| Beierkuhnlein, C: Auswirkungen des Klimawandels in Schutzgebieten im globalen und kontinentalen Kontext in Bundesamt für Naturschutz: BfN-Schriften, 675, 11-25 (2023) doi:10.19217/skr675 | |
| Abstract: Protected areas are a main instrument in nature conservation. They include a broad spectrum of targets and goods and the differ in their composition, structure, status, area, and age. Global climate change has consequences at the local scale of existing protected areas. Com-paring biomes (ecozones), differences in the degree of impact emerge. It is not the protected areas in tropical and subtropical hotspots but i.e. protected areas in the temperate zone that are most affected. In many industrial nations of this zone, only small remnant natural sites have been designated as protected areas. At the continental scale of Europe, the oceanic climate in the West is expected to alleviate the effects of climate change whereas continental regions are likely to be more affected. However, uncertainty as measured by standard deviation between the Global Circulation Models (cli-mate models) output also increases with continentality. Such gradients of climate change velocity, intensity and performance of climate change are also expected within Germany with less severe impacts in the North-western regions and more extreme conditions towards continental landscapes. However, also the topography needs to be considered. Flat and less structured landscapes will offer less options for compen-sation and adaptation within the limits of a respective protected area. The request of a substantial increase of protected area can be seen as a chance for nature conservation and for the adaptation to climate change. However, these spaces must be iden-tified in highly fragmented landscapes. Moreover, it is important to allocate adequate funding and staff to the management and mon-itoring of this network. In terms of methods, it is recommended that standardized and unbi-ased field assessments shall be combined with the immense options in remote sensing and modelling. |
