Impacts of Climate Change on fauna, flora and habitats, as well as adaptation strategies

Climate Change and nature conservation

From 10/2008 to 12/2010


The overall aims of the project initiated by the BfN (Bundesamt für Naturschutz / Federal Agency for Nature Conservation) is first the synthesis of available data and current knowledge on the effects of climate change on species and their habitats, and second the delineation of specific adaptation strategies for nature conservation. The innovation of our approach consists in particularly addressing the effects of changing climatic trends and events on biotic interactions such as pollination, herbivory and communities as well as a selection of species and habitats listed in the Annex of the Habitat Directive.

As a first step a literature database will be established, which covers the current literature (from 2003) on the effects of climate change on fauna, flora and habitats. The next step is the modelling of climate envelopes with the help of different climate models (REMO, STAR, CLM, WettREG) and scenarios (B1, A1B and A2) for European protected species listed in Annex II, IV and V (except plants) of the Habitats Directive. The influence of climate change on biological interactions between species and communities will be analysed, using datasets from long-term experiments and observations. In addition, modelling studies will highlight likely changes of selected habitats listed in the Annex I of the Habitats Directive.

Information obtained from the individual parts will be used in a spatial analysis of the Natura 2000 network. Based on the gained understanding, management recommendations will be derived and an informative brochure for the public will be published.

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funding: Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN)