Do we protect biological originality in protected areas? A new index and an application to the Bonifacio Strait Natural Reserve

Changes in biodiversity may disrupt the ecological functions performed by species assemblages. Hence, we urgently need to examine the implications of biodiversity loss not only in terms of species conservation but also in terms of sustainability of ecosystem services. The ability of protected areas to maintain local species richness has been clearly demonstrated. However, preserving goods and services provided by ecosystems requires not only the conservation of species richness but also the conservation of the most ‘original’ species, i.e. the ones with the highest average rarity of their attributes which are likely to perform some unique functions in ecosystems. We proposed a new conservation of biological originality (CBO) index as well as associated randomization tests to quantify the ability of protected areas to maintain viable populations for the most original species. As an application, we used long-term fisheries data collected in the Bonifacio Strait Natural Reserve (BSNR) to determine the species which benefited from the protection reinforcement in 1999. We also estimated a set of 14 ecomorphological functional traits on the 37 fish species caught in the BSNR and we obtained a functional originality value for each species. As a result, we found that functional originality was significantly protected in the fish assemblage of the BSNR: species with the most original functional trait combinations became more abundant after 1999. Our finding suggests that protecting most original species is an insurance against functional diversity erosion in the BSNR. More generally, our new index can be used to test whether protected areas may protect preferentially the most original species and whether restorative management promotes the reestablishment of the most original species with particular habitat requirements.     

Prioritisation of conservation areas in the Western Ghats, India

Areas of high conservation value were identified in the Western Ghats using a systematic conservation planning approach. Surrogates were chosen and assessed for effectiveness on the basis of spatial congruence using Pearson’s correlations and Mantel’s tests. The surrogates were, threatened and endemic plant and vertebrate species, unfragmented forest areas, dry forests, sub-regionally rare vegetation types, and a remotely sensed surrogate for unique evergreen ecosystems. At the scale of this analysis, amphibian richness was most highly correlated with overall threatened and endemic species richness, whereas mammals, especially wide-ranging species, were better at capturing overall animal and habitat diversity. There was a significant relationship between a remote sensing based habitat surrogate and endemic tree diversity and composition. None of the taxa or habitats served as a complete surrogate for the others. Sites were prioritised on the basis of their irreplaceability value using all five surrogates. Two alternative reserve networks are presented, one with minimal representation of surrogates, and the second with 3 occurrences of each species and 25% of each habitat type. These networks cover 8% and 29% of the region respectively. Seventy percent of the completely irreplaceable sites are outside the current protected area network. While the existing protected area network meets the minimal representation target for 88% of the species chosen in this study and all of the habitat surrogates, it is not representative with regard to amphibians, endemic tree species and small mammals. Much of the prioritised unprotected area is under reserve forests and can thus be incorporated into a wider network of conservation areas.     

Lizards and landscapes: integrating field surveys and interviews to assess the impact of human disturbance on lizard assemblages and selected reptiles in a savanna in South Africa

Habitat degradation through over-grazing and wood collection is especially prevalent in developing countries such as South Africa. As human populations expand and the demand for land increases, the traditional idiom of setting aside protected areas for conservation is insufficient and assessment and protection of diversity outside these areas is needed. We assessed the impact of land use on lizard assemblages in communal rangelands in South Africa by comparing abundance, species richness and species diversity between degraded communal lands with a protected area. We first quantified vegetation differences between the study areas and found marked differences. Communal lands had significantly fewer large trees and less ground cover. Contrary to prediction, we found no evidence that any species of lizard was negatively affected by habitat disturbance. Some species were more common in communal lands, and species richness and diversity were also higher using certain sampling techniques. Terrestrial diversity was likely enhanced due to the preference of many terrestrial lizards for open, sparsely grassed areas. We discuss other reasons for increased diversity such as the intermediate disturbance hypothesis and/or reduced numbers of predators and competitors. We also conducted surveys of households and traditional healers to investigate the relationship between human uses of reptiles and abundance. The predominant users of reptiles were traditional healers. The most commonly used species were not encountered in our field surveys, and respondents indicated that they appeared to be declining. Our results emphasise the importance of integrating local knowledge into biodiversity assessment and conservation planning. Although we did not identify a negative impact of disturbance on lizard communities, community structure was different and this likely influenced ecosystem integrity and function in some way.     

