What is biodiversity, how can it be quantified and prioritised and what does that mean for Austrian National Parks?
Peter Zulka, Key note
The term biodiversity has become ubiquitous in conservation science, but lacks a universally agreed operationalization. Red Lists are essential components in the quantification of biodiversity changes and biodiversity prioritisation. Based on a method originally developed for the province of Lower Austria, we illustrate with an example from Kalkalpen National Park how species of national importance can be identified and conservation priorities can be derived. A newly developed quantification method can be used to calculate the biodiversity impacts of products in life cycle assessments and conservation interventions. Chances and limitations of these approaches are discussed.