Mediterranean plant biodiversity and human impact: macro and micro-regional approaches

摘要

The human role appears to be central in the future of the Mediterranean environment, because its impact and management choices are responsible for the persistence of this high biodiversity. With 10 regional hotspots and 50 plant biodiversity refuge areas, the Mediterranean region is threatened by the quickness and the severity of the current and forecasted environmental changes. At a finer scale, the Maritime Alps regional hotspot constitutes the most important endemic center of the whole Alps region, but it has been subjected to drastic environmental transformations for the last decades. The comparisons between the distribution of refuges and human threats exhibit similar spatial patterns, both at the Mediterranean region scale and, to a lesser extend, at the Maritime Alps hotspot. Refuge areas constitute some of the most threatened territories due to a higher than average demographic pressure. Thus, facing the increasing threats on the Mediterranean biodiversity, it's essential to quickly undertake an integrative conservation framework at the Mediterranean scale which a prioritization toward refuge areas.