Land use and habitat gradients determine bird community diversity and abundance in suburban, rural and reserve landscapes of Minnesota, USA

Bird species’ community responses to land use in the suburbanizing Twin Cities, Minnesota, USA, were contrasted among reserves, rural lands, and suburbs. For each land use type, bird composition, diversity, and abundance were recorded for 2 years in ≈99 plots in three sampling units (each ≈4500 ha). A habitat gradient defined by canopy structure (grasslands to savannas to forests) was influenced by land use, so ≈300 plots were used to characterize simultaneous variation in bird communities along land use and habitat gradients. At broad scales (aggregate of 33 plots covering ≈4500 ha) suburbs supported the lowest bird richness and diversity and rural landscapes the most, with reserves slightly below rural. Although reserves were like rural lands in diversity of bird communities, they supported more species of conservation concern, particularly of grasslands and savannas. Differences among land use types varied with habitat structure. Suburbs, rural lands, and reserves had similar forest bird communities, but differed in grassland and savanna bird communities. The extensive rural forests are important for the region’s forest birds. Suburban grasslands and savannas had low shrub abundance, low native bird richness and high non-native bird richness and abundance. However, total bird richness and diversity were as high in suburban as in rural and reserve plots because high native richness in suburban forests and high non-native species richness in suburban grasslands and savannas compensated for lower native richness in suburban grasslands and savannas. Bird conservation here and in the Midwest USA should protect rural forests, expand grasslands and savannas in reserves, and improve habitat quality overall.     

The influence of plant diversity on people’s perception and aesthetic appreciation of grassland vegetation

The conservation of biodiversity critically depends on the value that humans attach to it. Apart from an ecological and economic value, an aesthetic value has often been assigned to biodiversity. However, it is not known whether lay people appreciate the diversity of species and not just certain individual species or nature as a whole. We studied in a series of experiments and field studies people’s perception and appreciation of species diversity. We presented meadow-like arrays of different species richness and evenness but random species composition to lay people and asked them to estimate plant species richness and rank the arrays by attractiveness. The experiments were complemented by two larger-scale field studies using natural meadows. Both in the experiments and the field studies the mean perception of species richness by people increased with true species richness, but was slightly overestimated at low and increasingly underestimated at high diversity levels. Lay people’s aesthetic appreciation of both the experimental grassland arrays and the natural meadows increased with true species richness. Communities consisting of the same number of species were perceived to be more species-rich and were appreciated more when their evenness was high. Our results demonstrate that plant diversity in itself is attractive to humans. The current reduction of the diversity of grasslands due to intensification of management may thus reduce the attractiveness of regions where grasslands are a dominant feature of the landscape. This could have negative consequences for tourism and may add an economic argument for the conservation of biodiversity in grasslands.     

Multiple diversity measures to identify complementary conservation areas for the Baja California peninsular cacti

The Baja California Peninsula is home to 85 species of cacti, of which 54 are endemic, highlighting its importance as a cactus diverse region within Mexico. Many species are under threat due to collection pressure and habitat loss, but ensuring maximal protection of cacti species requires a better understanding of diversity patterns. We assessed species richness, endemism, and phylogenetic and morphological diversity using herbarium records and a molecular phylogeny for 82 species of cacti found in the peninsula. The four diversity measures were estimated for the existing nature reserve network and for 314 hexagrids of 726 km². Using the hexagrid data, we surveyed our results for areas that best complement the current protected cacti diversity in the Baja California Peninsula. Currently, the natural reserve network in Baja shelters an important amount of the cacti diversity (74% of the species, 85.9% of the phylogenetic diversity, 76% of endemics and all the growth forms). While species richness produced several solutions to complement the diversity protected, by identifying priority species (endemic species with high contribution to overall PD) one best solution is reported. Three areas (San Matías, Magdalena and Margarita Islands and El Triunfo), selected using species richness, PD and endemism, best complement the diversity currently protected, increasing species richness to 89%, PD to 94% and endemism to 89%, and should be considered in future conservation plans. Two of these areas could be included within nature reserves already established.     

