Spatial Conservation Priorities Research Articles

Modelling Multi-Scenario Ecological Network Patterns and Dynamic Spatial Conservation Priorities in Mining Areas

Mining activities have significantly altered the land use patterns of mining areas, exacerbated the degree of landscape fragmentation, and thereby led to the loss of biodiversity. Ecological networks have been recognized as an essential component for enhancing habitat connectivity and protecting biodiversity. However, existing studies lack dynamic analysis at the landscape scale under multiple future scenarios for mining areas, which is adverse to the identification of ecological conservation regions. This study used the MOP-PLUS (multi-objective optimization problem and patch-level land use simulation) model to simulate the land use patterns in the balance of ecology and economy (EEB) scenario and ecological development priority (EDP) scenario for the Shendong coal base. Then, climate change and land use patterns were integrated into ecosystem models to analyze the dynamic changes in the ecological networks. Finally, the conservation priorities were constructed, and dynamic conservation hotspots were identified using landscape mapping methods. The following results were obtained: (1) From 2000 to 2020, large grassland areas were replaced by mining areas, while cultivated land was replenished. By 2030, the forest and grassland areas (967.00 km2, 8989.70 km2) will reach their peaks and the coal mine area (356.15 km2) will reach its nadir in the EDP scenario. (2) The fragmentation of ecological sources intensified (MPS decreased from 19.81 km2 to 18.68 km2) and ecological connectivity declined (in particular, α decreased by 6.58%) from 2000 to 2020. In 2030, the connectivity in the EDP scenario will increase, while the connectivity in the EEB scenario will be close to that of 2020. (3) The central and southeastern parts of the Shendong coal base have higher conservation priorities, which urgently need to be strengthened. This study offers guidance on addressing the challenges of habitat and biodiversity conservation in mining areas.

Spatial identification and priority conservation areas determination of wilderness in China

In the context of an increasingly severe ecological crisis and accelerating ecological civilization construction, the specific regional differences as well as the natural environment of China restrict the uniform population distribution and the social economy's spatial layout, forming a large and widely distributed wilderness. The post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) takes the protection of wilderness areas as one of the key conservation goals and brings new opportunities for wilderness protection. Objective and accurate identification of the spatial range of wilderness and the determination of the focus of wilderness protection are significant for carrying out resource and environmental carrying capacity evaluations, biodiversity conservation, and national park system construction. At present, fewer studies pay attention to wilderness area identification and protection in China. In this study, we used the MaxEnt and Marxan models to establish a framework to identify the spatial distribution and conservation priorities of China's wilderness as well as guide wilderness conservation. The wilderness areas in China show a large-scale, concentrated distribution in space and a small, scattered distribution. From 2000 to 2020, the wilderness area decreased from 3.6323 million km2 in 2000 to 2.9142 million km2 in 2020, and the wilderness area reduction rate from 2000 to 2010 was greater than that in 2010–2020. From 2000 to 2020, the center of gravity of the wilderness area shifted 893.5 km to the southwest. Wilderness center of gravity relocated from Pingluo County, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region to Delingha City, Qinghai Province. Considering conservation objectives and conservation costs, we determined that the wilderness area in urgent need of protection is 55,100 km2, accounting for 1.8 % of the total wilderness area. It is mainly distributed in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (13,000 km2), Yunnan Province (12,000 km2), and Sichuan Province (5300 km2). This methodological framework can provide an important reference for governments in dealing with global climate change, maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem diversity, and promoting sustainable human development.

