The potential sensitivity to climate change of selected endangered and important Natura 2000 Habitats and plants from Bucegi Natural Park, Romania

Abstract

This study was carried out in the Bucegi Natural Park, a protected area of the Romanian Carpathians. It aims at documenting the potential sensitivity of six widespread Natura 2000 habitat types and of all plants with conservative value (200 taxa) in the mountain area, to the changes in temperature and humidity, predicted for this century. Regional expert knowledge and environmental indicator values were considered in assessing the potential habitat’s sensitivity. The results support the evidence that sensitivity to temperature may be potentially higher for habitats at alpine and subalpine levels (bushes and grasslands) and medium for forest habitats. Sensitivity to moisture was detected as potentially high for forest habitats and as medium for bushes and grasslands at high mountain elevation. Microthermophilic plants have shown a greater share (76-79%) in alpine and subalpine communities, and the hydrophilic plants (86-96%) in forest communities. About 80% of plants of conservation value (microthermophilic or hydrophilic plants) may be potentially sensitive to predicted warming and drought and 44% of them (microthermophilic and hydrophilic plants) to the changes of both parameters. Climate scenarios (2011-2100) and sensitivity maps (Sat – image interpretation with GIS for the whole mountain area) are included.

Will Greenland be the last refuge for the continental European small-white orchid?Niche modeling of future distribution of Pseudorchis albida

“…However, due to a considerable decline in its distribution, it is currently considered to be critically endangered in Greece (small population found by Tsiftsis and Antonopoulos, 2011), vulnerable in Great Britain (Cheffings and Farrell, 2005) and Bulgaria (Petrova and Vladimirov, 2009), endangered in Ireland (Curtis and McGough, 1988), Czech Republic (Holub and Procházka, 2000), Germany (Ludwig and Schnittler, 1996), and Sweden (Gärdenfors, 2010), and near threatened in Norway (Artsdatabanken, 2010) and Poland (Kaźmierczakowa et al, 2016). It is also protected in many European countries (Reinhammar et al, 2002;Bilz et al, 2011), e.g., Poland (Kaźmierczakowa et al, 2016, Czech Republic (Danihelka et al, 2012), Denmark (Damgaard et al, 2020), Romania (Sârbu et al, 2020), Ukraine (Kricsfalusy et al, 1999(Kricsfalusy et al, , 2010, Slovakia (Turis et al, 2014), Norway (subordinate agency, 2022), Sweden (Naturva˚rdsverket, 2022), Austria (Zulka et al, 2001;Jersáková et al, 2011), Germany (Jersáková et al, 2011), Switzerland (Jersáková et al, 2011), and Italy (Jersáková et al, 2011).…”

Exploring the Biodiversity and Conservation Value of Alpine Grasslands in the Bucegi Massif, Romanian Carpathians

“…However, a research gap remains regarding the specific ecological impact of intensified sheep grazing on these alpine grasslands in the study area. Recent studies have shown that grasslands on steep slopes possess significant biodiversity value [38,39], making it imperative to investigate the effects of intensified sheep grazing on these grasslands [31]. Understanding the ecological consequences of this grazing practice will help identify potential conservation measures and management strategies to maintain the biodiversity and cultural significance of alpine grassland in the study area [40,41].…”