness of the Natura 2000 network for preserving plant biodiversity in the European Union

The Natura 2000 (N2K) network of protected areas is one of the main tools for area-based conservation in the European Union (EU), yet its role in preserving plant biodiversity requires better understanding. We examined data kept in the European Vegetation Archive from over 1.2 million vegetation plots and obtained over 14.2 million plant species occurrences. To test the N2K network's representativeness of plant species gamma diversity, we compared the number and percentage of native and conservation priority species in- and outside the N2K network throughout the EU and for individual countries, biogeographical regions, and combinations thereof. We then determined whether N2K sites hosted more species than sites outside the network with the species-area relationship. Overall, almost 90% of the native vascular plant species occurred at least once in the N2K network. Yet, significant variation exists across countries and biogeographical regions-from 0% of species in the Boreal region of Lithuania, to 98% in the Alpine region of Croatia-indicating that local N2K sites are not equally representative of the regional gamma diversity. Nonetheless, the N2K network contains more species than land outside the network when area is taken into account. The planned expansion of the N2K network, as mandated by the European Biodiversity Strategy for 2030, should prioritize areas with currently underrepresented elements of the EU vascular flora.

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Journal
Conservation Biology
Published
2025-10-12
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.70158
Citations
1
Primary Topic
Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
2.31

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article

Representativeness of the Natura 2000 network for preserving plant biodiversity in the European Union

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2.31
article

Representativeness of the Natura 2000 network for preserving plant biodiversity in the European Union

Borja Jiménez‐Alfaro, Zygmunt Kącki, Roberto Cazzolla Gatti, Michele De Sanctis, Ilona Knollová, Kiril Vassilev, Jesper Erenskjold Moeslund, Hans Henrik Bruun, Úna Fitzpatrick, Ute Jandt, Urban Šilc, Andraž Čarni, Lorenzo Ricci, Gianmaria Bonari, Francesco María Sabatini, Piero Zannini, María Laura Carranza, Grzegorz Swacha, Anna Rita Frattaroli, Milan Valachovič, Wolfgang Willner, Florian Jansen, Solvita Rūsiņa, Emmanuel Garbolino, Jürgen Dengler, Duccio Rocchini, Riccardo Testolin, Milan Chytrý, Luigi Cao Pinna, Emiliano Agrillo, Jan B.�M.�J. Jansen, Sonja Škornik, Nataša Pipenbaher, Eszter Ruprecht, Jonathan Lenoir, Alessandro Chiarucci, Michele Di Musciano, Tomáš Peterka, Idoia Biurrun, Fabio Attorre, S.M. Hennekens, Diletta Santovito
article en
1 citations

Abstract

The Natura 2000 (N2K) network of protected areas is one of the main tools for area-based conservation in the European Union (EU), yet its role in preserving plant biodiversity requires better understanding. We examined data kept in the European Vegetation Archive from over 1.2 million vegetation plots and obtained over 14.2 million plant species occurrences. To test the N2K network's representativeness of plant species gamma diversity, we compared the number and percentage of native and conservation priority species in- and outside the N2K network throughout the EU and for individual countries, biogeographical regions, and combinations thereof. We then determined whether N2K sites hosted more species than sites outside the network with the species-area relationship. Overall, almost 90% of the native vascular plant species occurred at least once in the N2K network. Yet, significant variation exists across countries and biogeographical regions-from 0% of species in the Boreal region of Lithuania, to 98% in the Alpine region of Croatia-indicating that local N2K sites are not equally representative of the regional gamma diversity. Nonetheless, the N2K network contains more species than land outside the network when area is taken into account. The planned expansion of the N2K network, as mandated by the European Biodiversity Strategy for 2030, should prioritize areas with currently underrepresented elements of the EU vascular flora.

Conservation Biology
University of Siena (IT), Roma Tre University (IT), University of Copenhagen (DK), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR), University of Molise (IT), University of Vienna (AT), Radboud University Nijmegen (NL), Universidad de Oviedo (ES), University of the Basque Country (ES), Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts (SI), University of Nova Gorica (SI), ZHAW Zurich University of Applied Sciences (CH), Aarhus University (DK), Czech University of Life Sciences Prague (CZ), Masaryk University (CZ), University of Wrocław (PL), Altera (United States) (US), University of L'Aquila (IT), German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (DE), Babeș-Bolyai University (RO), University of Maribor (SI), Institute of Botany of the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SK), Wrocław Zoo (PL), Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale (IT), Ecologie et Dynamique des Systèmes Anthropisés (FR), Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research (BG), Vienna Institute for Nature Conservation & Analyses (AT), Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Université de Picardie Jules Verne (FR), University of Rostock (DE), University of Bayreuth (DE), Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (DE), École Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Paris (FR), University of Glasgow (GB), Sapienza University of Rome (IT), University of Palermo (IT), University of Latvia (LV), University of Bologna (IT)
Gobierno del Principado de Asturias, European Commission, Grantová Agentura České Republiky, Eusko Jaurlaritza, Sapienza Università di Roma
Openalex Percentile: Top 10%
Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies
2.31
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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