Maria PsaralexiAristotle University of Thessaloniki | AUTH · Department of Ecology
Maria Psaralexi
PhD student
About
24
Publications
11,681
Reads
How we measure 'reads'
A 'read' is counted each time someone views a publication summary (such as the title, abstract, and list of authors), clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the full-text. Learn more
113
Citations
Citations since 2017
Introduction
Additional affiliations
June 2015 - present
"Callisto" Wildlife and Nature Conservation Society
Position
- Research Associate
July 2014 - present
Education
March 2018 - April 2022
October 2014 - November 2016
September 2007 - June 2012
Publications
Publications (24)
Protected Areas (PAs) are a main conservation tool to halt biodiversity loss. However,
their performance has been often questioned and the need to improve their effectiveness
is now more apparent than ever. Here, we propose Roadless Areas as a conservation
target to increase the cover and effectiveness of PAs. Roadless Areas represent natural
and s...
Road networks provide several benefits to human societies; however, they are also one of the major drivers of fragmentation and habitat degradation. Their negative effects include wildlife-vehicle collisions which are associated with increased barrier effects, restricted gene flow, and increased local extinction risk. Large carnivores, such as the...
Climate change can be expected to alter ecosystems and influence the spatial distribution of species. Understanding the effects of climate change on species distribution can help develop effective conservation protocols to tackle further biodiversity loss. Striped hyena (Hyaena hyaena) global populations appear to follow an overall decreasing trend...
Biotic interactions are expected to influence species' responses to climate change, but they are usually not included when predicting future range shifts. We assessed the importance of biotic interactions to understand future consequences of climate and land use change for biodiversity using as a model system the brown bear (Ursus arctos) in Europe...
Preserving ecosystems of high ecological integrity is a crucial target in Biodiversity Strategies, also serving the 10 % target of strict land protection in the European Union (EU). We recommend roadless mapping to delineate wilderness and monitor progress against loss in natural areas. We mapped Greece's roadless land and assessed its ecological a...
Road sprawl is a key catalyst of land-use change, the greatest threat to biodiversity worldwide, and its negative impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem function are well documented. Although Europe is the most fragmented continent of the world, the reduction of fragmentation from roads and artificial land does not appear in the key commitments of t...
The striped hyena (Hyaena hyaena Linnaeus, 1758) is one of the large carnivores of forest and grassland ecosystems across Africa and Asia and is currently threatened throughout its range. Hyena habitats are shrinking, due to the increase of human-dominated landscapes. The aim of this study was to identify hyena habitat use as indicated by visitatio...
The dataset presents the roadless areas (RAs) of Greece (2/2020) in kmz format (Google Earth). RAs are defined as those land patches of a size greater than 1 sq.km that are at least 1 km away from the nearest road. The dataset pinpoints the 1.115 RAs, accounting for 4.99% of the Greek land. The map includes high and medium confidence data. Red poly...
Οι Περιοχές Άνευ Δρόμων (ΠΑΔ) είναι εκείνες οι χερσαίες περιοχές οι οποίες έχουν έκταση άνω του 1km2 και απέχουν πάνω από 1 km από τον πλησιέστερο δρόμο. H πολιτική σύνοψη διαρθώνεται στα εξής υποκεφάλαια:
1. Τι είναι οι περιοχές άνευ δρόμων - ΠΑΔ;
2. Ποια η σχέση των δρόμων με την απώλεια της βιοποικιλότητας;
3. Γιατί οι ΠΑΔ αποτελούν μείζον πολ...
Land use change poses as the top threat for biodiversity decline, and road sprawl as a key driver behind it globally. According to the recent Landscape Fragmentation Indicator (LFI), Greece is less fragmented than the rest of Europe but presents higher rates of fragmentation increase. We developed the Roadless Fragmentation Indicator (RFI) to monit...
Background:
Exploring species richness and turnover patterns and their drivers can provide new insights into underlying mechanisms shaping community assembly, with significant implications for biodiversity conservation. Here, we explored diversity patterns of non-endemic, neo-endemic and palaeo-endemic vascular plants in Crete, Greece, a Mediterra...
