Efficient conservation of Mediterranean forests: an integrative assessment of the drivers and vulnerability of multi-taxa, multi-facet and multi-scale biodiversity patterns

INTEGRADIV will consider three facets (taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic) of the biodiversity of three taxa in the forest ecosystem: trees, birds and butterflies. Subsets of birds and butterflies’ communities will be considered (e.g. only forest breeding bird communities will be studied). Four different components (alpha and beta diversities, rarity and endemism) will be considered at two different spatial scales (regional and euro-Mediterranean scales). We will assess the integrity1* of the ecosystem and its vulnerability2* to global change from an innovative perspective, based on the quantification of trait-based and phylogenetic attributes distributions. Representing 20% of the vascular plant species worldwide19, trees constitute a major component of the structure and function of forest ecosystems located in temperate and tropical biomes. Higher levels of ecosystem services (e.g. biomass production, soil erosion prevention, climate change prevention, nutrient cycling, soil carbon storage, habitats provision) characterize forests with a higher tree diversity20. Trees also largely influence others taxa such as insects and birds through biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs) emitted either to attract pollinators or seed dispersers21 or to defend themselves from predators22. Forests also have high cultural value (source of artistic inspiration, backdrop for myths and stories, recreative areas). Birds are excellent indicators of ecosystem health, and they provide many direct and indirect ecosystem services as predators, pollinators, scavengers, seed dispersers, seed predators, and ecosystem engineers23. Finally, butterflies provide ecosystem services mostly as pollinators. As caterpillars, the herbivory pressure of butterfly species influences multiple ecosystem services24 including primary productivity, trees’ growth, survival, and reproduction, carbon sequestration, tree species recruitment dynamics and enhances forest biodiversity. Butterflies represent a key taxon as indicators of change for many terrestrial insect groups25