Project / Initiative
European Union Projects
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Inactive
COCONUT
Understanding effects of land use changes on ecosystems to halt loss of biodiversity due to habitat destruction, fragmentation and degradation
Funding
A project to evaluate the impact of historical loss, fragmentation and degradation of habitats on species richness of plants and animals, and assess extinction debts for species groups with different life history traits across Europe.
Project objectives
1. to evaluate the impact of historical loss, fragmentation and degradation of habitats on species richness of plants and animals, and assess extinction debts for species groups with different life history traits across Europe
2. to evaluate patterns of land use and biodiversity in Natura 2000 sites, and estimate the extent of impact of large scale historic land use changes on biodiversity in areas of particular conservation value
3. to develop future land use change scenarios for predicting future species loss and provide tools to project necessary land use changes for biodiversity conservation and restoration
4. to identify key drivers and develop decision tools for biodiversity loss. This information will in be used to develop policy options relevant for biodiversity conservation and restoration in key policy areas such as environment, agriculture, transport, urbanisation and energy
5. to estimate combined risks of habitat fragmentation and climate change for biodiversity in close collaboration with MACIS (task 2 in the current call) and the IP ALARM, and suggest policy options for alternative climate and land use scenarios.
Conclusions
Deliverables:
D 1.2 Report on the impact of current and historical habitat fragmentation on biodiversity
D 2.2 Report on meta-analysis of selected Natura 2000 sites [PDF, 838 KB]
D 3.2 Report on historic effect of land use changes based on organism and habitat [PDF, 656 KB]
D 3.3 Report on GIS database and identification of threatened habitats [PDF, 382 KB]
D 4.1-4.3 Exploring European land use change scenarios: thematic downscaling and regional variability [PDF, 8.87 MB]
D 4.4 Report on results of land use projections [PDF, 4.53 MB]
D 5.2 Report in policy options of biodiversity management [PDF, 787 KB]
D 6.3-6.4 Lists of published outputs of project; scientific and non-scientific paper contributions (see below).
