Prioritising conservation actions for biodiversity: Lessening the impact from habitat fragmentation and climate change

Abstract

The interacting impacts of habitat fragmentation and climate change present a substantial threat for biodiversity, constituting a ‘deadly anthropogenic cocktail’. A range of conservation actions has been proposed to allow biodiversity to respond to those environmental changes. However, determining the relative effectiveness of these actions has been hampered by incomplete evidence. Empirical studies have provided important insights to inform conservation, but the challenge of considering multiple actions at large spatial and temporal scales is considerable. We adopt an individual-based modelling approach to qualitatively assess the effectiveness of alternative conservation actions in facilitating range expansion and patch occupancy for eight virtual species. We test actions to: (i) improve the quality of existing habitat patches, (ii) increase the permeability of the surrounding matrix, (iii) restore degraded habitat, (iv) create new habitat patches to form stepping-stones or (v) create new habitat to enlarge existing habitat patches. These actions are systematically applied to six real landscapes of the UK, which differ in their degree of habitat fragmentation and availability. Creating new habitat close to existing patches typically provides the strongest benefits for both range expansion and patch occupancy across species and landscapes. However, some landscapes may be so degraded that even under unrealistically high levels of management action, species' performances cannot be rescued. We identify that it is possible to develop a triage of conservation actions at the landscape, species and investment level, thereby providing timely evidence to inform action on the ground to lessen the hangover from the deadly anthropogenic cocktail.