Habitat for the species MacMan FP5 project Expert Group on Reporting 15 March 2015

“there is, and will probably continue to be, a sufficiently large habitat to maintain its populations on a long-term basis” (Article 1i) “habitat of a species means an environment defined by specific abiotic and biotic factors, in which the species lives at any stage of its biological cycle” (Article 1f)

Key questions on reporting format 7 Habitat for the species 7.1 Sufficiency of area and quality of occupied habitat   a) Are area and quality of occupied habitat sufficient (for long term survival) YES/NO b) If no, is there a sufficiently large area of unoccupied habitat of suitable quality (for long term survival) YES/NO c) Unknown 7.3 Quality of the habitat a) To be indicated as good / moderate / bad / unknown b) Explain how the quality was assessed (free text)

Margaritifera margaritifera (Freshwater Pearl Mussel ) English Nature Clear physical & biological requirements

‘Habitat for species’ clearly must include all the requirements needed for a species during its entire life cycle. For some species this may include requirements outside the region being assessed

Recommendation Where necessary features are limiting but outside the region being assessed, they should be considered as pressures For example, Caretta caretta in Macaronesia is part of the North East Atlantic population which mostly nests in the Cape Verde Islands where IUCN report “continuing anthropogenic pressure causing a continuing decline in habitat area, extent and quality” – this is outside the EU and a pressure.

Recommendation ‘habitat for the species’ should be interpreted to take into account the following Physical and biological requirements for the species, this includes prey, pollinators, etc. Cover all stages of its lifecycle Fragmentation should be taken into account where appropriate