Separating risks from values in setting priorities for plant community conservation

Abstract

Berg and colleagues, in this issue, describe a framework for assessing risks to biodiversity and setting conservation priorities in northeast Germany. Their method explicitly separates community endangerment from conservation value, and derives its plant communities from a sound regional classification. It could be improved by incorporating ecological processes into risk assessment, and socio-political constraints, economic costs and the likelihood of success into priority setting. © 2014 International Association for Vegetation Science.