Abstract
Protection and restoration of plant biodiversity of semi-natural communities on mesotrofic and oligotrofic soils is one of the key issues of the Ecological Main Structure (EMS) and its Natura 2000 sites. Successful establishment of target species and communities in or outside nature reserves depends on a variety of biotic and abiotic factors. The current NWO-Stimulation Program Biodiversity has shown that successful establishment depends on the spatial arrangement of (remnant) source populations and target sites in the patchwork of agriculture and nature reserves. Moreover, success is further constrained by the local habitat quality and life-history traits of target species. To generalize the scientific insight into the effects of pattern and process, we intend to link actual maps on land use and soil conditions (pattern) with databases on individual species responses to abiotic conditions (such as nitrogen and phosphorus limitation, atmospheric deposition and hydrological conditions), as well as maps on the actual and former occurrence of plant species and databases with their life-history traits (such as seed longevity and dispersal capacity). Linking maps to databases (eco-informatics approach) will result in a tool using the spatial arrangement of existing biodiversity to predict the potential for restoration at various scales (such as patch, landscape, region). The tool can be used to evaluate whether existing and/or planned conservation areas have the proper size and heterogeneity for sustainable maintenance of plant species and/or give alternative options for spatial arrangement of land use types (i.e. in terms of buffering and optimalization of the EMS) and their management.
Netherlands