Assessing forest conservation outcomes of a nature reserve in a subtropical forest ecosystem: effectiveness, spillover effects, and insights for spatial conservation prioritization

Protected areas (PAs) are pivotal in the conservation of global forest ecosystems, and understanding their effectiveness and spillover effects is crucial to evaluate their overall performance. While PAs are well-documented for their role in reducing deforestation, research examining their influence on mitigating non-stand replacement forest degradation or forest carbon emissions remains insufficient. Additionally, the nuanced heterogeneity in the effectiveness and spillover effects of PAs are not yet fully understood, impeding our ability to leverage outcome-based evidence for crafting spatial conservation strategies to expand PAs. In this study, integrating a rigorous counterfactual analysis and remote sensing observations, we probed the effectiveness and spillover effects of the Gutianshan National Nature Reserve (GNNR), located in Kaihua County of China, in curbing forest degradation, forest loss, and forest carbon emissions. We also explored the heterogeneity of these effects and identified spatial conservation priorities based on nonuniform impacts of effectiveness. Our findings showed that the GNNR designation remarkably curtailed forest degradation, forest loss, and forest carbon emissions by 78.56 %, 95.54 %, and 97.01 %, respectively, while also extending these mitigating effects to adjacent areas. However, we also detected leakage effects, causing a displacement of forest carbon emissions in areas 5–15 km around the reserve. The effectiveness and spillover effects exhibited heterogeneous patterns across geographical conditions. Informed by this heterogeneity, we pinpointed areas showing high conservation suitability as spatial conservation priorities, covering 35.64 % of Kaihua County, thereby boosting future forest and carbon management efforts. Our results advance the understanding of PA effectiveness and spillover effects within low-altitude subtropical forest ecosystems and offer insights into integrating outcome-based and area-based conservation approaches to achieve the 30 × 30 conservation target at a regional scale.

Spatial priorities for freshwater fish conservation in relation to protected areas

Abstract Freshwater habitats are vital for both humans and nature owing to their exceptional biodiversity and valuable ecosystem services, but they are currently facing serious threats. The designation and management of protected areas have been proposed as the most feasible way to ensure conservation objectives for the future. However, traditional approaches have not protected freshwater fauna effectively, especially freshwater fish. Previous studies have identified the most irreplaceable terrestrial places to achieve conservation goals. Here, the aim was to investigate how the present network of protected areas preserves irreplaceable rivers for freshwater fish. The irreplaceability of the world's river basins was calculated using International Union for the Conservation of Nature Red List distribution maps, considering the rarity, richness, and conservation status of their freshwater fish fauna. The overlap between irreplaceable basins and the present network of protected areas was also calculated. The results highlight the conservation significance of tropical rivers, particularly those in the Neotropics. The subset of the basins covering 30% of the most irreplaceable land surface (in line with the United Nations 30by30 target) encompasses 99% of freshwater fish species. However, protected areas do not seem to provide sufficient protection to these basins, as 89% of their surface area lies outside protected areas. Only 7% of freshwater ecoregions meet the United Nations 30by30 target. Given the context of climate change, allocating new protected areas becomes crucial in providing better survival opportunities for freshwater fish species. Despite the limitations inherent to the absence of total knowledge of freshwater fish biogeography and the irreplaceability index itself, this study identifies priority sites for their conservation that may help inform decision‐making in the future to establish more effective protected areas.

Spatial patterns, underlying drivers and conservation priorities of orchids in the central Himalaya

Understanding the primary drivers of species diversity patterns and identifying critical places for biodiversity protection are the two major concerns confronting the global conservation community. The Orchidaceae, which is one of the most diverse angiosperm families with over 30,000 species, is currently facing grave threats from habitat degradation, climate change, and a range of human-induced issues. However, the spatial patterns of orchid distribution and the factors influencing these patterns, both of which are crucial for developing successful orchid conservation plans, remain poorly understood. Here, using one of the most extensive distribution datasets of >500 orchid species in Nepal, we mapped the distribution of all, common, rare, epiphyte, and terrestrial species and identified important factors driving their patterns. We also assessed their protection gaps and identified key conservation regions. We discovered low spatial congruence between the diversity patterns of different groups, and the fundamental drivers underlying the richness pattern differed considerably. The key orchid conservation areas were primarily found in the mid-hills and highlands of central Nepal, with 62 % of these areas outside the protected area (PA) network. Our findings emphasize the importance of considering pollinator diversity and other climate factors when developing effective management plans to conserve orchids, as well as employing different strategies to conserve different life forms. A huge conservation gap in protecting orchids despite large PA coverage in Nepal indicates insufficiency of existing PA network in conserving plants. Therefore, our findings reiterates the need to consider plant conservation goals alongside animal conservation priorities in future conservation planning.

