Using presence-absence data to establish reserve selection procedures that are robust to temporal species turnover

Previous studies suggest that a network of nature reserves with maximum efficiency (obtained by selecting the minimum area such that each species is represented once) is likely to be insufficient to maintain species in the network over time. Here, we test the performance of three selection strategies which require presence-absence data, two of them previously proposed (multiple representations and selecting an increasing percentage of each species' range) and a novel one based on selecting the site where each species has exhibited a higher permanence rate in the past. Multiple representations appear to be a safer strategy than selecting a percentage of range because the former gives priority to rarer species while the latter favours the most widespread. The most effective strategy was the one based on the permanence rate, indicating that the robustness of reserve networks can be improved by adopting reserve selection procedures that integrate information about the relative value of sites. This strategy was also very efficient, suggesting that the investment made in the monitoring schemes may be compensated for by a lower cost in reserve acquisition.     

Design of Nature Reserve System for Red-Crowned Crane in China

A system of nature reserves is a necessary component of an integrated conservation strategy. The basic problem in the design of a nature reserve system is to select the smallest number of sites from a region for some conservation objectives. There are 33 nature reserves intended for the conservation of Red-Crowned Crane (Grus japonensis), totalling 3.1 million ha. Other habitats of Red-Crowned Crane are facing severe problems due to economic development and other human activities. GIS, iterative methods and the integer programming approach were employed to design the nature reserve system for Red-Crowned Crane, with conservation goals to protect 70 and 60% areas of highly and moderately suitable wetlands, respectively. The results indicated the need to designate six new nature reserves in Wulagai marsh, Duluhe River, Tumen River, Rizhao, Gaoyou Lake and Hongze Lake, and showed a protection zone in Songnen Plain (between Heilongjiang Province and Jilin Province) and three clusters of nature reserves in Sanjing Plain, which, will be used as reference for the designation of new nature reserves, or enlargement and adjustment of existing nature reserves. The iterative method and integer programming approaches were feasible for design of nature reserve system.     

Amazonian biodiversity and protected areas: do they meet?

Protected areas are crucial for Amazonian nature conservation. Many Amazonian reserves have been selected systematically to achieve biodiversity representativeness. We review the role natural-scientific understanding has played in reserve selection, and evaluate the theoretical potential of the existing reserves to cover a complete sample of the species diversity of the Amazonian rainforest biome. In total, 108 reserves (604,832 km²) are treated as strictly protected and Amazonian; 87 of these can be seen as systematically selected to sample species diversity (75.3% of total area). Because direct knowledge on all species distributions is unavailable, surrogates have been used to select reserves: direct information on some species distributions (15 reserves, 14.8% of total area); species distribution patterns predicted on the basis of conceptual models, mainly the Pleistocene refuge hypothesis, (5/10.3%); environmental units (46/27.3%); or a combination of distribution patterns and environmental units (21/22.9%). None of these surrogates are reliable: direct information on species distributions is inadequate; the Pleistocene refuge hypothesis is highly controversial; and environmental classifications do not capture all relevant ecological variation, and their relevance for species distribution patterns is undocumented. Hence, Amazonian reserves cannot be safely assumed to capture all Amazonian species. To improve the situation, transparency and an active dialogue with the scientific community should be integral to conservation planning. We suggest that the best currently available approach for sampling Amazonian species diversity in reserve selection is to simultaneously inventory indicator plant species and climatic and geological conditions, and to combine field studies with remote sensing.     

自然保护区空间特征和地块最优化选择方法

自然保护区是保护物种和生态系统的有效方式,用于建立自然保护区的资源却是稀缺的,这就提出这样的问题：1)自然保护区在空间上应具有什么特征才是有效的;2)如何从许多备选地块中选择一部分组成自然保护区对稀缺资源进行最优化分配。为促进物种生存繁衍,在地块选择时应考虑保护区空间特征。这篇文章综述了该领域最近的研究进展,重点介绍了结合各种空间特征的保护区地块最优化选择模型。介绍了4个主要的空间特征：1)连续,2)间隔和距离,3)边界和集约,4)面积以及核心区和缓冲区。以前用启发式算法求解这些问题,但研究已显示该法不能保证资源的最优化分配。空间特征也可用线性整数规划模拟,用最优化软件求得最优解。目前的线性整数规划模型和软件还不能有效解决大型的保护区地块选择问题,计算效率易成为实际应用的瓶颈。文章概括了我国目前自然保护区设计领域的研究状况和面临的问题,最后讨论了该领域新的研究方向。     

