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Conserving biodiversity and combating desertification: Achieving synergies V. Detsis Harokopio University, Greece H. Briassoulis University of the Aegean, Greece Conserving biodiversity and combating desertification: Achieving synergies a Does a general scientific basis exists? `Can conceptual links be established between these two issues? `Do these links correspond to the relevant policies developed in these fields? or a Is a more instrumental approach addressing the determinants of the two problems better suited to the present situation and knowledge status? `Are there shared determinants of biodiversity decline and desertification in the Northern Mediterranean? Conserving biodiversity and combating desertification: Achieving synergies Looking for conceptual links Biodiversity: the variability among living organisms from all sources a within species, between species and of ecosystems Conserving biodiversity and combating desertification: Achieving synergies Looking for conceptual links Desertification: the process of land degradation in arid, semiarid and dry-subhumid areas; i.e. loss of biological and economic productivity, as well as loss of land use complexity that is driven by weather extremes and human actions Conserving biodiversity and combating desertification: Achieving synergies Looking for conceptual links Conserving biodiversity and combating desertification: Achieving synergies Looking for conceptual links Disturbance a Some level of disturbance is necessary for creating high biodiversity patterns a The relationship is unimodal making the effect of altered disturbance patterns on biodiversity dependent on the starting point Conserving biodiversity and combating desertification: Achieving synergies Looking for conceptual links a Declining productivity is a consequence while increased disturbance is a cause of desertification a Expected responses of biodiversity to altered productivity and disturbance patterns are non monotonous and site specific Conserving biodiversity and combating desertification: Achieving synergies Looking for conceptual links a Experimental evidence originates from systems limited in space and time. It is not known whether the observed patterns can be (and how) extrapolated to other scales a Observed patterns tell us nothing about the nature of species turnover Conserving biodiversity and combating desertification: Achieving synergies Looking for conceptual links Inconsistency between rersearch results and policy making: a Biodiversity policy is concerned with certain species not with the maximisation of local diversity - Essentially it concerns regional diversity a Biodiversity research is often directed towards functional groups which are not an object of biodiversity policy Conserving biodiversity and combating desertification: Achieving synergies Looking for shared determinants in N. Mediterranean Landscape homogenisation a Land use change in agricultural areas leads to a dichotomy between marginal land prone to abandonment and productive land prone to intensification. a The fine-grained mosaic of past uses is changing to a coarse grained one Conserving biodiversity and combating desertification: Achieving synergies Looking for shared determinants in N. Mediterranean Abandonment a Neglect of traditional soil and water conservation techniques leads to an increased leakage of materials from the ecosystem a Loss of species associated with traditional land use forms Conserving biodiversity and combating desertification: Achieving synergies Looking for shared determinants in N. Mediterranean Intensification a Overexploitation of land resources a Monoculture expansion leading to loss of species associated with patchy landscapes or land use forms that seized to exist in a given area Conserving biodiversity and combating desertification: Achieving synergies Looking for shared determinants in N. Mediterranean Issues to be considered: a How to establish the appropriate spatial scale of any interventions taking into account the natural and social mosaic of the Mediterranean region a How to elaborate compromises and optimised solutions that will serve reasonably well both targets Conserving biodiversity and combating desertification: Achieving synergies Conclusion a The present state of scientific knowledge does not allow for the establishment of generally valid links between biodiversity and desertification issues a The establishment of a set of shared determinants that influence both issues is possible for Northern Mediterranean Conserving biodiversity and combating desertification: Achieving synergies Conclusion Synergies can be achieved through mitigation measures that focus on site-specific manifestations of these determinants as well as their possible combinations