title: Setting temporal baselines for biodiversity: the limits of available monitoring data for capturing the full impact of anthropogenic pressures.
abstract: Temporal baselines are needed for biodiversity, in order for the change in biodiversity to be measured over time, the targets for biodiversity conservation to be defined and conservation progress to be evaluated. Limited biodiversity information is widely recognized as a major barrier for identifying temporal baselines, although a comprehensive quantitative assessment of this is lacking. Here, we report on the temporal baselines that could be drawn from biodiversity monitoring schemes in Europe and compare those with the rise of important anthropogenic pressures. Most biodiversity monitoring schemes were initiated late in the 20thcentury, well after anthropogenic pressures had already reached half of their current magnitude. Setting temporal baselines from biodiversity monitoring data would therefore underestimate the full range of impacts of major anthropogenic pressures. In addition, biases among taxa and organization levels provide a truncated picture of biodiversity over time. These limitations need to be explicitly acknowledged when designing management strategies and policies as they seriously constrain our ability to identify relevant conservation targets aimed at restoring or reversing biodiversity losses. We discuss the need for additional research efforts beyond standard biodiversity monitoring to reconstruct the impacts of major anthropogenic pressures and to identify meaningful temporal baselines for biodiversity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Conservation Biology, UFZ-Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Permoserstr. 15, 04318, Leipzig, Germany. jean-baptiste.mihoub@mnhn.fr.|Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Université Paris 06, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, CNRS, CESCO, UMR 7204, 61 rue Buffon, 75005, Paris, France , . jean-baptiste.mihoub@mnhn.fr.
authors.forename: Jean-Baptiste
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Mihoub
authors.affiliation: Department of Conservation Biology, UFZ-Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Permoserstr. 15, 04318, Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Klaus
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Henle
authors.affiliation: European Bird Census Council (EBCC) and Forest Sciences Centre of Catalonia (CEMFOR-CTFC), InForest Joint Research Unit (CSIC-CTFC-CREAF), Ctra. Sant Llorenç de Morunys km 2, 25280, Solsona, Spain.|Centre de Recerca Ecològica i Aplicacions Forestals (CREAF), Cerdanyola del Vallés, 08193, Spain.
authors.forename: Nicolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Titeux
authors.affiliation: European Bird Census Council (EBCC) and Forest Sciences Centre of Catalonia (CEMFOR-CTFC), InForest Joint Research Unit (CSIC-CTFC-CREAF), Ctra. Sant Llorenç de Morunys km 2, 25280, Solsona, Spain.|Centre de Recerca Ecològica i Aplicacions Forestals (CREAF), Cerdanyola del Vallés, 08193, Spain.|Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Cerdanyola del Vallés, 08193, Spain.
authors.forename: Lluís
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Brotons
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Sciences, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, South Kensington, SW7 5BD, London, UK.
authors.forename: Neil A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Brummitt
authors.affiliation: Department of Conservation Biology, UFZ-Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Permoserstr. 15, 04318, Leipzig, Germany.|CNRS, EcoLab, Toulouse, 31062, France.|Université de Toulouse, UPS, INPT, EcoLab (Laboratoire Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Environnement), 118 route de Narbonne, Toulouse, 31062, France.
authors.forename: Dirk S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Schmeller