Evaluating the effectiveness of Protected Areas for conserving tropical forest butterflies of Thailand

In many cases, the designation of Protected Areas (PAs) is not based on biological information, particularly in tropical regions where such information is generally lacking. Thus it is unclear whether tropical PAs are well-placed for conserving biodiversity currently, or under future climate change. We used reserve-design software (‘Zonation’) to investigate current and future conservation value of PAs of Thailand (N = 187 PAs, covering ∼20% of Thailand) in relation to forest-cover and butterfly diversity. Currently, PAs are about 2 °C cooler than non-PAs because PAs tend to occur at higher elevation (66% of land above 1000 m is protected compared with only 6% below 250 m). Temperature is predicted to increase in Thailand in future, but PAs are predicted to remain ∼2 °C cooler than non-PAs in future. We obtained modelled distribution data for 161 butterfly species (∼12% of national butterfly fauna), and used Zonation to rank areas (∼1 km² grid resolution) based on species richness, complementarity, and forest cover. The conservation value of PAs was approximately twice that of non-PA areas, although many highly-ranked areas are not currently protected. The species richness of PAs was projected to decline by ∼30% in future, but the relative conservation rankings of individual PAs were projected to change very little. The preponderance of PAs in montane regions makes them well-placed to support forest species shifting from areas at lower elevation that become climatically unsuitable in future. By contrast, the conservation value of low-elevation PAs may decline in future if climate conditions become unsuitable for species.     

Woody species diversity in temperate Andean forests: The need for new conservation strategies

Chile has more than half of the temperate forests in the southern hemisphere. These have been included among the most threatened eco-regions in the world, because of the high degree of endemism and presence of monotypic genera. In this study, we develop empirical models to investigate present and future spatial patterns of woody species richness in temperate forests in south-central Chile. Our aims are both to increase understanding of species richness patterns in such forests and to develop recommendations for forest conservation strategies. Our data were obtained at multiple spatial scales, including field sampling, climate, elevation and topography data, and land-cover and spectrally derived variables from satellite sensor imagery. Climatic and land-cover variables most effectively accounted for tree species richness variability, while only weak relationships were found between explanatory variables and shrub species richness. The best models were used to obtain prediction maps of tree species richness for 2050, using data from the Hadley Centre’s HadCM3 model. Current protected areas are located far from the areas of highest tree conservation value and our models suggest this trend will continue. We therefore suggest that current conservation strategies are insufficient, a trend likely to be repeated across many other areas. We propose the current network of protected areas should be increased, prioritizing sites of both current and future importance to increase the effectiveness of the national protected areas system. In this way, target sites for conservation can also be chosen to bring other benefits, such as improved water supply to populated areas.     

Local illegal trade reveals unknown diversity and involves a high species richness of wild vascular epiphytes

Traffic of plants and animals of wild origin is a major threat to biological diversity creating a need for legal protection of traded species. Epiphytic vascular plants are a diverse guild which provides the horticultural market with many species. Many epiphytes are under protection intended to stop illegal trade at international and local levels. To measure the richness and volume of the epiphytes that are traded illegally on a local level, we monitored an illegal sale point in Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico for 85 weeks. We recorded 27 traders, 207 species and 7598 plants. Nineteen species were known for Mexico but not native to Veracruz; two others had been collected in Veracruz but had never been reported before for Mexico. About 25% of epiphyte richness in Veracruz and 47% of the State’s epiphytic orchids are traded illegally. Most of the species traded could have been harvested in lower montane cloud forest (105 species), however all vegetation types of central Veracruz are potential epiphyte sources. Twenty-seven species protected by Mexican law were traded, along with 41 species endemic to Mexico and six endemic to Veracruz. We concluded that on a local level, the richness and volume of epiphytes illegally traded are high; in fact, the volume of orchids traded equals the annual average volume of legal Mexican orchid exports. Illegal epiphyte trade occurs worldwide, making necessary crucial increases of protective measures and the development of sustainable ways of harvesting epiphytes.     

