Optimisation of the conservation of rare and vulnerable plant species in the perspective of climate change in Lithuanian (nature) reserves

Abstract

Nature reserves are one of the most important measures in saving biodiversity, however, during the climate change, a real danger arises, that these territories would not be able to fulfi ll the objectives. In order to mitigate negative effects of climate change in protected areas it is necessary to create and apply management programs, based on future ecosystems needs. The main aim of presented study was to evaluate sensitivity of rare and vulnerable species to climate change in order to suggest measures for better management of nature reserves in the future.According to scientifi c literature, 12 biological and ecological plant characteristics determining sensitivity of species (limiting factors) have been detected. 73 plant species that are protected in Lithuanian reserves were evaluated qualitatively according to limiting factors of climate change. As the result, it was offered to apply additional protection measures to 47 species in the light of climate change. Groups of plant species that should be affected highly negatively or highly positively were identifi ed. 16% of plant species protected in nature reserves were evaluated as very sensitive to climate change and the condition of these plants may worsen. On the other hand, 14 plant species were given as least sensitive to negative effects and future climate is more favorable to species growth and spread than the existing. The highest danger is predicted for Silene chlorantha (Willd.) Ehrh., and the best condition is predicted for Mentha longifolia (L.) Huds. Dactylorhiza incarnata (L.) Soó.The study also gives recommendations for the protection of rare plants in the future. Different management measures are taken into account: mitigation of the direct effect of climate change (I), improvement of an existing level of rareness (II), respecting the relation to physical and biological environment (III), consideration of spread and geographical limits (IV). Three management intensity levels were suggested according to species sensitivity.

Optimizing Transportation between Sea Ports and Regions by Road Transport and Rail and Inland Waterway Transport Means Including “Last Mile” Solutions

“…Optimization of transport modes for cargo transportation between regions, as well as from seaports to the final destination, is very important from the perspective of economics, energy savings, environmental factors related to energy aspects and reduction of roads traffic points of view [15]. Optimization of transport modes could be useful for the transport companies, cargo consignees as well as society, especially in areas with high population density, because it could reduce road congestion, especially in cities [16][17][18][19].…”

“…Energy saving and environmental impact assessment from transport modes, are analyzed for road transport in research papers [12,17,19], for railway transport in research papers [7,17,19], for waterborne transport in research papers [11,14,33,34,39] and for transport and logistics processes in research papers [29,37] among others, but mainly based on the typical transportation conditions (Table 2).…”