Conservation planning for riverine biodiversity under changing climate: use of models

Floodplain habitat area and quality have decreased significantly over the last decades, mainly due to anthropogenic changes. Conservation efforts targeting floodplain species must consider changing climate when choosing suitable areas for restoration, especially for sessile organisms. Species distribution models, based on data from national and international databases on species’ occurrences and various environmental predictors, allow forecasting changes in species’ spatial distributions and facilitate planning at the catchment scale. Modelled predictions for floodplain organisms and communities suggest that current protected floodplains in Switzerland do not provide sufficient habitat and refugia for typical…

• BF
  Bundesamt für Umwelt