Border effect on flora and raptors diversity. An iberian case.

Abstract

The organisms and their habitats do not know borders. Thus, the conservation of biodiversity and the management of natural renewable resources along geopolitical borders should be concerted between neighboring countries. Furthermore, Cross-Border Cooperation (CBC) projects and strategies should deeply analyze how «border effect» affects the different species, since they have dissimilar tolerances to stress factors and they also differ in the way they adapt to environmental changes. In this regard, considering the rich biodiversity of EUROACE Euroregion, as well as the CBC projects and strategies operating within these territories (Portugal- Spain), the present study intended to be an exploratory approach to the analyses of differences between the success of several biodiversity conservation policies and strategies among these two countries. Our research is focused on the geopolitical border across the Luso-Extremadurense chorological Province. In this exploratory work we present the results obtained for two very distinct groups of species: raptors and Nature2000 plant species protected under Habitats Directive (Council Directive 92/43/EEC). In both approaches, the analysis was made comparing alpha diversity (species richness) in both sides of the Portuguese/Spanish border, using UTM grid10x10 km as sample unit, and between the two biogeographic sectors of the Luso-Extremadurense province, present along the border. The results were similar for raptors and plants and showed that diversity is analogous in both country sides, suggesting that European Union policies may playing similar impact in both countries.