Transcript DYLAN - Towards a new framework for the management of

DYLAN – Towards a new
Framework for the Management of
Cultural and Natural Heritage in
Upland Landscape Conservation
Areas (LCA) in Norway
H. John B. Birks
University of Bergen
University College London
University of Oxford
DYLAN – Trondheim 21 September 2010
Introduction
DYLAN involves
• present-day monitoring of threatened and
endangered species
• present-day vegetation and ecology
• vegetation re-sampling where possible
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repeat photography
use of documentary and herbarium material
dendrochronology
land-use and cultural history
long-term ecology (= ecological palaeoecology)
Unique in its breadth
What is Conservation Biology?
Used here to mean the planned management of
natural resources and processes and the retention
of structure, diversity, and evolutionary change
within a constantly changing environment.
Protection management and/or maintenance of
biodiversity in its many manifestations.
The concept of biodiversity covers many scales in
space, time, and biological organisation, ranging
from biomes and landscapes to species and genes.
Biodiversity hotspots occur at global, continental,
national, county, and local scales. All of value and
importance at different spatial and temporal scales.
What is Long-Term Ecology?
Long-term ecology = ecological palaeoecology,
namely using palaeoecology to resolve critical
questions about long-term ecological change.
Concerned primarily with the ecological impacts of
environmental change (‘drivers’) on organisms,
communities, ecosystems, and landscapes.
Uses the palaeoecological record of fossil pollen,
spores, leaves, fruits, seeds, etc in lake and bog
sediments as a long-term ecological laboratory
or observatory.
Not primarily concerned with the reconstruction of
past environments (e.g. climate) (as in geological
palaeoecology) but with the responses of
organisms in the past to environmental change.
Has Conservation Biology
Changed in Focus in the last 20
years?
Major paradigm shifts in conservation biology in
the late 1990s. This shift is reflected, in part, by
long-term ecology’s contributions to conservation,
and to the recognition of global change and the
rapidity of change in our environment.
1. Descriptive and evaluation phase in the
UK and elsewhere in temperate and tropical
areas (hotspots). ‘Balance of nature’
paradigm
Derek A. Ratcliffe
1929-2005
First met in
Borrowdale,
September 1966.
Became close friends.
Stimulated my
interests in
conservation biology
1991-2000
1977
Anemone pulsatilla
Conservation evaluation – various criteria (Ratcliffe 1977)
(1)
size and extent of site
(2)
species diversity
(3)
naturalness, i.e. degree of absence of human
interference *
(4)
nationally rare, endangered, and local species
(5)
fragility *
(6)
typicalness and unusualness *
(7)
representative
(8)
recorded history *
(9)
potential value *
(10) research and educational value *
(11) intrinsic appeal (e.g. birds, orchids, butterflies)
(* long-term ecological contributions)
Current approach in Norway of nature types
is mainly in the philosophy of this ‘balance of
nature’ paradigm with its emphasis on
description, documentation, and evaluation.
Assumes a relatively ‘static’ environment.
2. Conservation in a rapidly changing world
Three key conclusions
Georgina Mace
1. Recognises that much progress
has been made world-wide in the
identification of priority areas for
biodiversity conservation.
Evaluation phase.
2. Must now build an understanding
of biological processes into
management and planning.
3. Conservation planners need to
deal with the dynamic processes
of species and their interactions
with their environment.
Set a new agenda for conservation
and management. Applicable to all
spatial scales, including UK. 1998
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment 2005
www.maweb.org
UN commissioned MEA concluded that
Hal Mooney
• There is little knowledge of how
ecosystems respond to the interactive
effects of different drivers in particular
regions and across different scales
• There is a limited understanding of
characteristics of ecosystems that lead
to thresholds and irreversible changes
• Such information is critical in order to
develop policies and conservation
strategies to cope with current and
future change
• Longest temporal data set used in MEA
is 45 years (1960-2005)
Major shifts in approach of active conservationists
Bill Sutherland
Sutherland et al. 2009
Sutherland et al.
