Understanding biodiversity and ecosystem servicesareas, including much of Western Europe, there are few or nowildernesses. Instead a network of semi-natural habitats, suchas wood-pasture, fens and heaths has emerged alongside thegrowth and expansion of human activity.Semi-natural habitats usually need care from land managersto keep their biodiversity interest, but they can be damaged bythe wrong sort of management. For example, limestone grasslandneeds to be grazed at certain times of the year, but canbe damaged by year-round grazing or use of fertilisers.The EUNIS ClassificationThe European Nature Information Systemincludes a range of data on species, habitattypes and sites. It helps compliance withthe EU Habitats and Birds Directives andprovides specific data from internationalRed Lists.http://eunis.eea.europa.eu/How to plan for NatureAction planning skills in practiceIn practical terms it is easier to recognise (and manage) habitats with a focus on individual species.Once values have been established and priorities have been set it is possible to effectively managethem because important plant habitats can be readily identified (e.g. ‘white bark pine forest’), aswell as the key processes that need to be maintained, (e.g. ‘natural regeneration of forest trees’).Not all animals favour the same habitat and different species of the same animal may favour differenthabitats. The diagram below illustrates this with reference to three species of bat.EcosystemsAn ecosystem can include one or many different habitats.It is the sum total of the interactions betweenall species (i.e. plants, animals and micro-organisms)and their physical environment at a given location.Ecosystems can operate at any scale, from a singlerotting log in a forest to a whole river catchment oreven, in the case of migratory species, different continents.These interactions and physical processes helpto maintain species and habitats as well as critical‘goods and services’ to human beings. For example, ifnutrient cycles were disrupted around a lake, throughthe addition of too much artificial fertiliser, then thiscan lead to blooms of blue-green algae that not onlyreduce the biodiversity of the lake but also poison livestockand kill fish that might otherwise be harvestedfor food. This would mean the loss of goods, e.g. foodprovision, and services, e.g. clean water.Greater Horse Shoe BatHabitat: hedgerowsBenefits: linear foraging opportunitiesManagement: minimise cutting and do this in the winterPipistrelleHabitat: rivers and lakesBenefits: feed on aquatic larvae and nest on river banksManagement: minimise fluctuations in water levelsLeisler’s BatHabitat: beachesBenefits: foraging for insects amongst driftwoodManagement: avoid removing natural debris from beachesFor further information on bat habitats and their management see Entwhistle, Aet al (2001) Habitat Management for Bats: A Guide for land managers, land ownersand their advisors available at:http://jncc.defra.gov.uk/pdf/habitat_management_for_bats.pdfGenesAll forms of life on earth, whether microbes, plants, animals, or humans, contain genes. Genes ultimatelygovern the ability of species, habitats and eco-systems to adapt to environmental change.These are the basic building blocks of life. Even though a species may look the same, local racesmay have adapted to thrive in a particular environment. Genetic diversity is the sum of geneticinformation contained in the genes of individual plants, animals, and micro-organisms. Each speciesstores an immense amount of genetic information in the form of traits and characteristics. Thenumber of genes ranges from about 1000 in bacteria to more than 400 000 in many floweringplants. Each species consists of many organisms and virtually no two members of the same speciesare genetically identical.17