Network Of Conservation Areas Research Articles

Estimating tourism’s contribution to conservation area financing in Mozambique

Financial sustainability of conservation areas is one of the cornerstones for enabling effective conservation management. However, the current status of conservation area funding is widely detached from the need, and this disparity is intensified in developing countries. Therefore, identifying and valuing the revenue streams and finance needs of conservation areas is an important step in the process to become financial sustainable. This paper assesses the revenue potential of conservation areas in Mozambique national parks and reserves. The analysis describes the revenue generation of 93 conservation areas in Mozambique in 2013 to (i) the economy, (ii) the Government of Mozambique and conservation area management authorities, as well as (iii) respective communities bordering conservation areas. The analysis determined that the total annual revenue generation within the conservation area network was USD 24.4 million in 2013 from tourism-linked activities. The component of total revenue that accrued to either national Government of Mozambique or conservation area management was USD 3.33 million in 2013, and USD 606,500 of this accrued to communities surrounding conservation areas. The research has demonstrated that revenue generation of the conservation area network contributes approximately 10% to the tourism sector’s total contribution to the economy of Mozambique. In addition, this research highlights the difficulties of revenue generation from conservation areas in least developed countries and the effects of a lack of data on justifying the value of a conservation area network from an economic perspective.

Characterization of Yersinia enterocolitica strains potentially virulent for humans and animals in river water.

The aim of this study was to isolate and identify potentially pathogenic strains of Yersinia enterocolitica in water samples collected from the upstream section of the Drwęca River in Poland. Thirty-nine water samples were collected. Strains were isolated, identified with the use of the API(®) 20E test kit (Biomerieux, Marcy l'Etoile, France) at 37°C, serotyped and subjected to a molecular analysis. Multiplex PCR was carried out to amplify three virulence genes: ail, ystA and ystB. Fragments of ail and ystA genes were not identified in the genetic material of the analysed strains. The ystB gene was identified in four strains. Yersinia enterocolitica strains of biotype 1A, which contain the ystB gene, may cause gastrointestinal problems. In our study, Y.enterocolitica strains of biotype 1A/ystB with serotypes 0:3, 0:5 and 0:8 were identified in samples collected from the Drwęca River which flows through the areas protected by Natura 2000, one of the largest networks of nature conservation areas in the European Union. The presence of Y.enterocolitica in the Drwęca River indicates that the analysed bacteria colonize natural water bodies. Most research focuses on food or sewage as a source of Y.enterocolitica infections. Little is known about the occurrence of this pathogen in natural waters. Our results show that natural waters are also a potential threat to human and animal health.

Environmental Compensation for Port Extension: The Case of Rotterdam Harbor and Nature Compensation, Policy and Practice

The port of Rotterdam (the Netherlands) recently built a large extension, Maasvlakte 2. It was built in an area with valuable coastal ecosystems belonging to the EU Natura 2000 network of European conservation areas. The construction and use of Maasvlakte 2 causes considerable damage to existing Natura 2000 sites. According to EU regulations this damage should be compensated by creating new nature. In the case of Rotterdam, the compensation was twofold: a marine and a terrestrial part. The paper describes the design and the actual lay-out of the compensation works. It also reports on the monitoring that is ongoing to assess the damage to existing nature and the quality of the new (compensated) nature.

Using one vs. many, sensitivity and uncertainty analyses of species distribution models with focus on conservation area networks

