Nature reserves and reforestation expend the potential habitats for endangered plants: A model study in Cangshan, China

Abstract

The loss of biodiversity is one of the greatest challenges in the world. Nature Reserves are widely recognized as an effective strategy to protect against biodiversity crises. Over the past 40 years, the vegetation coverage of the Cangshan Reserve and its surrounding areas has increased significantly largely due to the reforestation project. In this study, we specifically evaluated the capacity of nature reserves and reforestation efforts to increase the area of potential habitats for endangered plants, using historical and current species distribution models (SDM). Our findings revealed that the highly suitable area for endangered species constituted 31.5 % of Cangshan Reserve and 3.3 % of the total study area in 1980 model. However, in the 2020 model, the highly suitable area increased to 37.9 % of Cangshan Reserve and 3.9 % of the total area. In total, the highly suitable area in 2020 exceeded that of 1980 by 37.12 km2. The significant increase of the highly suitable area can be attributed to the plantations within the Cangshan Reserve. Despite a noted increase in vegetation cover outside the reserve, the present study did not find a significant expansion in suitable habitats outside Cangshan Reserve. In conclusion, our study suggests that reforestation policy alone may not suffice to expand the potential habitats for endangered plants, a combined approach involving the establishment of nature reserves and the implementation of reforestation programs may prove to be a more effective strategy in the increase of potential habitats for these rare and endangered plants.