Land-use and land-cover change effects on biodiversity in European Russia (LUCC-BIO)

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Biodiversity is declining at unprecedented rates, largely due to habitat fragmentation and loss. Thus, land use is among the main drivers of species extinction; yet, the relationship of land use change and biodiversity change is poorly understood. There are very few places on the globe where rapid and widespread land use change occurs and where long-term biodiversity and wildlife population data are available. Russia experienced drastic land use changes after the breakdown of the Soviet Union while harboring exceptional biodiversity and many areas of high conservation value. Fortunately, Russia also possesses two unique long-term data sets that allow studying the relationship of land use change and biodiversity: the “Winter Track Counts” (wildlife statistics) and the “Chronicles of Nature” (biodiversity data monitored within Russia’s dense network of protected areas - zapovedniks). We will use satellite images to quantify rates and spatial patterns of post- Soviet land use change at two spatial scales (regional and landscape scale). We analyze wildlife statistics (Winter Track Counts) and the biodiversity records from the protected areas (Chronicles of Nature) in combination with the land use change data to investigate: (1) What is the relationship between land use change and biodiversity patterns? (2) How does land use change in the surrounding of protected areas affect biodiversity within protected areas? (3) What are the consequences of recent land use changes for Russia’s wildlife and biodiversity?