Identification of spatial conservation and restoration priorities for ecological networks planning in a highly urbanized region: A case study in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, China

Building ecological networks is not only critical for biodiversity conservation, but also for sustainable urban development. It is of great significance to integrate a connected network of protected areas into spatial planning as human-dominated land use changes are mostly a non-reversible process. Taking the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) region as an example, the Least Cost Path (LCP) model is adopted for ecological networks simulation at regional scale based on a resistance map composed by different factors (i.e., naturalness of land covers, the riparian corridor, and disturbance of roads) derived from very high resolution spatial data. Then, all least cost paths are classified as green or blue paths, and evaluated according to their contribution to the whole network connectivity. Two types of prioritized locations are identified for restoration and conservation of the ecological networks: breaking points and stepping stones. The results show that there are a total of 246 potential ecological corridors between the protected areas, and 6 breaking points that need to be restored and 12 intersection points of LCPs (particularly with the blue paths) that are considered as stepping stones enhancing networks connectivity. Further spatial overlay of the ecological networks and Major Function Oriented Zone (MFOZ) plan shows that the current regional development strategy needs to be adapted to protect the integrity of the ecological networks from possible disturbance of human activities. On-site verification has proved that our results can provide reliable instructions for spatial conservation and restoration of ecological networks and contribute to the optimization of spatial planning in practice.

Spatial priorities for freshwater biodiversity conservation in light of catchment protection and connectivity in Europe.

Freshwater ecosystems host disproportionately high numbers of species relative to their surface area yet are poorly protected globally. We used data on the distribution of 1631 species of aquatic plant, mollusc, odonate and fish in 18,816 river and lake catchments in Europe to establish spatial conservation priorities based on the occurrence of threatened, range-restricted and endemic species using the Marxan systematic conservation planning tool. We found that priorities were highest for rivers and ancient lakes in S Europe, large rivers and lakes in E and N Europe, smaller lakes in NW Europe and karst/limestone areas in the Balkans, S France and central Europe. The a priori inclusion of well-protected catchments resulted in geographically more balanced priorities and better coverage of threatened (critically endangered, endangered and vulnerable) species. The a priori exclusion of well-protected catchments showed that priority areas that need further conservation interventions are in S and E Europe. We developed three ways to evaluate the correspondence between conservation priority and current protection by assessing whether a cathment has more (or less) priority given its protection level relative to all other catchments. Each method found that priority relative to protection was high in S and E Europe and generally low in NW Europe. The inclusion of hydrological connectivity had little influence on these patterns but decreased the coverage of threatened species, indicating a trade-off between connectivity and conservation of threatened species. Our results suggest that catchments in S and E Europe need urgent conservation attention (protected areas, restoration, management, species protection) in the face of imminent threats such as river regulation, dam construction, hydropower development and climate change. Our study presents continental-scale conservation priorities for freshwater ecosystems in ecologically meaningful planning units and will thus be important in freshwater biodiversity conservation policy and practice, and water management in Europe.

Golden Eagle Occupancy Surveys and Monitoring Strategy in Coastal Southern California, United States

Golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) are of increasing conservation concern in western North America. Effective conservation measures for this wide-ranging, federally protected raptor species require monitoring frameworks that accommodate strong inference on the status of breeding populations across vast landscapes. We used a broad-scale sampling design to identify relationships between landscape conditions, detection rates, and site occupancy by territorial pairs of golden eagles in coastal southern California, United States. In 2016 and 2017, we surveyed 175 territory-sized sample sites (13.9-km2 randomly selected grid cells) up to four times each year and detected a pair of eagles at least once in 22 (12.6%) sites. The probability of detecting pairs of eagles varied substantially between years and declined with increasing amounts of forest cover at survey sites, which obscured observations of eagles during ground-based surveys. After accounting for variable detection, the mean estimate of expected site occupancy by eagle pairs was 0.156 (SE = 0.081). Site-level estimates of occupancy were greatest (>0.30) at sample sites with more rugged terrain conditions, <20% human development, and lower amounts of scrubland vegetation cover. The proportion of a sample site with open grassland or forest cover was not strongly correlated with occupancy. We estimated that approximately 16% of the 5,338-km2 sampling frame was used by resident pairs of golden eagles, corresponding to a sparsely distributed population of about 60 pairs (95% CI = 19 – 151 pairs). Our study provided baseline data for future surveys of golden eagles along with a widely applicable monitoring framework for identifying spatial conservation priorities in urbanizing landscapes.

An assessment of spatial conservation priorities for biodiversity attributes: Composition, structure, and function of Neotropical biodiversity

Given the increasing threats to biodiversity and limited resources for conservation, our knowledge about the uncertainty in surrogates for representing comprehensively the spatial conservation priorities for biodiversity, needs to be improved. We present a comprehensive spatial conservation approach for Neotropical biodiversity by including surrogates for three biodiversity attributes: composition (8563 species), structure (663 ecosystems), and function (5382 ecological groups). We evaluated the differences in the representativeness and surrogacy-level of resulting portfolios for each attribute, considering the differences for current established conservation areas (CAs), prioritized areas (PRAs; those selected to complement the CAs), and total areas (TAs: CAs + PRAs). The assessment included the entire Neotropics, and a regionalization approach using the Global 200 Ecoregions by country. Finally, we identified critical areas for conservation based on the coincidence of irreplaceable PRAs among biodiversity attributes. Our results confirm the premise that no single surrogate represents biodiversity comprehensively, providing quantitative evidence to support the importance of using integrative information of surrogates for different levels of biodiversity into identifying priority areas for conservation. The spatial mismatch in the portfolios of areas shows how the use of a single level of biodiversity would lead to the omission of conservation priorities for other levels. We also identified critical areas for conservation where irreplaceable spatial priorities of the different biodiversity attributes matched. These areas coincided with known critical and threatened global biodiversity hotspots, and are mostly located in the Chaco, the Atlantic Forest, the Pantanal, Cerrado, and Caatinga regions, and the moist and dry forests of the northern Andes and Mesoamerica.

Priority areas for vulture conservation in the Horn of Africa largely fall outside the protected area network

SummaryVulture populations are in severe decline across Africa and prioritization of geographic areas for their conservation is urgently needed. To do so, we compiled three independent datasets on vulture occurrence from road-surveys, GPS-tracking, and citizen science (eBird), and used maximum entropy to build ensemble species distribution models (SDMs). We then identified spatial vulture conservation priorities in Ethiopia, a stronghold for vultures in Africa, while accounting for uncertainty in our predictions. We were able to build robust distribution models for five vulture species across the entirety of Ethiopia, including three Critically Endangered, one Endangered, and one Near Threatened species. We show that priorities occur in the highlands of Ethiopia, which provide particularly important habitat for BeardedGypaetus barbatus, HoodedNecrosyrtes monachus, Rüppell’sGyps rüppelliand White-backedGyps africanusVultures, as well as the lowlands of north-eastern Ethiopia, which are particularly valuable for the Egyptian VultureNeophron percnopterus. One-third of the core distribution of the Egyptian Vulture was protected, followed by the White-backed Vulture at one-sixth, and all other species at one-tenth. Overall, only about one-fifth of vulture priority areas were protected. Given that there is limited protection of priority areas and that vultures range widely, we argue that measures of broad spatial and legislative scope will be necessary to address drivers of vulture declines, including poisoning, energy infrastructure, and climate change, while considering the local social context and aiding sustainable development.