Local and landscape factors determine functional bird diversity in Indonesian cacao agroforestry

Large-scale intensification of smallholder cacao management is currently affecting the agroforestry landscapes of Sulawesi (Indonesia), the world’s third largest cacao producer. Little is known about how this shift from diverse plantations to full-sun cacao will affect functionally important biodiversity within the agroecosystem, and how this is related to landscape-wide patterns in land-use and natural ecosystems. We recorded birds in 43 cacao plots differing in woody and herbaceous vegetation as well as distance to forest in two valleys around the Lore Lindu National Park in Central Sulawesi. Species richness of frugivores and nectarivores decreased with increasing distance to forest, whereas granivorous birds increased in richness. Forest specialists, but not habitat generalists, responded positively to forest edge proximity. Species richness of all functional groups except seed eaters increased at higher density of tall shade trees. Greater species richness of shade trees was associated with higher species richness of frugivores and nectarivores, while herbaceous vegetation did not have a strong impact on the avifauna. The positive effect of shade trees was independent of distance to forest. In conclusion, our study shows the relative importance of local and landscape effects on bird diversity with shade trees being critical for bird conservation in cacao agroforestry landscapes.     

Just passing through: Global change and the conservation of biodiversity in protected areas

Climate and land-use changes are expected to cause many species to shift into or beyond the boundaries of protected areas, leading to large turnover in species composition. Here, we tested whether long-established protected areas in Canada were more robust to such climate change impacts than areas with no formal protection by measuring changes in modeled butterfly species distributions (n = 139) within them. We used a recently established distribution modeling technique, Maxent, to model butterfly species’ distributions in two epochs (1900-1930 and 1960-1990). We compared rates of butterfly species richness and composition change within protected areas against distributions of randomly selected, ecologically similar, but non-protected, areas. Change in species richness and composition within protected areas were, for the most part, the same as changes observed among random areas outside protected area boundaries. These results suggest that existing protected area networks in Canada have provided little buffer against the impacts of climate change on butterfly species richness, possibly because land-use change surrounding long-standing protected areas has not been substantial enough to elevate the habitat protection afforded by these protected areas relative to other areas. Although protected areas are unarguably beneficial in conserving biological diversity, their capacity to maintain habitat appears insufficient to prevent broader-scale climate changes from sweeping species beyond their boundaries.     

Identifying areas of high-value vertebrate diversity for strengthening conservation

Identifying areas with relevant features of biodiversity is useful to rank priorities for strengthening the design of well-sited natural protected areas and to optimize resource investment in conservation. This study provides decision makers critical tools for highlighting pieces of land worthy of conservation in Spain. We studied four taxa—amphibians, reptiles, nesting birds and mammals—in a 50 × 50 km grid (n=259 cells). We used five criteria for identifying areas of high-value diversity: species richness, rarity, vulnerability, a combined index of biodiversity, and a Standardized Biodiversity Index that measured all four taxa together. As far as we know, the combined index of biodiversity and the Standardized Biodiversity Index are original. Areas of high-value diversity were defined as those cells within the 15% top segment of ranked values for the different criteria. Congruence of areas of high-value diversity for taxa pairs was moderate to low, and averaged 38.5% for areas of high-value diversity based on the combined index of biodiversity. The performance based on the average proportion of threatened species excluded from areas of high-value diversity followed the rank combined index of biodiversity=rarity (0.3%) > vulnerability (9.9%) > species richness (13.8%). The areas of high-value diversity identified according to the Standardized Biodiversity Index included all amphibian and mammal species, all but one reptile species (categorized as rare) and all but six bird species (three of which were categorized as threatened). About 70% of the areas of high-value diversity identified based on the Standardized Biodiversity Index included natural protected areas. However, they average only 274.6 km², thus occupying a small fraction of the areas of high-value diversity, and there is no guarantee that the species found in an area of high-value diversity site will be present in its protected fraction. Consequently, we urge managers of natural protected areas to conduct diversity surveys. We also urge that additional natural protected areas be established to include the gap of 30% of areas of high-value diversity not currently protected. We took an step for biodiversity conservation planning in the studied region, and discuss the usefulness of maps of areas of high-value diversity for conservation, ecological restoration, and environmental impact assessment and mitigation.     