Species Distribution Models (SDM) are currently common currency as proxies of species distribution range, and using consensus among different algorithms is becoming the latest tendency. This information is frequently used to estimate conservation status or for conservation planning. Nonetheless, different algorithms have huge variation in the outcomes. Usually experts determine whether or not a model is accurate, often followed by a trimming process. However, this accuracy estimation cannot be reproduced. Using Mexican endemic amphibians we evaluate the performance of nine modelling algorithms (Artificial Neural Networks, Classification Tree Analysis, Flexible Discriminant Analysis, Generalised Boosting Model, Generalised Linear Models, Multiple Adaptive Regression Splines, MaxEnt, RandomForest, Surface Range Envelope), their strict geographic consensus, locality records and simple convex-hull areas through comparison of: (1) their presence/absence within Mexico's governmental protected areas, (2) range sizes projected, and (3) differences in estimated richness by all methods. We conducted all good practices prior modelling but removed the trimming factor after modelling to make the process repeatable. Presence–absence threshold was determined through the use of the receiver-operating characteristic (ROC). Presence within conservation network of strict consensus and locality records was similar which indicates an over-fitting of the former, the rest of the algorithms performed similarly, with exception of Surface Range Envelope. Richness patterns varied greatly among algorithms. Distribution borders were the areas with higher sensitivity. MaxEnt obtained the highest performance in omission but consensus performed best in correctly predicting species ranges. Closer interaction between curators and modelers would increase SDMs accuracy, which would improve conservation planning effectiveness.

La región del Bajío, México y la conservación de su diversidad florística

In Mexico, the natural protected areas do not fulfill the biodiversity conservation demands and many of them lack of clear mechanisms for management and conservation of their natural resources. It is necessary to evaluate how efficient are those already established and to employ adequate algorithms that maximize complementarity and other biological aspects required in the conservation of biodiversity. Actually, the use of meta-heuristic algorithms, as those implemented in ConsNet software ensure representativeness of conservation items (for example species), considered biodiversity surrogates for regions still including natural habitats. With geographical distribution data, the ecological niche models of species of the family Asteraceae distributed in the Bajio region in central Mexico were carried out using the MaxEnt program. Such models were employed as biodiversity surrogates to determining important areas for biodiversity conservation using the algorithms implemented in ConsNet. A network of conservation areas (RAC) where natural vegetation still persists was built and located places considered as irreplaceable because contain species restricted to their territory. The RAC obtained shows low coincidence with the extant natural protected areas in the Bajio region. We considered this study could help to evaluate and eventually re-define the natural protected system of the region.

Conservation planning for freshwater ecosystems in Mexico

Freshwater ecosystems are key to maintaining biological diversity and for human well-being. Despite their importance, these ecosystems have suffered severe transformations due to anthropogenic activity. Here we present the first priority assessment of freshwater ecosystems in Mexico at the national scale. Because species' compositional and hydrological conditions vary widely across Mexico we divided the territory into seven distinct regions in order to assign different conservation targets for biodiversity surrogates and to consider specific threats according to their impact in each region. The total conservation area network identified is equal to 30% of the country's continental surface, in which more than 94% of the biodiversity surrogates meet their established conservation targets. The regions of the Tropical Pacific and Gulf of Mexico have the largest proportions of priority sites, followed by the Central Highlands, which contains the largest number of irreplaceable sites. Tropical Pacific and the Baja California Peninsula possess the largest proportion of sites with extreme importance for conservation. Nationally, the percentage of priority sites under protection is 15.8%, of which 5.6% are sites of extreme importance, 4.2% are sites of high importance, and 6% are sites of medium importance for conservation. Our study highlights the importance of conducting conservation prioritization assessments at higher spatial resolution using information that is up to date and doing so in a collaborative way to strengthen decision making. This analysis helps to bridge the research–implementation gap in conservation planning to improve the representation of Mexico's freshwater biodiversity in conservation areas.