MAES_GR: A Web-Based, Spatially Enabled Field Survey Platform for the MAES Implementation in Greece

This study presents a standardized approach to collecting, registering, and reporting field-survey data for baseline MAES (Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystems and their Services) information in Greece. This is accomplished through a web-based platform (MAES_GR) exclusively developed under the relevant, nation-wide LIFE-IP 4 NATURA project. Based on the European Commission’s guidance for ecosystem condition (EC) and ecosystem services (ES) MAES studies, we conceptualized and structured an online platform to support EC and ES assessments, integrating all relevant fields of information needed for registering EC and ES parameters. A novel algorithm calculating EC was also developed and it is available as an integral part of the platform. The use of the MAES_GR platform was evaluated during nationwide field surveys efforts, increasing time efficiency and reducing costs. Field recording of EC and ES pinpoint spatial priorities for ecosystem restoration, conservation and sustainable development. This work highlights that MAES implementation can be favored by the use of technology tools such as mobile survey platforms, developed according to scientific needs and policy guidelines. Such tools, apart from the data inventory phase, can be used for data analysis, synthesis and extraction, providing timely, standardized information suitable for reporting at the local, regional, national and European Union scale.

Long-distance movements and associated diving behaviour of ringed seals (Pusa hispida) in the eastern Canadian Arctic

Animal distribution and movement facilitate energy and nutrient transfer within and between regions, thus influencing ecosystem structure and function. Ringed seals (Pusa hispida (Schreber, 1775)) have been observed making sustained, extensive migrations (>1000 km) in the western Canadian Arctic, but observations of their movements from the eastern Canadian Arctic are limited. We equipped 12 ringed seals with satellite telemetry tags in Resolute Bay (n = 7; 2012, 2013) and Tremblay Sound (n = 5; 2017, 2018), Nunavut, to monitor their movements, behavioural states, and diving behaviour from late summer until their spring moult. Six tags transmitted into winter and recorded long-distance movements to southeastern Baffin Island, with three seals travelling through central Baffin Bay (3608 ± 315 km; maximum 4226 km), whereas three travelled along the Baffin Island coastline (3674 ± 655 km; maximum 4872 km). Seals that travelled through central Baffin Bay made shallower dives (25.4 ± 1.1 m) than those that travelled near the coast (100.0 ± 4.1 m). Results provide new information on the variability, scales, and pathways of movement and diving behaviour of eastern Canadian Arctic ringed seals. This new knowledge can be used to inform spatial conservation and management priorities of this ecologically and culturally important species.

A survey of cetaceans in New Britain, Papua New Guinea

A recent assessment of spatial conservation priorities in mega-diverse Papua New Guinea noted a lack of marine data. We surveyed cetaceans in inshore and pelagic waters along the south coast of New Britain island. The total number of cetaceans encountered was 397, attributed to at least 6 species, with spinner dolphins and pantropical spotted dolphins both the most frequently sighted and abundant species. Although diversity and abundance were lower than expected, we hope that by contributing to a national cetacean sightings database this survey will support a growing understanding of marine mammal diversity and distribution within the region.

Identifying spatial conservation priorities using Traditional and Local Ecological Knowledge of iconic marine species and ecosystem threats

Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) can be an effective spatial approach to conservation, especially when they involve genuine consultation that considers the diversity of stakeholders. Participatory mapping and semi-structured interviews were conducted with 52 stakeholders and 22 managers and scientists to identify ecological priorities and concerns across a large temperate MPA in Port Stephens-Great Lakes Marine Park, Australia. There were 19 iconic species of fish, dolphins, whales, and sea turtles that were the focus of ecological priorities and stakeholder interactions with the marine environment. Effectiveness of the current MPA management plan for addressing stakeholder priority and concerns, was assessed using GIS spatial modelling that created fuzzy-set species distribution models (SDMs) based on Traditional and Local Ecological Knowledge as well as scientific and citizen-science survey data. These spatial models for the iconic species across the MPA were then overlaid with ecological concerns of the stakeholders to create a spatial understanding of local threats, and priority areas for targeted management. Poor water quality from terrestrial primary sources was the main concern of stakeholders, more so than in-water threats such as poor fishing practices or impacts to iconic species. While local managers and scientists were relatively reluctant to answer interview questions, there was a general misalignment in approaches to iconic species management, especially for mobile and migratory species, and misunderstanding of stakeholder perceptions of threats. Participatory mapping of social-ecological values provides a method for stakeholders and decision-makers to better understand, discuss, and adapt marine spatial management approaches that support a diversity of conservation and management priorities.

