Shedding light on the hidden costs of the Habitats Directive: the case of hamster conservation in Germany

The EU Habitats Directive provides in Annexes II and IV a list of species that need to be conserved. In response to this obligation, Member States have implemented a variety of conservation measures. These measures include the rejection, modification or delay of land development plans, payments to landowners for implementing conservation measures and management actions such as breeding programmes. The extent of the cost of these various conservation measures is not always apparent. Particularly when land development plans are modified costs are hidden because there is no visible flow of financial resources. This may lead to an underestimation of conservation costs. In contrast, costs which directly lead to a flow of financial resources, such as expenses for management measures, are visible and may be given more attention. This difference in visibility may result in selecting conservation measures with high but hidden costs, whereas conservation measures with low but visible costs are neglected. The first purpose of this paper is to provide a framework that captures, along with the visible costs, the range of hidden costs relevant to the conservation of species protected by the Habitats Directive. The second purpose is to demonstrate the relevance of the problem of hidden costs by means of a case study. We apply the framework to estimate the costs of protecting the common hamster (Cricetus cricetus, listed in Annex IV of the Habitats Directive) in the region of Mannheim, Germany and find that the hidden costs of changes in development plans are higher than the visible conservation costs by at least an order of magnitude.

Effects of recent climate trends on the distribution of potential natural vegetation in Central Germany

Introducing climate quotients for the growing season (Q_gs) provides a way to quantify effects of climate trends with respect to Potential Natural Vegetation (PNV), especially beech forests (Fagus sylvatica L.) in Central Germany. What is crucial in this regard is the great influence of the dominant decrease in the amount of precipitation (up to 40% in the last 50 years) during the growing season versus the dormant season. However, precipitation during the dormant season (which is predominantly increasing: up to 40% in the last 50 years) is also important for replenishing the soil water supply. The Q_gs values of the Climatic Normal period of 1971–2000 are generally higher (up to 12% in lowland areas) compared with the Climatic Normal period of 1961–1990, the extent of the difference being in general inversely proportional to elevation above sea level. What this means for the area under investigation is that humidity conditions, which generally improve as the elevation above sea level increases, have a positive effect on the site potential. However, a comparison of the climatologically important period of 1991–2003 with the period of 1961–1990 (area-wide increase between 12% and 16%) could not identify this positive effect of elevation on precipitation for the area under investigation. With regard to the recent climate-based trends of PNV, we have shown that all natural spatial units in Central Germany are affected by progressing continentality (i.e., dryness) during the growing season and the resulting deterioration of the site potential. The area of potential beech forest at lower elevation has decreased in favour of oak forest as PNV, while less change is observed in the montane area.