EVOLUTION OF BIODIVERSITY IN EUROPE

This article aims to provide key insights into the evolution of biodiversity in Europe through data-driven analysis.

It is structured into four chapters: definitions and context derived from [1–7], the evolution of species diversity based on data from [8], the monitoring of a biological indicator reflecting the state of biodiversity using data from [9, 10], and the evolution of forest ecosystems, studied using data from [11–14].

To address the notion of biodiversity, it is necessary to define what life is.

In the broadest biological sense, one proposal [1] describes a living organism as a dissipative structure capable of autocatalysis, homeostasis, and learning.

A structure is described as dissipative if it maintains an ordered state by drawing energy from its environment. A tornado, for instance, may be regarded as a non-living dissipative structure.

Autocatalysis, for its part, is the capacity for growth and reproduction, as seen in the case of fire.

Homeostasis allows for the maintenance of an internal balance despite external disturbances. Termite mounds, for instance, exhibit homeostatic properties through the self-regulation of their internal temperature.

Learning is a means to increase its chances of survival through the storage and exploitation of information about its environment. Inert materials like sand piles exhibit physical memory, as their spatial configuration encodes the history of the most recent impact.

It is the combination of all these properties that defines a living organism. But how do these theoretical criteria apply to life on Earth?

It contains proteins responsible for all cellular tasks. By consuming energy, these proteins ensure the cell's survival (dissipative function), growth and reproduction (autocatalysis), and the maintenance of internal balance, especially during external disturbances (homeostasis). The cell also contains DNA, which stores the genetic information necessary for learning.

A living organism on Earth thus possesses all of these properties. But where does the diversity of life come from?

The mechanism of biological evolution, through reproduction and genetic mutations, has generated a morphological, anatomical, and behavioural diversity of all living beings.

Today, phylogenetic classification criteria allow individuals to be separated into groups. A clade (phylogenetic group) contains an ancestor and all its descendants. The basic unit of this classification is the species, which thus groups together all individuals capable of interbreeding and producing viable and fertile offspring.

But then, what is biodiversity?

Biodiversity refers to the diversity of ecosystems, that of the communities of species living within them, the diversity between and within species, and the diversity of the interactions between these different elements. This study relies on indicators to assess the evolution of biodiversity over time.

The first indicator is the estimated number of living species, which is a subject of debate among biologists, the number having evolved significantly since the advent of genetics, varying today between 10 million and 1 trillion [2–7].

A recent study [2] includes in its calculation cryptic species (those with the same morphology but distinct genetically) and host-specific species. Each insect species would thus host, on average, one unique associated mite species, and both would each be associated with a unique nematode species.

To study the evolution of biodiversity, a first step consists of looking at the diversity of known species.

To measure the evolution of species diversity, the IUCN [8] assesses a portion (approximately 8% as shown previously) of the described species, monitoring the evolution of their population.

It assigns each assessed species an extinction risk level, ranging from Extinct in the Wild (EW - score: 5), Critically Endangered (CR - score: 4), Endangered (EN - score: 3), Vulnerable (VU - score: 2), Near Threatened (NT - score: 1), Data Deficient (DD) to Least Concern (LC - score: 0).

The risk level is based on criteria including the evolution of the geographic distribution, of the size of the population, and the estimation of the probability of extinction.

To measure the change in this risk, the IUCN constructs the Red List Index (RLI) defined as: $$ \text{RLI} = 1 - \frac{\sum{\text{S}}}{\text{N} \times \text{S}_{\text{EW}}} $$ where S is the species score, N is the number of species assessed, and S_EW is the maximum score (S_EW=5). The closer the index is to 1, the greater the survival probability of the species.

Thus, IUCN data point to an accelerating decline in biodiversity, both in Europe and worldwide.

A change of scale allows verification of this trend through the study of a species group whose properties make them a key biological indicator: butterflies.

More than half of the described species in the world are insects [8]. They contribute significantly to global biodiversity and provide numerous ecosystem services that help preserve it, such as pollination.

Many European Union (EU) indicators are related to gene or species diversity but do not directly capture the state of biodiversity. Certain characteristics make butterflies a key biological indicator.

They have a short, fragile lifespan and are thus highly and rapidly sensitive to environmental changes. Their wide array of colours and forms make them popular and more easily identifiable than other insect species. Finally, they represent a broad diversity of insect species.

For these reasons, amongst others, butterflies have benefited from rich documentation derived from numerous observation studies. Along with birds and bats, they are the only groups for which harmonised data are available across Europe.

Measurement campaigns since 1991 have made it possible to obtain standardised data [9] by following the protocol below: the observer follows a path (transect) of 0.2 to 3 km at a constant speed, whilst counting and identifying butterflies present in a 5-metres wide corridor around them.