Aligning marine spatial conservation priorities with functional connectivity across maritime jurisdictions

AbstractGlobally, maritime boundaries on oceans form the basis of governance and management of natural resources, yet the fish, and other marine resources neither conform nor confine to these artificial boundaries. As goods and services from marine life continue to retrogress under the intense human exploitation and changing global environment, resilience could be supported through establishment of a functionally connected network of marine reserves across maritime jurisdictions. While the establishment of protected areas within the exclusive economic zones (EEZ) is expanding, mechanisms that would allow governments to conserve marine areas beyond national jurisdictions are currently inadequate. Consequently, implementing marine reserves is largely confined within territorial waters, high connectivity among contiguous maritime zones notwithstanding. As the global focus shifts toward achieving sustainable development goals for the oceans, there is a need for region‐specific approaches to area‐based biodiversity conservation that extends the scope of protection to areas in the high seas beyond the EEZ. Using simulations of functional connectivity and seafloor geomorphology, we present and apply in the Western Indian Ocean (WIO) region a contextual approach to regional marine conservation planning to inform a more effective regional marine conservation across maritime zones.

Collaborative conservation planning: Quantifying the contribution of expert engagement to identify spatial conservation priorities

AbstractThe importance of expert input to spatial conservation prioritization outcomes is poorly understood. We quantified the impacts of refinements made during consultation with experts on spatial conservation prioritization of Christmas Island. There was just 0.57 correlation between the spatial conservation priorities before and after consultation, bottom ranked areas being most sensitive to changes. The inclusion of a landscape condition layer was the most significant individual influence. Changes (addition, removal, modification) to biodiversity layers resulted in a combined 0.2 reduction in correlation between initial and final solutions. Representation of rare species in top ranked areas was much greater after expert consultation; representation of widely distributed species changed relatively little. Our results show how different inputs have notably different impacts on the final plan. Understanding these differences helps plan time and resources for expert consultation.

Mapping Biodiversity Patterns across Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia represents a global biodiversity hotspot, and yet compared to much of the rest of the world we have a relatively poor understanding of the patterns of biodiversity and endemism, or even basic distributions for many taxa. Global maps such as the IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature) species range maps often have major inaccuracies in the spatial mapping of species localities, which are particularly problematic around political administrative boundary regions, and make any form of spatial prioritization difficult or impossible. Here I show various approaches to mapping biodiversity across the landscape, including the mapping of both ecosystems with high levels of endemism, and databasing huge volumes of data as a basis for mapping out species distributions when combined with other forms of data, to map out diversity at numerous different taxonomic levels. I showcase the initial results of mapping for various taxa, and different ways of aggregating the data to better understand different facets of biodiversity. Additionally I discuss various approaches to developing spatial priorities for conservation across the region and the relative tradeoffs between each.

