What are the overarching challenges for biodiversity conservation in forests posed by
climate change? Major challenges arise from the increase in climate dynamics and thus
also site conditions and the high degree of uncertainty and complexity related to climate
change. Given the high projected rates of change, concepts based on static or historic
conditions are likely to become infeasible (Perera et al.2006; Milad et al. 2011), while
dynamic approaches will become increasingly important (Milad et al.2012b). Evaluation
schemes and references for biodiversity conservation, such as Red Lists and their classifications or common definitions of nativeness will become increasingly problematic.
Conservation attempts aiming at the location-specific protection of species or the
maintenance of specific species compositions will be questioned, and this may also
influence concepts of protected areas and nature reserves (Hannah et al. 2007; Skov and
Svenning2004). Nevertheless, protected areas will continue to be an important conservation instrument and may even gain importance, for example regarding their role in
buffering additional stresses as well as providing habitat for different species and changing
species compositions. Conservation scientists thus call for an extension of the area currently under protection as well as an adjustment to the conceptualization and management
of existing reserves (Hannah et al.2007; Hossell et al. 2003).