Current Picture
Long-term
ecology
Ecology
Conservation biology
Strong links and interactions
Medium links and interactions
Weak links and interactions
Very weak links and interactions
Current Picture of DYLAN
Cultural history
Long-term
ecology
Ecology
Conservation biology
Strong links and interactions
Medium links and interactions
Weak links and interactions
Very weak links and interactions
DYLAN is unique internationally in its clear and
explicit inclusion of cultural history into an
integrated view of achieving effective conservation
policies for dynamic landscapes. Considers longterm ecology, cultural history, and modern
ecology.
Key Drivers of Change in Upland
Landscapes in UK and Norway
Recreation and tourism
Recent cultural history
Recent land-use changes
Afforestation
Acid deposition
Atmospheric N deposition
Economic change
Long-term human impacts (>1 ka)
Soil degradation
Peat erosion
Climate change
Introduced invasive species
Habitat fragmentation
UK
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Norway
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See common
drivers but
relative
importance is
different
between UK
and Norway.
Also different
between study
areas within UK
and within
Norway.
Findings of
Work Package
3 key outcome
from DYLAN
Key Questions
Key questions of importance to the conservation of
biodiversity globally, nationally, and locally that
need answers from the past (long-term ecology)
1. What ecological processes are important for
maintaining target ecosystems?
2. Which combinations of abiotic and biotic processes
result in a given critical threshold being exceeded?
Can we determine thresholds and predict
responses to future changes?
3. Can we restore ecological processes on a degraded
landscape? (Restoration or reconciliation ecology)
4. How can we identify regions important for
evolutionary processes?
5. What will be the rates and nature of changes in
ecological processes in response to climate
change?
6. What processes bolster the resilience to climate
change?
7. How can we manage the novel ecosystems that
result from biotic responses to climate change?
See:
Willis, K.J. & Bhagwat, S.A. 2010 Climate of the Past 6:
1139-1162
Willis, K.J., Bailey, R.M., Bhagwat, S.A. & Birks, H.J.B. 2010
Trends in Ecology & Evolution 10.1016/j.tree.2010.07.006
for answers to these questions
Note that the emphasis in on process (ecological
and evolutionary) rather than on patterns
(descriptions).
Reflects the shift in the paradigms in conservation
biology brought about, in part, by the realisation
of a dynamic world, global change, and continuous
ecological variation in space and time over a very
wide range of scales.
DYLAN is important in that it is considering the
Landscape Conservation Areas as dynamic
entities, drivers of change, and processes.
General Conclusions
1. Understanding long-term dynamics and processes
in the past as a tool for predicting and managing
biodiversity in the future needs a strong and
effective interaction and collaboration between
long-term ecology and management and
conservation.
2. Much to learn from ‘lessons from the past’ and
to understand ‘legacies from the past’.
3. We should not view modern ecology and long-term
ecology as separate entities. View long-term
ecology as a continuum in time - part of ecology.
4. Increasing emphasis on ecological and evolutionary
processes in conservation biology.
5. Conservation biology has embraced the
importance of different spatial scales but it has
yet to do this with temporal scales.
6. Many major challenges ahead for all of us.
7. Do we know what we want to conserve in the
future and how to conserve it?
Two competing conservation models: both based
on long-term ecological records
Partial re-wilding
Which one is
going to get
closer to
Cultural landscape
maintaining a
biodiverse, fully
functioning ecosystem in the future?
2010
Result of EU ALARM Project
Involving 68 partners in 35 countries
(but not Norway)
Impressive synthesis and predictions involving major
drivers and pressures on biodiversity, including
socio-economic changes, invasions, climate, and
atmospheric nitrogen.
Starting point was ‘stable’ or ‘static’ communities.
Studied change from one ‘stable’ state to another
‘stable’ state. No consideration of systems that today
already have a strong historical legacy and are
highly dynamic.