Integration of social spatial data to assess conservation opportunities and priorities

Effective wildlife conservation requires consideration of ecological and social factors, including social acceptability of conservation actions. Using the threatened koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) as a case study, we demonstrate a novel, socio-ecological approach for identifying conservation opportunity that spatially connects landscapes with community preferences to prioritize koala recovery strategies at a regional scale. We conceptualize conservation opportunity as the spatial integration of three sustainability criteria—ecological potential, social acceptability, and economic feasibility. The social acceptability criterion was assessed using a crowdsourced spatial survey that identified spatial preferences for koalas and land uses that impact koala conservation. As a novel approach, we addressed important research questions regarding the design, collection, and analysis of crowdsourced mapping data for identifying socially acceptable conservation opportunities. Public preferences for koalas were mapped closer to home, in higher suitable koala habitats than expected, were more pronounced in conservation and natural areas on public lands, and were mapped less frequently in modified agricultural landscapes. When the multiple criteria (ecological, social, and economic) were included in the conservation assessment, we found the social acceptability criterion exerted the greatest influence on spatial conservation priorities. The systematic assessment of social criteria for conservation using spatial surveys provides information that can be integrated with ecological information to prioritize conservation opportunities. Potential enhancements include expanding survey recruitment efforts and using alternative social data collection methods to achieve greater geographic and socio-demographic representation, and augmenting the economic feasibility assessment with private property values and transaction data from voluntary conservation agreements with private landowners.

Using individual-based movement information to identify spatial conservation priorities for mobile species.

The optimal design of reserve networks and fisheries closures depends on species occurrence information and knowledge of how anthropogenic impacts interact with the species concerned. However, challenges in surveying mobile and cryptic species over adequate spatial and temporal scales can mask the importance of particular habitats, leading to uncertainty about which areas to protect to optimize conservation efforts. We investigated how telemetry-derived locations can help guide the scale and timing of fisheries closures with the aim of reducing threatened species bycatch. Forty juvenile speartooth sharks (Glyphis glyphis) were monitored over 22 months with implanted acoustic transmitters and an array of hydrophone receivers. Using the decision-support tool Marxan, we formulated a permanent fisheries closure that prioritized areas used more frequently by tagged sharks and considered areas perceived as having high value to fisheries. To explore how the size of the permanent closure compared with an alternative set of time-area closures (i.e., where different areas were closed to fishing at different times of year), we used a cluster analysis to group months that had similar arrangements of selected planning units (informed by shark movements during that month) into 2 time-area closures. Sharks were consistent in their timing and direction of migratory movements, but the number of tagged sharks made a big difference in the placement of the permanent closure; 30 individuals were needed to capture behavioral heterogeneity. The dry-season (May-January) and wet-season (February-April) time-area closures opened 20% and 25% more planning units to fishing, respectively, compared with the permanent closure with boundaries fixed in space and time. Our results show that telemetry has the potential to inform and improve spatial management of mobile species and that the temporal component of tracking data can be incorporated into prioritizations to reduce possible impacts of spatial closures on established fisheries.

Human activity and climate change as determinants of spatial prioritization for the conservation of globally threatened birds in the southern Neotropic (Santa Fe, Argentina)

Conservation area networks (CAN) must overlap spatial patterns of conservation priorities in order to ensure their persistence. Threatened species are among the least controversial biodiversity features taken into account to guide conservation policies. Due to growing human pressure and climate change worldwide, chances of planning an effective CAN may be reduced. Santa Fe province is located in the center-east of Argentina and encompasses four bioregions highly threatened of the subtropical temperate South America. Intensive agriculture, livestock and hunting have led to the loss and degradation of its natural habitats and the current CAN fails on the coverage of bioregions. Our aim was to find out areas that enhance the persistence of threatened bird species in the Santa Fe province. We defined spatial conservation priorities that overlap environmentally suitable areas of species over time and overcome the likely impacts of human activity. Conservation priorities (top 20%) belonged mainly to Dry Chaco and Atlantic bioregions and will remain the same in the province. The current CAN mismatches spatial patterns of environmental suitability of threatened species. Sporophila hypochroma, Asthenes hudsoni and Spartonoica maluroides may lose more than half of their current environmentally suitable area in the future. Human activity will lead to a CAN which will require a great number of patches and a large perimeter. Searching for the most environmentally suitable areas of species over time while minimizing conflicts with human activities is a useful conservation strategy regardless the biogeographical context considered.