森林遗传资源保护研究进展

森林遗传资源的保护事关现代及后代的利益,已引起全球的极大关注,自70年代以来,就地保护与迁地保护作为主要的战略在森林遗传资源保护实践中使用。一般来说森林遗传资源的就地保护可以通过建立自然保护区来实现。迁地保护主要包括种子库、田间基因库、种子园及细胞或组织培养等技术。就地保护和迁地保护应当相互补充,两者结合使用是保存森林遗传多样性的有效方法。对森林遗传资源保护战略的选择以及因贸易而濒危的热带材用树及其保护问题也作了简要评述。     

Density‐dependent effects on reproductive performance in a recovering population of White‐tailed Eagles Haliaeetus albicilla

Understanding the mechanisms that shape density‐dependent processes and population dynamics is often essential for species conservation. Two key mechanisms of density‐dependent reductions in reproductive performance are a limited access to foraging habitats (the habitat heterogeneity hypothesis) and territorial aggression towards conspecifics (the interference competition hypothesis) at high population densities. Disentangling the relative importance of these mechanisms within populations below their carrying capacity is important for the evaluation of the success of conservation measures. However, relatively few studies have attempted to quantify the relative importance of both mechanisms for the reproductive performance of a population. Many raptor populations are ideal model systems to investigate density‐dependent effects because they are currently recovering from human‐induced reductions during the last decades. Using a 14‐year dataset, we combined analyses of individual reproductive performance with a mechanistic population model to investigate early signs of density‐dependent regulation in a population of White‐tailed Eagles Haliaeetus albicilla in north‐east Germany. We found a negative effect of the number of neighbouring breeding pairs and a positive effect of water surface area (as a proxy for the availability of favourable foraging habitat) on breeding success and on the average number of nestlings. The mean nearest neighbour distance between breeding pairs has decreased, and the mean distance of nests to the nearest water body has increased over the last 14 years. Moreover, the population model indicates that even though the population is still growing, carrying capacity could be reached at about 500–950 territorial pairs. These results suggest that the selection of nesting sites is determined by a trade‐off between the distance to favourable foraging habitat and the distance to neighbouring breeding pairs. To avoid increasing competition with conspecifics, due to continued population growth, breeding pairs seem to select increasingly suboptimal habitats. Therefore, our results suggest that the habitat heterogeneity and interference competition hypotheses are not necessarily mutually exclusive as mechanisms of density‐dependent population regulation, but can determine the reproductive performance of a raptor population simultaneously. Thus, a future decline in breeding success does not necessarily reflect a decrease in habitat quality but may rather be a consequence of density‐dependent mechanisms. This information may be useful for the interpretation of population trends and for the development of appropriate management strategies for recovering raptor populations.     

Complementarity and other key criteria in the conservation of herb-rich forests in Finland

Complementarity of the nature reserve network in southernmost Finlandwas examined using a simple heuristic algorithm and occurrence data of 75characteristic herb-rich forest vascular plant species in 126 protected and 120non-protected sites. Three different minimum sets were selected to represent 1,5, or 10 occurrences of each species. In each minimum set there weresignificantly more protected than non-protected sites. Thus, although efficiencyis not maximal in the existing reserve network, the network does provide arepresentative basis for the conservation of herb-rich forest plants. However,some deficiencies were also noticed, particularly new reserves in floristicallydiverse herb-rich forests along watercourses would supplement the existingreserve network. On the other hand, the growing concern over the shortcomings ofreserve selection studies using presence/absence data is echoed here, becausemany of the protected forests not included in the minimum sets harbour importantnature conservation values. With regard to the five biological reserve selectioncriteria (e.g. occurrences of threatened species) considered here, theperformance of the existing reserve network is rather good. However, examinationof five reserve design criteria revealed some deficiencies, particularlyvulnerability of many reserves to potential edge effects.     

