Biodiversity loss in the Franconian Jura: Bayreuth study shows massive decline of dolomite pine forests

The nature park "Franconian Switzerland - Franconian Jura" is a biodiversity hotspot in Germany and exceptionally rich in habitats that are part of the EU's Natura 2000 network of protected habitats. The biodiversity is particularly high here in the pine forests that grow on the dolomite bedrock of the Northern Franconian Jura. A new study by the University of Bayreuth shows that the area of the Northern Franconian Jura covered by these forests has declined by more than 75 percent since 1990, and by as much as about 99 percent since 1950. In the journal "Biodiversity and Conservation", the scientists (Andreas Hemp et al.) explain this dramatic loss of a valuable biodiversity resource.