Søgaard, B., Pihl, S. & Wind, P. 2006. NERI Technical Report No. 582, 150 pp.
Summary
The launch of the National programme for Monitoring of Aquatic Environment and Nature (NOVANA) in 2004 has provided Denmark with a systematic monitoring of habitats and species encompassed by the Habitats Directive and the Wild Birds Directive.
According to these EU Directives a network of special protected areas has been designated. The network, ”Natura 2000”, contains species and habitats, which need protection within the European Union. The designated areas contribute to protect and secure the biological diversity on a national as well as on a EU scale, mainly through maintenance or restoring of ’favourable conservation status’ for the habitats and the species.
The programme for monitoring of species within NOVANA primarily monitors population size and distribution of the relevant species. This will in time provide the scientific background to evaluate conservation status for each species and target any measures that might be able to improve conservation status for one or more species.
The programme to monitor species is preliminarily planned for the period 2004-2009. It includes selected plant and animal species comprised by the Habitats Directive and birds protected by the Wild Birds Directive (breeding birds and regularly occurring migratory birds). In addition the programme monitors species, for which more than 20% of the total population occur in Denmark (responsibility species).
In chapter 3 the results of the monitoring in 2004-2005 of species included in Annex II and Annex IV of the Habitats Directive are presented with an evaluation of the status of the species. The programme has monitored four species of mammals (European Otter, Dormouse, Harbour Seal and Grey Seal), two butterflies (Marsh Fritillary and Large Blue Butterfly), another six insects (Green Club-tailed Dragonfly, Large White-faced Darter, Green Hawker, Great Diving Beetle, Dipping Beetle and Hermit Beetle), one arachnid (Anthrenochernes stellae) and six vascular plants (Little Grapefern, Yellow Marsh Saxifrage, Floating Water Plantain, Slender Naiad, Lady´s Slipper Orchid and Fen Orchid) and one moss (Green Shield Moss). For most of the species the results of the monitoring constitute a baseline for comparing the results from monitoring in the coming years. For these species it is at the current stage not possible to evaluate any tendencies in distribution or population size. Time series already exist for some of the monitored species, which make evaluation of changes in distribution or population size possible. This is the case for four species of vascular plants on the Annex II of the Habitats Directive, but also European Otter and Harbour Seal – and to a certain extent also Dormouse, Marsh Fritillary and Hermit Beetle.
Chapter 4 presents the results of the monitoring in 2004 and 2005 of breeding birds on Annex I on the Wild Birds Directive. During those two years Montague’s Harrier, Spotted Crake, Corncrake, Crane, Kentish Plover, Golden Plover, Baltic Dunlin, Ruff, Wood Sandpiper, Gull-billed Tern, Black Tern, Shorteared Owl and Tawny Pipit were monitored. The status of Danish breeding birds are generally well known and a data set for comparisons of distribution and population size of the species already exists.
Chapter 5 presents the results of the National Environmental Research Institute’s monitoring of staging and migrating waterbirds. The purpose of this monitoring is to obtain the scientific background to evaluate status for the migratory waterbird species, which are mentioned in the designation document for one or more areas pointed out in the Wild Birds Directive. A number of surveys are, by the way, international and carried out simultaneously all over Europe. I 2004 and 2005 a countrywide and a reduced midwinter count were performed. In both years counts took place of Pink-footed Goose and Barnacle Goose in March, Brent Goose in May, Greylag Goose in September and dabbling ducks in October. In 2004 the monitoring programme also included Bartailed Godwit and Knot in May and in 2005 Avoset, Grey Plover, Curlew, Redshank and Green-shank in August, Oystercatcher and Dunlin in October and Bewick’s Swan in November. Denmark has since 1965 participated in the international counts of waterbirds and for a number of species a long time series exist. The NOVANA programme is a continuation of these counts.
The results of the monitoring of species in 2004-2005 will – together with the results of the NOVANA monitoring in the coming years – contribute to the development of a scientific basis for detecting changes in the population size and distribution of species and thus the status of the species.
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