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Diversity of European habitat types is correlated with geography more than climate and human pressure

Cervellini, Marco; Di Musciano, Michele; Zannini, Piero; Fattorini, Simone; Jiménez‐Alfaro, Borja; Agrillo, Emiliano; Attorre, Fabio; Angelini, Pierangela; Beierkuhnlein, Carl; Casella, Laura; Field, Richard; Fischer, Jan‐Christopher; Genovesi, Piero; Hoffmann, Samuel; Irl, Severin D. H.; Nascimbene, Juri; Rocchini, Duccio; Steinbauer, Manuel; Vetaas, Ole R.; Chiarucci, Alessandro

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Authors

Marco Cervellini

Michele Di Musciano

Piero Zannini

Simone Fattorini

Borja Jiménez‐Alfaro

Emiliano Agrillo

Fabio Attorre

Pierangela Angelini

Carl Beierkuhnlein

Laura Casella

Jan‐Christopher Fischer

Piero Genovesi

Samuel Hoffmann

Severin D. H. Irl

Juri Nascimbene

Duccio Rocchini

Manuel Steinbauer

Ole R. Vetaas

Alessandro Chiarucci



Abstract

Habitat richness, that is, the diversity of ecosystem types, is a complex, spatially explicit aspect of biodiversity, which is affected by bioclimatic, geographic, and anthropogenic variables. The distribution of habitat types is a key component for understanding broad-scale biodiversity and for developing conservation strategies. We used data on the distribution of European Union (EU) habitats to answer the following questions: (i) how do bioclimatic, geographic, and anthropogenic variables affect habitat richness? (ii) Which of those factors is the most important? (iii) How do interactions among these variables influence habitat richness and which combinations produce the strongest interactions? The distribution maps of 222 terrestrial habitat types as defined by the Natura 2000 network were used to calculate habitat richness for the 10 km × 10 km EU grid map. We then investigated how environmental variables affect habitat richness, using generalized linear models, generalized additive models, and boosted regression trees. The main factors associated with habitat richness were geographic variables, with negative relationships observed for both latitude and longitude, and a positive relationship for terrain ruggedness. Bioclimatic variables played a secondary role, with habitat richness increasing slightly with annual mean temperature and overall annual precipitation. We also found an interaction between anthropogenic variables, with the combination of increased landscape fragmentation and increased population density strongly decreasing habitat richness. This is the first attempt to disentangle spatial patterns of habitat richness at the continental scale, as a key tool for protecting biodiversity. The number of European habitats is related to geography more than climate and human pressure, reflecting a major component of biogeographical patterns similar to the drivers observed at the species level. The interaction between anthropogenic variables highlights the need for coordinated, continental-scale management plans for biodiversity conservation.

Citation

Cervellini, M., Di Musciano, M., Zannini, P., Fattorini, S., Jiménez‐Alfaro, B., Agrillo, E., …Chiarucci, A. (2021). Diversity of European habitat types is correlated with geography more than climate and human pressure. Ecology and Evolution, 11(24), 18111-18124. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.8409

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Nov 10, 2021
Online Publication Date Dec 7, 2021
Publication Date 2021-12
Deposit Date Feb 1, 2022
Publicly Available Date Mar 28, 2024
Journal Ecology and Evolution
Electronic ISSN 2045-7758
Publisher Wiley
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 11
Issue 24
Pages 18111-18124
DOI https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.8409
Keywords Nature and Landscape Conservation; Ecology; Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
Public URL https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/7027658
Publisher URL https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ece3.8409

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