Hotspots of biodiversity and ecosystem services: the Outermost Regions and Overseas Countries and Territories of the European Union

Abstract

The obligations of the EU Biodiversity Strategy 2020 create a need for mapping and assessment of the state of biodiversity, ecosystems and their services in all European member states. Europe's nine Outermost Regions (ORs) and 25 Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) are mainly islands, scattered around the globe. These territories contain unique flora and fauna and encompass diverse ecosystems, from coral reefs to rainforests. These highly diverse ecosystems provide multiple relevant ecosystem services from local to global scale. To date, the ecosystem services concept has so far received little attention in European ORs and OCTs. Therefore, our aims were (1) to analyse the current state of ecosystem services mapping and assessment in Europe's overseas territories, (2) to identify knowledge gaps in the context of ecosystem service research and application and (3) to provide recommendations for future research and policy directions to fill these gaps. We conducted a systematic review of scientific literature for each of the ORs and OCTs, screening 1030 publications. The analysis resulted in 161 publications referring to ES mapping and assessment, of which most were conducted in the European Caribbean spots in terms of ecosystem service mapping and assessment and that, despite many biodiversity studies referring to species' abundance, little has been published on ecosystem services. Our systematic review highlights theknowledge lacking on dealing with invasive species, which pose major threats to native island biodiversity, ecosystem functions and ecosystem services. Further, it discusses knowledge gaps in (1) translation of information on island biodiversity and ecosystem functions into ES; (2) geographical coverage of mapping studies in most ORs and OCTs; (3) the lack of standardised approaches and integrated assessments to map, assess and value ecosystem services. Based on these results, future research and policy priorities could be adapted in order to focus on filling these gaps. To overcome current environmental policy challenges, it is crucial to address the ongoing decline in biodiversity, rising climatic and anthropogenic pressures on ecosystems and to maintain a sustainable ES flow to safeguard human well-being. Ultimately, ES mapping and assessment efforts will form the knowledge base for wellinformed decision-making to protect Europe's vulnerable overseas areas.

Mapping and assessing ecosystems and their services: a comparative approach to ecosystem service supply in Suriname and French Guiana

“…First efforts to map and assess ES can be found on various scales in SUR (Ramirez-Gomez et al 2013;Ramirez-Gomez et al 2016;Anthony et al 2019), and FG (Roger et al 2016). However, a systematic literature review of existing MAES studies (Sieber et al 2018) revealed that there is still potential for more thorough implementation of the ES concept. Until now, little is known about the spatial distribution of ES throughout the two territories and ES maps are scarce.…”

Monitoring Arthropods in Azorean Agroecosystems: the project AGRO-ECOSERVICES

“…Importantly, the EU Biodiversity Strategy 2020 lists, as a priority, the mapping and assessment of the state of biodiversity, ecosystems and their services in all EU member states ( Maes et al 2016 ). Azores are part of Europe’s nine Outermost Regions (ORs) for which there is a general lack of ES mapping and assessment as compared with mainland Europe ( Sieber et al 2018 ).…”

Taxonomic, structural diversity and carbon stocks in a gradient of island forests

“…This translates to a substantial but often unrecognized contribution to local island economies, crucial contributions to the tourism sector, many cultural ecosystem services depending on natural diversity and healthy ecosystems. Ecosystem services assessment attempts will produce the knowledge base for well-informed decision-making to protect vulnerable overseas areas [160]. In fact, forests have an important role in the conservation of water resources and in the refilling of aquifers [161], since the large areas of pastureland tend to have an impermeable layer relatively close to the soil surface, leading to increased water runoff and to decreased infiltration [162], while forests contribute to precipitation and occult precipitation interception, which is very common in the Azores [163,164].…”

“…Final remarks. To date, the ecosystem services concept has so far received little attention in islands around the globe [160]. These areas, ranging temperate, semi-tropical, to tropical ocean forests, are rich in biodiversity and natural resources, providing a variety of ecosystem services of global and regional importance (e.g., water regulation, erosion control, pollination, pest-control, food supply and recreation) [160].…”

“…To date, the ecosystem services concept has so far received little attention in islands around the globe [160]. These areas, ranging temperate, semi-tropical, to tropical ocean forests, are rich in biodiversity and natural resources, providing a variety of ecosystem services of global and regional importance (e.g., water regulation, erosion control, pollination, pest-control, food supply and recreation) [160]. This translates to a substantial but often unrecognized contribution to local island economies, crucial contributions to the tourism sector, many cultural ecosystem services depending on natural diversity and healthy ecosystems.…”