Elevational gradients provide a unique opportunity to explore species responses to changing environmental conditions. Here, we focus on an elevational gradient in Crete, a climate-vulnerable Mediterranean plant biodiversity hotspot and explore the diversity patterns and underlying mechanisms of different plant life forms. We found that the signific...
Wildlife telemetry has become a very robust and reliable tool to track movements, activity levels and spatial behaviour of a large number of species for conservation purposes. In the frame of project LIFE15NAT/GR/001108 we used telemetry to monitor for the first time spatial behaviour and activity patterns of (4) adult male bears during the mating...
Livestock guarding dogs (LGDs) have been used for centuries for livestock protection from brown bear and grey wolf attacks. In Greece, there are three indigenous LGD breeds, whose preservation is undermined by the widespread illegal use of poisoned baits across the country. We conducted semi-structured interviews (n=78) with local shepherds to inve...
ΑΞΙΟΛΟΓΗΣΗ ΤΗΣ ΑΠΟΤΕΛΕΣΜΑΤΙΚΟΤΗΤΑΣ ΚΑΙ ΧΡΗΣΗΣ ΤΩΝ ΥΠΟΓΕΙΩΝ ΔΙΑΒΑΣΕΩΝ ΤΟΥ ΑΞΟΝΑ Κ45 ΑΠΟ ΚΑΦΕ ΑΡΚΟΥΔΕΣ (Ursus arctos) ΣΤΗΝ ΠΕΡΙΟΧΗ ΤΗΣ ΚΑΣΤΟΡΙΑΣ Ο νέος αυτοκινητόδρομος ΚΑ45 (55χλμ) τέμνει το ενδιαίτημα της αρκούδας στην περιοχή της Καστοριάς. Στον άξονα υπάρχουν 134 τεχνικά περάσματα (~ κάθε 400m) αλλά παρόλα αυτά καταγράφηκαν 21 περιστατικά θανάτωσ...
Within the framework of the project ”Surveillance and assessment of the conservation status of mammals of Community interest in the Rhodope Mt National Park (NP)”, conducted from February until November 2015, camera-traps were used to record the presence of large mammals (Bear, Wolf, Lynx and of the Wildcat). Through the IR camera-traps network est...
In the frame of the national survey titled “Surveillance and evaluation of the conservation status of mammal species of Community interest in the Rodopi Mountain Range National Park”, (2015), thirty one (31) IR cameras were placed in thirty four (34) sampling stations over the total NP area (1750 km2). Their distribution was based on a 10X10 km gri...
In Europe, most bear populations are strictly protected under the Habitats Directive (Annex II, priority species), with all populations being listed in Annex IV. However, habitat loss due to infrastructure development, disturbance and accidental human-caused mortality are among the major threats to the European brown bears. A number of studies have...
A considerable number of studies has revealed that transportation networks and the consequential secondary development are determinant factors of habitat fragmentation and biodiversity loss. Thus roadless areas’ preservation (RAs) should be promoted in Europe, offering at the same time biodiversity conservation, ecosystem services and economic prof...
Questions
Question (1)
I already know that I will not find any shapefile that's 100% accurate, however, the shapefile I have downloaded from the OpenStreetMap has too many omissions and I can't use it.
Projects
Projects (4)
The conversion of climate and biodiversity policies, in the field of windfarm development.
Research questions:
1. Where should windfarm be located in Greece with the minimum possible impact on biodiversity and landscape?
2. What factors influence the land take of windfarm infrastructures in the Greek landscape?
3. What improvements are proposed for the convergence of the two policies, climate change and biodiversity conservation, in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals?
Project website: https://bc.lab.uoi.gr/en/research/projects/wind/
ROADLESS project goals are: 1. Produce the national map of extended roadless areas (RLAs) in Greece. 2. Assess the value of extended RLAs in terms of ecological functionality. 3. Explore the relationship of large RLAs with Natura 2000 network and its habitats. 4. Investigate the impact of roadless areas on wildlife, considering the case of Balkan chamois in Timfi Mountain, NW Greece. 5. Synthesize scientific findings into a policy briefing. 6. Disseminate results to policy makers and the broad audience.
Improvement of Ursus arctos* conservation status by achieving a sustainable management of human-bear co-existence through minimization of bear-human negative interference
LIFE15 NAT/GR/001108