Integrating wildlife conservation with conflicting economic land-use goals in a West African biodiversity hotspot

Half of what remains of the ‘Guinean Forests of West Africa hotspot’ is located in Liberia. However, only about 2% of the country is officially protected. We systematically identified and evaluated priority areas for the protection of large mammals and biodiversity in Liberia under different conservation scenarios. We also assessed current proposed protected areas (PPAs) in terms of achieving pre-determined conservation targets, and determined potential wildlife and biodiversity loss within logging and mining concessions. We systematically collected nationwide data on chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus) abundance, large mammal and tree taxonomic diversity, and human threats. We related these to environmental and human impact variables to develop nationwide spatial prediction models that also served as base-layers for spatial prioritization using MARXAN. We improved upon standard software output to evaluate spatial properties of selected sites, determine site-specific target contributions, and estimate potential wildlife and biodiversity loss within logging and mining concessions. The optimal conservation area network contained a candidate list of 92 areas that maximized biodiversity and chimpanzee abundance, minimized threats, and accomplished the preservation of 30% of Liberia's forests. It included more than half of West Africa's second largest chimpanzee population, which spatially coincided with that of some of the most diverse large mammal and tree communities. Logging and mining concessions largely overlapped with existing PPAs and conservation priority areas established in this study, and considerably increased their fragmentation. Existing PPAs, however, only partially covered our areas of prioritization and proved insufficient in meeting conservation targets. We emphasize the need for finding a balance between development and biodiversity conservation, such as through aggregate biodiversity offsets, the use of which is currently being discussed by local government, international investors, and conservation NGOs.

Strategies for conservation of endangered amphibian and reptile species

Strategies for conservation of endangered amphibian and reptile species are discussed. One-fifth of all vertebrates belongs to the category of "endangered species," and amphibians are first on the list (41%). Every fifth reptile species is in danger of extinction, and insufficient information is characteristic of every other fifth. As has been demonstrated, efficient development of a network of nature conservation areas, cryopreservation, and methods for laboratory breeding and reintroduction play.the key roles in adequate strategies for preservation of amphibians and reptiles.

Systematic identification of potential conservation priority areas on roadless Bureau of Land Management lands in the western United States

With ongoing global change, there is an urgent need to expand existing networks of important conservation areas around the world. In the western United States, vast areas of public land, including those administered by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), present substantial conservation opportunities. For 11 contiguous western states, we used a novel multiple-criteria analysis to model and map contiguous areas of roadless BLM land that possessed important ecological indicators of high biodiversity, resilience to climate change, and landscape connectivity. Specifically, we leveraged available spatial datasets to implement a systematic and statistically robust analysis of seven key indicators at three different spatial scales, and to identify the locations of potential conservation priority areas (CPAs) across 294,274km2 of roadless BLM land. Within this extent, and based on conservative thresholds in our results, we identified 43,417km2 of land with relatively high conservation value and 117 unique CPAs totaling 6291km2. Most CPA lands were located in Utah, Colorado, Arizona, Oregon, and Nevada. Overall, CPAs had higher species richness, vegetation community diversity, topographic complexity, and surface water availability than existing BLM protected areas. CPAs often corresponded with locations known to have important wilderness characteristics or were adjacent to established areas of ecological, social, or cultural importance. These CPAs represent a diverse set of places that can be used by multiple stakeholders in ongoing or future landscape conservation and special designation efforts in BLM and adjacent ownerships. Our methodological framework and novel weighting approach can accommodate a wide range of input variables and is readily applicable to other jurisdictions and regions within the U.S. and beyond.

How do recent spatial biodiversity analyses support the convention on biological diversity in the expansion of the global conservation area network?

In the tenth Conference of Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) held in Nagoya in 2010, it was decided that 17% of terrestrial and 10% of marine areas should be protected globally by 2020. It was also stated that conservation decision-making should be based on sound science. Here, we review how recent scientific literature about spatial conservation prioritization analyses and macro-ecology corresponds to the information needs posed by the Aichi Biodiversity Target 11. A literature search was performed in Web of Science to identify potentially relevant research articles published in 2010-2012. Additionally, we searched all articles published since 2000 in five high-profile scientific journals. The studies were classified by extent and resolution, and we evaluated the type and breadth of data that was utilized (This information is included in a supplementary table to facilitate further research). Implementation of the Aichi Targets would best be supported by broad-extent, high-resolution, and data-rich studies that can directly support realistic decision-making about allocation of conservation efforts at sub-continental to global extents. When looking at all evaluation criteria simultaneously, we found little research that directly supports the analytical needs of the CBD. There are many narrow- extent, low-resolution, narrow-scope, or theoretically-aimed studies that are important in developing theory and local practices, but which are not adequate for guiding conservation management at a continental scale. Even national analyses are missing for many countries. Global-extent, high-resolution analyses using broad biodiversity and anthropogenic data are needed in order to inform decision making under the CBD resolutions. © 2014 Associação Brasileira de Ciência Ecológica e Conservação. Published by Elsevier Editora Ltda.

