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Abstract
ContextLand cover change is a global multi-scale process affecting ecosystems, with potential implications for ecological processes and for the biological communities that support them. Land cover changes are especially relevant for protected areas where long-term ecosystem stability is a critical aspect of protecting and maintaining high levels of biodiversity and ecosystem functions.ObjectivesTo understand the extent of land cover change impact on global ecosystem stability of protected areas across time and space.MethodsHere we analysed 23 years of global spatial and temporal distribution of land cover change its occurrence within protected areas. We investigated whether higher land cover change rates occurred inside or outside protected areas, identified the main type of changes, and their distribution by UN region.ResultsOur results show that from 1992 to 2015, 4.89% of the world’s land surface changed from one land cover to another, with 97.9% of this change persisting until the end of the time period. We found that regions with higher land cover change, tend to have a higher incidence of change close to protected areas, suggesting a spillover effect on these areas. Also, the proportion of change inside and outside protected areas varied considerably across UN Regions.ConclusionsOur results suggest that to reach current global conservation targets, it is not enough to increase the targets of protected area coverage. Instead, governments and conservation management agencies should account for regional specificities, and pay attention to the territories surrounding protected areas to develop strategies to reduce spillover effects.
Highlights
Land cover change is a global multi-scale process affecting ecosystems and their ecological features (Foley et al 2005; Pereira et al 2012; Small and Sousa 2016)
We investigated whether higher land cover change rates occurred inside or outside protected areas, identified the main type of changes, and their distribution by UN region
We found that regions with higher land cover change, tend to have a higher incidence of change close to protected areas, suggesting a spillover effect on these areas
Summary
Land cover change is a global multi-scale process affecting ecosystems and their ecological features (Foley et al 2005; Pereira et al 2012; Small and Sousa 2016) Depending on their extent and intensity, changes in land cover can represent a complete shift of existing ecosystems [e.g. deforestation in the Amazon (Levine et al 2016)] or more long-term ecological adjustments [e.g. l and abandonment followed by ecological succession (Benjamin et al 2005)]. Stable ecosystems are capable of maintaining complex biological communities and reinforce ecological mechanisms at multiple scales (Tilman et al 2014) This stability is relevant for protected areas where long-term goals include protecting and maintaining high biodiversity and intact ecosystem processes (Lopez et al 2013)
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