Coastal lagoons are considered important habitats both for ecological functions and biodiversity worldwide. Thus, they provide relevant ecosystem services valuable natural resources. However, coastal highly susceptible to anthropogenic pressures that can cause losses require specific biomonitoring programs as well management measures. In this research, we applied environmental DNA (eDNA) metaba...

Even if the establishment of nature reserves is to date a reality and the increase of protected areas is going to grow year after year, monitoring programs aiming to assess the effectiveness of the established protected areas for biodiversity conservation are still needed. That is the case for the Natura 2000 network in Europe, for which monitoring methods and programs are not yet well-establis...

The seeming dichotomy between the protection of biodiversity and the supply of ecosystem services (ESs) represents an outstanding field of research that requires a structured and detailed analysis. The paper analyzes and discusses the role of ESs within spatial planning and strategic environmental assessment (SEA) procedures through the content analysis methodology and a logical framework (LF) ...

Zoological Researchmuseum Alexander Koenig, Adenauerallee 160, D-53113 Bonn, Germany Department of Wildlife Sciences, University of Göttingen, Büsgenweg 3, D-37077 Göttingen, Germany Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ, Department of Computational Landscape Ecology, Permoserstraße 15, D-04318 Leipzig, Germany Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ, Department of Communi...

In spite of widespread support from most member countries' societies for European Union policy, including support for the sustainable development idea, in many EU countries the levels of acceptance of new environmental protection programmes have been and, in particular in new member states, still are considerably low. The experience of the countries which were the first to implement union direc...

The European Habitats Directive 92/43/EEC has defined the need for the conservation of habitats and species with the adoption of appropriate measures. Within the Natura 2000 ecological network of special areas of conservation, natural habitats will be monitored to ensure the maintenance or restoration of their composition, structure and extent. The European Space Agency's GlobWetland project ha...

In various fields of spatial research, semantic heterogeneity remains an unsolved problem in terms of data comparability. Interoperability of biodiversity monitoring information is especially difficult because of its thematic complexity and the high variability of acquisition methods and national differences in nomenclatures. Each EU member state must compile comprehensive information on protec...

Monitoring and reporting on the status of Natura 2000 habitats is an obligation under the 1992 Habitats Directive for each member state of the European Union (EU). Satellite imagery providing up-to-date information for a large areal coverage could be an interesting source to complement conventional, but laborious, field-driven surveying methods. Quality of habitats can be assessed through their...