On the Selection of Representative Conservation Area-Networks

The problem of selection of representative conservation area-network is an important ecological issue related to preserving the biodiversity of a geographical region. The mathematical model is based on the assumption that environmental diversity is a good measure of biodiversity. In this setting, the geographical region is divided into smaller areas (assumed environmentally homogenous) which are mathematically considered as vertices of a graph. The environmental distance between two areas defines the length of the edge connecting the respective vertices. Selecting p areas which represent best the total of n areas (in the sense of environmental diversity) is mathematically equivalent to the so called $p$-median problem, that is selecting a set of $p$ vertices of the graph such that the sum of the distances from all vertices of the graph to the selected set is minimal. For any practically relevant values of n and p the solution cannot be computed in reasonable time, since this problem is a well-known NP hard problem. We discuss various heuristic methods to find an approximate solution in terms of the trade off between computational time and accuracy. In order to test the validity of the underlying assumption of the model we use species distribution datasets for birds, reptiles, and butterflies in South Africa. These datasets have been developed from extensive, formalised atlasing projects coordinated largely by the Animal Demography Unit of the University of Cape Town, and are the most comprehensive faunal species distribution datasets available for the country. Each vertex of the graph represents a quarter degree square (QDS), approximately 20km $\times$ 20km area commonly used in large biogeographic analysis. The total number of QDS for South Africa is 1816. The power of the method is demonstrated via numerical experiments with p ranging from 10 to 50.

Climate change impacts on connectivity in the ocean: Implications for conservation

Effective spatial management in the ocean requires a network of conservation areas that are connected by larval and adult dispersal. We propose a conceptual framework for including the likely impacts of a changing climate on marine connectivity, and synthesize information on the relationships between changing ocean temperature and acidification, connectivity and conservation tools. Our framework relies on concepts of functional connectivity, which depends on an organism's biological and behavioral responses to the physical environment, and structural connectivity, which describes changes in the physical and spatial structure of the environment that affect connectivity and movement. Our review confirms that ocean climate change likely reduces potential dispersal distance and therefore functional connectivity. Structural connectivity in the ocean will inevitably change with the spatial arrangement of biogenic habitats resulting from disturbance as well as enhanced growth and mortality due to climate change. Climate change will also likely reduce the spatial scale of connectivity, suggesting that we will need more closely spaced protected areas.

Collaboration or Contention? Decentralised Marine Governance in Berau

Conservation of marine space is a new frontier in environmentalists’ involvement with resource governance in Indonesia. The coastal and marine area of Berau was established as a District Marine Conservation Area (MCA) based on District Head Regulation No. 31/2005. The total MCA of 1.27 million ha was expected to become part of the wider MCA networks of the East Borneo Seascape and the Sulu Sulawesi Marine Ecoregion, as well as of the Coral Triangle international network of conservation areas in Southeast Asia and the Pacific. The Berau MCA was developed in collaboration between the Berau district government and international environmental non-governmental organisations (NGOs) such as The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). They claimed to use a new concept of partnership with the decentralised district government as the principal institutional partner. However, the governance framework is full of legal disconnects due to decentralisation of resource management, and its implementation faces the real-life challenges of political-economic and historical valuations of the marine environment producing conflicts of interest between the multi-scalar actors involved. Following the very process of establishing the Berau MCA over a five-year period (2005–2010), this paper shows why it is necessary to understand how collaboration and contention are constructed and in turn construct actors' perceptions and perspectives on marine conservation and resource extraction in decentralised coastal governance.

