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• Impacts of climate change and selected renewable energie infrastructures on EU biodiversity and the Natura 2000 network »

  This summary report aims to provide the European Commission with an overview of the likely impact of climate change on biodiversity in the European Union and indications as to how the design and implementation of current policy might need to be adapted in order to ensure that the EU respects its commitment to reduce biodiversity loss by 2010 and beyond.

  Resource Type: Reports
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  Progress towards implementing the biodiversity action plan for stipitate hydnoid fungi in Scotland »

  Stipitate hydnoid ('tooth') fungi are considered to be threatened throughout much of central and northern Europe. In response to concern about the status of these fungi in the UK, a Biodiversity Action Plan has been developed for 14 species in this group. As a first step towards implementation of this plan, a number of surveys have been initiated, to determine the current status and distribution of hydnoid fungi. An overview of the results of these surveys is described. A series of distribution maps are presented, based on a compilation of early records and the results of a recent field survey in Scottish coniferous forests. The difficulties of interpreting early records are discussed, with particular reference to the taxonomie confusion that has surrounded this group of fungi. Although available data provide little evidence for decline of hydnoid fungi, a number of species display very restricted distributions within Scotland. The recent discovery of several species new to Britain emphasises the need for further field surveys to define the current status of these fungi with greater accuracy.

  Resource Type: Journal Papers
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  Forests in Flux. Climate change: the threats to world forests »

  Consideration of predictions for global climate change and the general scientific principles underlying the interaction between vegetation and climate, and examination of likely scenarios for different forest regions.

  Resource Type: Reports
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  Climate Change and the Biodiversity of European Islands »

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  Patterns of isozyme variation as indicators of biogeographic history in Pilgerodendron uviferum (D. Don) Florin »

  The effects of Pleistocene glaciations on the genetic characteristics of the most austral conifer in the world, Pilgerodendron uviferum, were analysed with specific reference to the hypothesis that the species persisted locally in ice-free areas in temperate South America.

  Results indicated that Pilgerodendron populations are highly monomorphic, probably reflecting past population bottlenecks and reduced gene flow. Southernmost populations tend to be the least genetically variable and were therefore probably more affected by glacial activity than northern ones. Populations located outside ice limits seem to have been isolated during the glacial period. The presence of centres of genetic diversity, together with the lack of a significant correlation between genetic and geographical distances and the absence of geographical patterns of allelic frequencies at most analysed alleles, may indicate that Pilgerodendron did not advance southward after the last glaciation from a unique northern refugium, but spread from several surviving populations in ice-free areas in Patagonia instead.

  Resource Type: Journal Papers
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  Mapping vulnerability of tropical forest to conversion, and resulting potential CO2 emissions. A rapid assessment for the Eliasch Review (2008) »

  Using global scale maps and statistics, we estimate that the conversion of all vulnerable tropical forests to the most valuable other land use at each location could lead to emissions of 670 Gt carbon dioxide (CO2). We then evaluate the role of the global protected area network in preventing emissions from tropical deforestation.

  Resource Type: Reports
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  New estimates of global and regional coral reef areas »

  Global and regional coral reef area statistics are of considerable value in fields ranging from global environmental change to fisheries to conservation. Although widely quoted, Smith's 1978 figure of 600 000rkm2 is only an approximate calculation. The World Conservation Monitoring Centre has prepared a new estimate of reef coverage by mapping emergent reef crest and very shallow reef systems. These data were rasterised, using 1rkm grid squares, as a means of reducing errors arising from variation in scale. Global and regional reef coverages were calculated from the resultant grid. The total global area is estimated at 255 000rkm2, considerably lower than many previous estimates. Variation in reef area estimates is, in part, a function of variation in reef definition.

  Resource Type: Journal Papers
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  Review of the Literature on the Links between Biodiversity and Climate Change »

  UNEP-WCMC has been providing technical support to the work of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) on biodiversity and climate change. We carried out three reviews of the recent scientific literature and these fed into the deliberations of the CBD’s Second Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group (AHTEG) on Biodiversity and Climate Change. These reviews, entitled Links between Biodiversity and Climate change: Impacts, Adaptation and Mitigation, have now been published as no 42 of the CBD Technical Series. This publication complements the main report from the CBD AHTEG which appears as CBD Technical Series No. 41 Connecting Biodiversity and Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation.

  Resource Type: Reports
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  Impacts of Climate Change on Wildlife »

  The impacts of "human-induced" climate change are now being observed in every aspect of life, and it is the most significant and far-reaching current environmental threat. This book introduces a series of case-studies highlighting the observed current changes in a number of species and habitats, ranging from the tropics through to the polar regions, and in some cases predictions for future impacts.

  Resource Type: Reports
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  Elevational distribution of restricted range forest tree taxa in eastern Tanzania »

  The forests of eastern Tanzania are a globally important biodiversity hotspot. In this study 361 eastern Tanzanian restricted range forest tree taxa were assessed. Of these taxa, 223 occurred in the Eastern Arc, 150 in Coastal forests, 17 in Northern forests and 21 in the Lake Nyasa forests. The majority of the taxa had restricted elevational ranges with 76.3 occurring in no more than two 200 m elevational bands out of a total potential elevation range of 3000 m. The majority of the taxa occupied a small area in the eastern Tanzanian forests, with 201 taxa being only found at a few sites. In determining priority areas for conservation, selection of taxon definitions can have important effects. For example, tree size varies with elevation, so if only large trees are used then site selection will be biased towards particular areas.

  Resource Type: Journal Papers