Advances in Science and Research www.adv-sci-res.net 1992-0628 1992-0636 3 8th EMS Annual Meeting and 7th European Conference on Applied Climatology 2008 2009 10.5194/asr-3-35-2009 http://www.adv-sci-res.net/3/35/2009/ http://www.adv-sci-res.net/3/35/2009/asr-3-35-2009.html http://www.adv-sci-res.net/3/35/2009/asr-3-35-2009.pdf 35 37 2009-04-14 Biodiversity and climate change in relation to the Natura 2000 network M. Harley mike.harley@aeat.co.uk Y. de Soye B. Dickson G. Tucker G. Keder AEA, Harwell, UK IUCN, Brussels, Belgium UNEP-WCMC, Cambridge, UK IEEP, London, UK Axiom, Brussels, Belgium This project will provide the European Commission (EC) with an overview of the likely impacts of climate change on biodiversity in the European Union (EU), particularly within the Natura 2000 (N2K) network of protected areas, and indications of how the design and implementation of current policy might need to be adapted to ensure that the EU delivers its commitment to halt biodiversity loss by 2010 and beyond. The study will identify those species and associated habitats that are likely to be most vulnerable to climate change and the steps required to protect the integrity of the network from negative effects. The study will also assess the impacts of large-scale renewable energy schemes (wind parks, hydroelectric schemes and tidal barrages) on biodiversity and produce guidelines on the sorts of measures that might be used to maintain and protect N2K sites. Ara\'ujo, M. B., Thuiller, W., and Pearson, R. G.: Climate warming and the decline of amphibians and reptiles in Europe, J. Biogeogr., 33, 1712–1728, 2006. Council Directive 79/409/EEC of 2 April 1979 on the conservation of wild birds, http://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/legislation/birdsdirective/index_en.htm (last access: 14 April 2009), 1979. Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora, http://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/legislation/habitatsdirective/index_en.htm, (last access: 14 April 2009), 1992. Council Directive 97/11/EC of 3 March 1997 amending Directive 85/337/EEC on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment, http://ec.europa.eu/environment/eia/eia-legalcontext.htm (last access: 14 April 2009), 1997. Huntley, B., Green, R. E., Collingham, Y. C., and Willis, S. G.: A climatic atlas of European breeding birds, Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, 2007. IPCC Fourth Assessment Report: Climate Change 2007, http://www.ipcc.ch/, last access: 14 April 2009. Settele, J., Kudrna, O., Harpke, A., Kühn, I., van Swaay, C., Verovnik, R., Warren, M., Wiemers, M., Hanspach, J., Hickler, T., Kühn, E., Van Halder, I., Veling, K., Vliegenthart, A., Wynhoff, I., and Schweiger, O.: Climatic risk atlas of European butterflies, Pensoft, Sofia, 2008. Smithers, R. J., Cowan, C., Harley, M., Hopkins, J. J., Pontier, H., and Watts, O.: England Biodiversity Strategy climate change adaptation principles – conserving biodiversity in a changing climate, Defra, 2008. Thuiller, W.: Patterns and uncertainties of species' range shifts under climate change, Global Change Biol., 10, 2020–2027, 2004. Thuiller, W., Lavorel, S., Ara\'ujo, M.B., Sykes, M., and Prentice, I. C.: Climate change threats to plant diversity in Europe, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA, 102, 8245–8250, 2005. \vspace*5mm \textbfProject relationships This study has close relationships with two key projects funded by DG~Research: \vspace*1.5mm MACIS (Minimization of and Adaptation to Climate change Impacts on biodiver Sity), http://www.macis-project.net/links.html, last access: 14 April 2009. ALARM (Assessing LArge scale environmental Risks for biodiversity with tested Methods), http://www.alarmproject.net/alarm/, last access: 14 April 2009.