Incorporating connectivity into conservation planning: A multi-criteria case study from central Mexico

The interdigitation of the Nearartic and Neotropical biogeographic zones in the Transvolcanic Belt (TVB) of central Mexico provides the region with high faunal richness and endemicity. Biodiversity conservation in the TVB must accommodate the region’s human population of more than 40 million. The current study presents conservation plans for the TVB intended to protect 99 non-volant mammal species while minimizing the impact on the human population. A rarity-complementarity algorithm was used to select a conservation area network (CAN) from sites with untransformed vegetation to represent 10% of each species’ habitat. In addition, a new method was developed for augmenting the connectivity of CANs using graph theory. External sites were assigned quality scores based on the frequency with which they were selected at different targets of representation for species. Graph algorithms identified the highest-quality sites needed to link all conservation areas in an economical manner. These connectivity areas can facilitate migration or egress of biota in the event of local environmental stress. The network initialized with existing protected areas occupied 9.13% of the TVB, whereas the network built from scratch occupied 6.02%. In both cases, an additional area of only about 1.5% of the region was required to link all conservation areas in the network. Finally, a multiple criterion synchronization technique was used to select those connected networks which minimized both total area and human population impact.     

Changes in the flora of Thoreau’s Concord

To determine the effectiveness of conservation efforts, scientists and land managers must evaluate the ability of conservation areas to protect biological diversity. The historic town of Concord, Massachusetts, home of the philosopher and naturalist Henry David Thoreau, provides a unique opportunity to examine how well conservation areas preserve biodiversity in a suburban landscape. About 35% of total land area in the town has been protected, and botanists, including Thoreau, have surveyed plants in Concord five times over the last 170 years. We spent 5 years (2003-2007) re-surveying a subset of Concord’s flora for species presence and abundance. Of the species seen by Thoreau in the mid-19th century in Concord, we could not locate 27%, and an additional 36% persist in one or two populations where they are vulnerable to local extinction. Most species losses appear to have occurred in the past three to four decades. Certain groups, such as orchids, have shown particularly severe losses. More native species are declining in abundance than are increasing. Non-native species represent an increasing percentage of the flora, with many increasing in abundance. The flora has experienced a net loss of species over the past four decades, with 82 species gained and 236 species missing. Because many species are rare on a local scale, persisting as one or two small populations, local extinctions will likely continue in coming decades. Habitat management, primarily to prevent tree establishment, appears to have allowed many rare species of open habitats to persist and recover. Active management of existing sites will likely be the key to protecting the species diversity of the Concord flora and maintaining the living connection to the writings of Thoreau.     

Biodiversity conservation and livelihoods in human-dominated landscapes: Forest commons in South Asia

Strict protected areas are a critical component in global biodiversity conservation, but the future of biodiversity conservation may well depend upon the ability to experiment successfully with a range of institutional forms, including those that permit human use. Here, we focus on forest commons in human-dominated landscapes and their role in biodiversity conservation at the same time as they provide livelihood benefits to users. Using a dataset of 59 forest commons located in Bhutan, India, and Nepal, we estimated tree species richness from plot vegetation data collected in each forest, and drew on interview data to calculate a livelihoods index indicating the overall contribution of each forest to villager livelihoods for firewood, fodder, and timber. We found that tree species richness and livelihoods were positively and significantly correlated (rho = .41, p < 0.001, N = 59). This relationship held regardless of forest type or country, though significance varied somewhat across these two factors. Further, both benefits were similarly associated with several drivers of social-ecological change (e.g., occupational diversity of forest users, total number of users, and forest size), suggesting identification of potential synergies and complexes of causal mechanisms for future attention. Our analysis shows that forest commons in South Asia, explicitly managed to provide livelihoods for local populations, also provide biodiversity benefits. More broadly, our findings suggest that although strict protected areas are effective tools for biodiversity conservation, a singular focus on them risks ignoring other resource governance approaches that can fruitfully complement existing conservation regimes.     

Partnering with local communities to identify conservation priorities for endangered Grevy’s zebra

Setting wildlife conservation priorities and determining how to meet them is challenging, particularly when policy decisions made at large scales need to be informed by a diversity of local conditions. The persistence of species that range widely demands that they coexist with people both within and outside formally protected areas. It is often politically and financially infeasible for one central body, such as a government wildlife agency, to monitor an entire population. Therefore, conservation planners are increasingly turning to local knowledge to inform conservation decisions. Here, we show the scientific and conservation benefits of recruiting and training local community members to collect data on an endangered species, the Grevy’s zebra (Equus grevyi). We recruited 18 scouts from six community-held ranches in Samburu District, Kenya. The scouts record the location, group structure and habitat of all Grevy’s zebra herds seen in walking surveys. Kernel analyses of scout herd observations indicate areas heavily used by Grevy’s zebra, and the subset of these areas favored by females with young foals. The important areas identified by the scouts closely match those inferred from analyses of GPS radiocollar data. Further, scout data reveals extensive spatial and temporal overlap between livestock and Grevy’s zebra. This overlap suggests the potential for competition between Grevy’s zebra and domestic animals. We argue that scout programs such as ours can generate valuable insights for conservation planning. In addition, such programs have the potential to improve local attitudes toward wildlife conservation.     

