Identifying Highly Diverse Areas of Rare Plant Species as a Basis for Assessing Representativeness and Improving the Network of Protected Areas

Abstract

Assessing the representativeness of protected areas is necessary to optimize their national and regional networks, as well as to improve the protection of rare and endemic species. In the Republic of Bashkortostan, an analysis of the distribution of rare vascular plant species in need of protection has been carried out on the basis of synthesizing all sources of high-precision georeferenced data, i.e., databases of herbarium specimens and geobotanical releves. The result of these works was the creation of a graphic database: the Rare and Endangered Species of Vascular Plants of the Republic of Bashkortostan GIS map. This GIS map includes three main vector layers: a point layer containing information about 4932 rare species localities, a Protected Areas Boundaries layer, and a grid layer with cells 6' in latitude by 10' in longitude (10.8 × 10.2 km). Based on these layers and standard procedures of the QGIS 3.4 program, an algorithm has been developed to analyze the patterns of distribution of rare species throughout the region, as well as to identify areas with a high diversity of these species and their covering by the existing network of protected areas. Using the example of two grid map cells with a high diversity of rare species, approaches to identifying and delineating further sites of protected areas have been considered using space images and a digital elevation model. To estimate the protection level of the unique combinations of rare species, the distribution of all sets of these species within the existing protected areas is assessed. This makes it possible to justify the creation of two new protected areas. This approach does not exclude, but significantly reduces the volume of field investigations and can significantly reduce the time and financial costs of creating new protected areas to optimize the protection of rare and endangered plant species.