Can agro-ecosystems efficiently complement protected area networks?

Threats to biodiversity are often enhanced in human-dominated and densely-populated regions. The prospects for establishing new protected areas are generally more limited in such regions, due to competition with other land-uses. Improving the conservation value of agricultural lands has been proposed as a complementary strategy. Our goal was to compare alternatives for expanding an existing protected area system. We used the conservation planning software Marxan to select candidate sites for addition to an existing protected area system, based on the following three strategies: (1) focusing on remaining natural habitats; (2) prioritizing agricultural lands for wildlife-friendly farming and agri-environmental measures that can improve conservation value; and (3) a strategy combining the former two. We used area as a surrogate for cost with the aim of minimizing the total area needed to meet our conservation objectives. We evaluated the sites found via each strategy with respect to their landscape structure and the coverage they provided to the target species’ habitats. We focused on breeding bird species in Israel’s Mediterranean region, a challenging and relevant case study due to the area’s high level of urbanization, population density, and its heterogeneous landscape. We found that the existing protected areas provided adequate coverage to only 23% of the target species, clearly demonstrating the need for action. Of the three strategies, expanding the existing protected area system based on the combined strategy was the most beneficial since it provided greater coverage to the target species’ habitats, and resulted in a larger, more compact, and less patchy conservation area network. In addition to protected area planning, our approach can be used to target agricultural lands for agri-environmental schemes, particularly in human-dominated and densely-populated regions.

Evaluation of rockfish conservation area networks in the United States and Canada relative to the dispersal distance for black rockfish (Sebastes melanops)

Marine reserves networks are implemented as a way to mitigate the impact of fishing on marine ecosystems. Theory suggests that a reserve network will function synergistically when connected by dispersal, but the scale of dispersal is often unknown. On the Pacific coast of the United States and Canada, both countries have recently implemented a number of rockfish conservation areas (RCAs) to protect exploited rockfish species, but no study has evaluated the connectivity within networks in each country or between the two countries. We used isolation-by-distance theory to estimate the scale of dispersal from microsatellite data in the black rockfish, Sebastes melanops, and compared this estimate with the distance between RCAs that would protect this species. Within each country, we found that the distance between RCAs was generally within the confidence intervals of mean dispersal per generation. The distance between these two RCA networks, however, was greater than the average dispersal per generation. The data were also consistent with a genetic break between southern Oregon and central Oregon. We discuss whether additional nearshore RCAs in southern Oregon and Washington would help promote connectivity between RCA's for shallow-water rockfishes.

Climate change and conservation implications for wet meadows in dry Patagonia

SUMMARYClimate change is predicted to be a major threat for biodiversity and, from a conservation prospective, it is important to understand how ecosystems may respond to that change. Predicted climate change effects on the distribution of meadows in the arid and semi-arid Argentinean Patagonia by 2050 were assessed for change trends and areas of desertification vulnerability using species distribution models (SDM) and climate-change models. Four modelling techniques composed an ensemble-forecasting approach. Suitable areas for meadows will decrease by 7.85% by 2050 given predicted changes in climate. However, there were two contrasting trends: severe reduction of suitable areas for meadows in north-west Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego Island, and an expansion of suitable areas for meadows in the south and a small section in the north-west. Meadows in Patagonia will likely be impacted by climate change, probably due to changes in precipitation regimes, and consequently many species that rely on meadows in an arid environment will also be impacted. Given the low level of protection of meadows in Patagonia, such information on meadow distribution and vulnerability to climate change will be important for increasing and improving the network of conservation areas through conservation planning.

