Land-Use Changes Largely Determine the Trajectory of Plant Species Distributions Under Climatic Uncertainty in a Mediterranean Landscape

Spyros Tsiftsis, Anna Mastrogianni, Diogenis A. Kiziridis, Fotios Xystrakis, Magdalini Pleniou and Ioannis Tsiripidis ()
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Spyros Tsiftsis: School of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences, Democritus University of Thrace, 66132 Drama, Greece
Anna Mastrogianni: School of Biology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece
Diogenis A. Kiziridis: School of Biology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece
Fotios Xystrakis: Forest Research Institute, Hellenic Agricultural Organization “Dimitra”, 57006 Vasilika, Greece
Magdalini Pleniou: Forest Research Institute, Hellenic Agricultural Organization “Dimitra”, 57006 Vasilika, Greece
Ioannis Tsiripidis: School of Biology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece

Land, 2025, vol. 14, issue 7, 1-19

Abstract: We investigated the combined effects of climate and land-use change on plant diversity in northwestern Greece, a region representative of broader European trends in land abandonment. We based our study on comprehensive field data on plants’ distribution and modelling of land-use changes based on socio-economic trends. We build distribution models for 358 taxa based on current (2015) and future (2055) conditions according to the combinations of three climate and three land-use change scenarios. We compared species distribution changes between current and future conditions for each scenario, and we investigated species trends concerning their ecological indicator values and strategies. Additionally, by analyzing the distribution changes in aggregated differential taxa representing the various plant communities in the study area, we identified patterns of distribution shifts at the community level. Our results indicated more pronounced differences between land-use scenarios than between climate ones, which was attributed to the local scale of the study area, its climatic and physiographic characteristics, and its complex land-use legacy. Both climate and land-use changes drastically reduced the distribution of some species, with species distribution loss exceeding 80% under certain combinations of socioeconomic and climate change scenarios. Species ecological indicator values and strategies showed a buffering effect of forest microclimate against climate change, which, however, may favor only species of forest communities. At the community level, land-use change had again a stronger impact than climate change, with consistent patterns within major vegetation types (forests and open habitats) but contrasting trends between them. Our results highlight the need for appropriate conservation plans to counteract the negative impacts of land abandonment and to take advantage of its positive impacts.

Keywords: biodiversity; climate change; ecological indicator values; land-use change; ecological strategies; socioeconomic scenarios; species distribution modelling (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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