The effects of woodlot size and isolation, in relation to habitat fragmentation, on the distribution of the red squirrel were studied. In The Netherlands, 50 woodlots (0.55-13.78 ha) were surveyed in an agricultural landscape for the presence of red squirrel. In 26 woodlots squirrel dreys (nests) were found. Logit regression analysis showed that woodlot size and the area per woodlot covered with coniferous trees were the best predictors of squirrel presence. Addition of isolation variables by means of a stepwise forward regression method showed significant effects of the distance to a large, permanently inhabited wood and the amount of surrounding wood. No effect was found for the distance to the nearest woodlot (> 0.5 ha). The model could be further improved by adding a measure of the amount of hedgerows surrounding a woodlot.

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Natura 2000 sites are expected to assure the long-term survival of Europe's most valuable and threatened species and habitats. It follows that successful management of the sites is of great importance. Next to goal attainment, cost-effectiveness is increasingly recognised as a key requirement for gaining social and political acceptance for costly conservation measures. We identify and qualitatively examine issues of cost-effectiveness related to the design and implementation of management measures in Natura 2000 sites in Finland, Germany, the Netherlands and Poland. Given the wide variety of management design and implementation options within the four countries, our study is purely of an 123Biodivers Conserv (2010) 19:2053-2069 DOI 10.1007 exploratory nature. We derive recommendations for improving the cost-effectiveness of management in Natura 2000 sites and for future research. Examples of policy recommendations include guaranteeing the availability of funds for longer periods, and ensuring the appropriate allocation of funds between the different tasks of designing and implementing management plans. Further research should examine the cost-effectiveness of controversial suggestions such as, for example, more tailored payment schemes for conservation measures that result in higher ecological outputs but are costly to administer. Moreover, more research is needed to better understand how rules for administrations, as well as rules and governance structures for tasks within administrations, should be designed.

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