Predicting soil properties from floristic composition in western Amazonian rain forests: performance of k‐nearest neighbour estimation and weighted averaging calibration

Summary Soil quality is an important determinant of primary productivity and species occurrence patterns. Therefore, plant species composition can be used as an indicator of soil quality when direct sampling of soils is impractical. We test how well the species composition of the plant family Melastomataceae can predict soil properties in western Amazonian rain forests. We examine nine soil variables: pH; loss‐on‐ignition; the concentrations of Al and P; and the concentrations of Ca, K, Mg, Na and the sum of these base cations. We compare two commonly used prediction techniques, k‐nearest neighbour (k‐NN) estimation and weighted averaging calibration via species indicator values. The Melastomataceae and soil data come from 311 localities widely distributed in western Amazonia. We use two different sets of Melastomataceae: a full set including all 283 observed species and an easy set containing 58 species that are both abundant in the data set and relatively easy to identify in the field. Weighted averaging calibration and k‐NN performed approximately equally well. Both were found to be useful techniques to convert information on Melastomataceae species composition to estimates of soil cation concentration, especially magnesium and calcium, and to a lesser degree potassium. In nearly all cases, the full set of Melastomataceae species gave more accurate predictions than the easy set, but the differences were relatively small. Synthesis and applications. Our results show that Melastomataceae can be used as an indicator group that facilitates the field estimation of soil cation concentration and hence the assessment and mapping of soil variation over large areas. This provides important background information for all types of land‐use planning, including systematic conservation planning that aims at representativeness of conservation area networks.

Patterns of lizard species richness within National Parks and Biosphere Reserves across North America's deserts

Warm deserts world-wide provide habitats for rich lizard species assemblages; North American deserts are no exception, however the desert regions of the US and Mexico are experiencing increasing habitat changes from multiple anthropogenic sources. Our objective here was to document current lizard species richness patterns across the North American deserts within the existing network of conservation areas. We identified 110 lizard species occurring across one or more of the 19 sites we analyzed. Three species richness hot spots were identified; a northern Baja California faunal extension into southern California in the US, and in Mexico, two sites within the state of Coahuila, as well as high endemism in the Cape Region of Baja California Sur. Species richness was associated with sites where desert ecoregions overlap and with insular isolation. Our uncertainty regarding how species will respond to the multifaceted aspects of global change is such that large protected natural areas with complex topography may be the most effective strategy for protecting desert lizards along with overall biodiversity. The 19 sites we analyzed represent the cores of a more robust conservation network that will be needed for the protection of biodiversity across North American Deserts.

Connectivity and invasive species management: towards an integrated landscape approach

Invasive plants and animals are a major cause of global biodiversity loss. Invasive Species Management (ISM) helps conserve localized populations and ecosystems, but rarely have its potential benefits been explored at the landscape scale. We explore how ISM can enhance landscape connectivity, and how its incorporation into conservation planning algorithms could help design optimal reserve networks. Conversely, conservation planning and connectivity modelling can optimize targeting of ISM, achieving benefits for a wider range of taxa and ecological processes, without the need for additional resources. Empirical research must investigate the spatial pattern of benefits from ISM, and when to target priority conservation sites or the areas (matrix) between them. By bolstering populations within—and increasing connectivity between—focal patches, ISM should move beyond conserving individual sites to creating functionally connected networks of conservation areas.

The conflict between agricultural expansion and priority conservation areas: Making the right decisions before it is too late

Agricultural expansion generates problems to ecosystems and hinders conservation efforts. Although several researchers worldwide are working to develop efficient approaches for conserving biodiversity adequately, certain decisions should be taken urgently. Here, by using two entire classes of vertebrates (amphibians and reptiles), we calculated optimal conservation area networks (CANs) under nine different scenarios (including three different degrees of land-use and three different degrees of ambition in conservation objectives), in a highly deforested province of central Argentina. We show that if conservation decisions are delayed further, not only will more land be necessary to meet a given conservation objective, but also that optimal CANs will have to have a much greater perimeter, a larger number of fragments and a less appropriate shape. Therefore, as agricultural frontiers continue to advance without designating specific sites for conservation, we are losing the possibility to conserve biodiversity adequately.