Plant species richness and composition in managed grasslands: The relative importance of field management and environmental factors

Decline of grassland diversity throughout Europe within the last decades is threatening biological diversity and is a major conservation problem. There is an urgent need to determine the underlying factors that control vascular plant species richness and composition in managed grasslands. In this study, 117 grasslands were sampled using standardised methods. Explanatory variables were recorded for each grassland site, reflecting the local field management, site-specific environmental conditions and large-scale spatial trends. Using variation partitioning methods, we determined the pure and shared effects of these three sets of explanatory variables on the plant species richness and composition in grasslands. Most of the explained variation in plant species richness was related to the joint effect of local field management and environmental variables. However, the applied variation partitioning approach revealed that the pure effect of spatial variables contributed relatively little to explaining variation in both the plant species richness and species composition. The largest fractions of explained variation in plant species composition were accounted for by the pure effects of environmental and local field management variables. Moreover, the results revealed that the main mechanisms by which these sets of explanatory variables affect plant species vary according to the type of management regime under study. From our findings we could conclude that particularly a reduction of nitrogen fertilisation on meadows and grazing at a low stocking rate on pastures can help to conserve biodiversity.     

Grouping and prioritization of vascular plant species for conservation: combining natural rarity and management need

National and International Red Lists and Legal Acts specify species with conservation needs, mainly on the basis of personal experiences. For effective conservation we need scientifically justified prioritization and grouping of these species. We propose a new combined approach where species are grouped according to the similar activities needed for their conservation. We used the national list of vascular plant species with conservation need for Estonia (301 species), and linked these species to eight qualitative conservation characteristics, four reflecting natural causes of rarity (restricted global distribution; restricted local distribution within a country; always small populations; very rare habitat type), and four connected with nature management (species needing the management of semi-natural grasslands; species needing local disturbances like forest fires; species needing traditional extensive agriculture; species which may be threatened by collecting). Only one positive association occurred among the characteristics - between restricted local distribution and small size of populations. Thus, natural causes of rarity and management aspects are not overlapping, and both should be used in conservation activities. Species grouping by different conservation characteristics allows one to focus on species groups with similar conservation needs instead of individual species. Prioritization of species with conservation needs can be based on the number of conservation characteristics that are associated with a particular species. Our prioritization did not correlate with the categories of the national Red Data Book, but a positive association was found with legal protection categories. The legislation, however, covers only the natural causes of rarity. We propose a new combined approach for plant species’ conservation planning that starts by considering human induced rarity and progresses through to natural rarity causes.     

Efficiency and effectiveness in representative reserve design in Canada: The contribution of existing protected areas

To be effective, reserve networks should represent all target species in protected areas that are large enough to ensure species persistence. Given limited resources to set aside protected areas for biodiversity conservation, and competing land uses, a prime consideration for the design of reserve networks is efficiency (the maximum biodiversity represented in a minimum number of sites). However, to be effective, networks may sacrifice efficiency. We used reserve selection algorithms to determine whether collections of existing individual protected areas in Canada were efficient and/or effective in terms of representing the diversity of disturbance-sensitive mammals in Canada in comparison to (1) an optimal network of reserves, and (2) sites selected at random. Unlike previous studies, we restricted our analysis to individual protected areas that met a criterion for minimum reserve size, to address issues of representation and persistence simultaneously. We also tested for effectiveness and efficiency using historical and present-day data to see whether protected area efficiency and/or effectiveness varied over time. In general, existing protected areas did not effectively capture the full suite of mammalian species diversity, nor are most existing protected areas part of a near-optimal solution set. To be effective, Canada’s network of reserves will require at minimum 22 additional areas of >2700 km². This study shows that even when only those reserves large enough to be effective are considered, protected areas systems may not be representative, nor were they representative at the time of establishment.