The Grassland Butterfly Indicator (GBI) is constructed from the observations of 17 common butterfly species across the 27 EU member states [9].

How to explain this decline ?

One of the predominant factors is habitat loss for grassland butterflies. This stems primarily from agricultural intensification, which involves using fertilizers and pesticides in monocultures to artificially maximize production. Nitrogen deposition, used to fertilize the soil, contaminates and transforms ecosystems [9].

A series of warmer and drier summers due to climate change is causing an additional decline. The protection of remaining semi-natural grasslands, the reversal of the habitat fragmentation trend, and the transformation of intensive agricultural practices can contribute to restoring grassland biodiversity and allowing for the benefits of its ecosystem services.

To complement this study, another type of ecosystem can be examined. It covers a large part of Europe and has evolved throughout the Holocene—the current interglacial period—under a climate favorable to its development: the forest ecosystem.

A forest ecosystem is a system composed of a physical environment with trees, communities of plant, animal, fungal, and microbial species, and all the interactions amongst these organisms and with their environment.

Forests provide numerous ecosystem services, such as the production of renewable material, the storage of CO2, soil protection, and the development of biodiversity, amongst others.

In this work, the study of the evolution of forest ecosystems in Europe begins with the observation of forest cover changes [11]. This study is based on field measurements taken during National Forest Inventory (NFI) campaigns, which survey the area of EU countries to measure the size, number of species, age, and volume of trees.

This time, only recent data, from 2005 to 2015, are available for Europe. These allow illustrating a 1% decrease over this period in the proportion of forests formed by only a single tree species.

The proportion of forests with between 2 and 5 species has increased by more than 1%, while that of forests with more than 6 species has remained stable in comparison.

More than half of the growing stock volume — total volume of living trees — in 2020 is composed of spruce or pine.

This large increase in the share of conifers in forests in Europe is mainly attributed to the interest in their rapid growth, and thus wood productivity in the short term.

Annual growth over the last 30 years of the growing stock volume of broadleaves of +1.6% against +1.2% for conifers has been observed, thus illustrating the better long-term yield of broadleaved or mixed forests.

On the other hand, the forest bird population indicator is stable since 1980, with a slight increase observed since 2010.

While forest area is increasing in Europe, and certain forest biodiversity indicators are stable, the growth of growing stock volume is slowing down each year [11].

By increasing tree mortality, these factors reduce the duration of carbon storage in living biomass and in soils. Yet, the absorption and storage of CO2 by forests is equivalent to 10% of EU emissions, thus helping to combat climate change [14].

Other indicators testify to the fragility of European forests, such as defoliation — leaf loss — which is increasing for 4/5th of trees. Another fragility stems from the age structure of trees with 3/4 of forests considered even-aged i.e. belonging to the same age class.

Climate change, by causing droughts and soil desiccation, contributes to further weakening trees.

In summary, despite a recent increase in area, European forests have lost diversity as a result of past management choices. This has created vulnerabilities, making them more sensitive to increasingly frequent external disturbances.

The full extent of biodiversity remains unknown and expands as it is studied. Despite this, substantial knowledge for certain species groups, such as vertebrates or plants, allows for the monitoring of their evolution. Genetics has enabled the reconstruction of the Tree of Life where all species are classified. Nearly one-third of the described and assessed species are threatened with extinction. Indeed, a rapid decline in the species conservation index is observed. It indicates a threat to species diversity in Europe and globally.

The example of European grassland ecosystems is used to substantiate this observation. Through the butterfly index, a halving of grassland butterfly populations is observed between 1990 and 2023. A study in the Netherlands provides an order of magnitude of the losses likely experienced by butterfly populations in Europe in the 20th century, bringing the total decline in European grassland butterflies to a level above 80%.

With respect to forests, a positive trend is observed in the recent evolution of forest area; however, the perspective of its evolution since the start of the Holocene shifts the view on the influence of humans on forest ecosystems. Indeed, at their peak extent, before the effect of human pressures took hold, forests exceeded 60% of Europe’s area while they represent around one-third today.

The recent evolution of forests attests to a relatively stable diversity; however, over the last few centuries, a strong increase in the proportion of conifers has been observed, reaching more than half of the growing stock. Forest management has often relied on planting monocultures, which have permanently transformed Europe's forest ecosystems. These changes have weakened forest resilience and volume growth; forests are less diverse in terms of tree species—with one-third consisting of a single species—and lack age diversity. Ecosystem services provided by forests, such as CO2 storage, have also been diminished. These fragile forests now face more violent disturbances caused by wind, drought, and bark beetles, all of which are exacerbated by climate change.

The observed signals are consistent with a general decline in biodiversity in Europe. The factors causing this decline are linked to habitat loss and production intensification practices, compounded by pressures related to climate change.