Synergies between site protection and agri‐environment schemes for the conservation of waders on lowland wet grasslands

Two conservation strategies have been put in place in Europe to address precipitous population declines of wading birds that breed on lowland wet grasslands. These are site protection and agri‐environment schemes (AESs) and the two are rarely compared, or their synergy assessed. Increasingly, efforts to recover populations of previously widespread species follow a landscape‐scale approach whereby habitat improvement takes place at key sites through partially overlapping protected area management and AESs. To investigate whether site protection and AESs improve the conservation status of breeding waders and how these interact, we partially repeated a 2002 survey of breeding waders on protected areas (nature reserves and Sites of Special Scientific Interest) and sites with wader‐specific AES options in England in 2009 and 2010. We then assessed the individual and combined effects of these delivery mechanisms on field occupancy, breeding density and population change of four species of declining wader (Northern Lapwing Vanellus vanellus, Common Snipe Gallinago gallinago, Eurasian Curlew Arquata numenius and Common Redshank Tringa totanus). Although results for Curlew differed from the other species, in general field occupancy was positively influenced by conservation delivery mechanisms, with the highest occupancy and breeding densities on land where site protection was combined with wader‐specific AES options. Field occupancy varied between different types of AES, with higher occupancy associated with higher‐level options in fields, particularly those on nature reserves. Outside nature reserves, the history of AES management did not influence wader populations, but within nature reserves and on fields that gained AES management between 2002 and 2009–2010, populations of Curlew and Snipe were more likely to have persisted and population change in Snipe and Lapwing was more positive. We conclude that the conservation of breeding waders will be most effective when site protection and AES management are combined on the same land. Using limited AES money to support management for breeding waders on, around and between the existing network of protected sites will protect remaining populations while presenting opportunities for population expansion in future.     

Conservation of Afrotropical antelopes: consequences and efficiency of using different site selection methods and diversity criteria

The consequences of different measures of biotic diversity for the selection of priority sites for conservation were investigated using a dataset on Afrotropical antelopes. Site networks were selected using species richness, taxonomic diversity and restricted-range diversity as selection criteria. Restricted-range diversity was the most efficient criterion at representing all the species in the dataset. However when only a few sites could be conserved (insufficient to include all species) restricted-range diversity was relatively poor at representing absolute numbers of species and also taxonomic diversity. Use of unweighted species richness rather than a taxonomically weighted score did not significantly reduce the amount of taxonomic diversity represented. As expected an iterative selection of sites was considerably more efficient at representing all aspects of diversity than selection of the top-scoring sites. However the efficiency of an iterative selection procedure was reduced when some areas were already part of the reserve network. Since none of the criteria for selecting reserves maximizes all aspects of biodiversity under all circumstances, it is necessary to be clear about the objectives of a reserve network when deciding on a method for site selection.     

Optimizing resiliency of reserve networks to climate change: multispecies conservation planning in the Pacific Northwest,USA

The effectiveness of a system of reserves may be compromised under climate change as species' habitat shifts to nonreserved areas, a problem that may be compounded when well‐studied vertebrate species are used as conservation umbrellas for other taxa. The Northwest Forest Plan was among the first efforts to integrate conservation of wide‐ranging focal species and localized endemics into regional conservation planning. We evaluated how effectively the plan's focal species, the Northern Spotted Owl, acts as an umbrella for localized species under current and projected future climates and how the regional system of reserves can be made more resilient to climate change. We used the program maxent to develop distribution models integrating climate data with vegetation variables for the owl and 130 localized species. We used the program zonation to identify a system of areas that efficiently captures habitat for both the owl and localized species and prioritizes refugial areas of climatic and topographic heterogeneity where current and future habitat for dispersal‐limited species is in proximity. We projected future species' distributions based on an ensemble of contrasting climate models, and incorporating uncertainty between alternate climate projections into the prioritization process. Reserve solutions based on the owl overlap areas of high localized‐species richness but poorly capture core areas of localized species' distribution. Congruence between priority areas across taxa increases when refugial areas are prioritized. Although core‐area selection strategies can potentially increase the conservation value and resilience of regional reserve systems, they accentuate contrasts in priority areas between species and over time and should be combined with a broadened taxonomic scope and increased attention to potential effects of climate change. Our results suggest that systems of fixed reserves designed for resilience can increase the likelihood of retaining the biological diversity of forest ecosystems under climate change.     

The value of information in reserve site selection

The reserve site selection problem is to select sites for the establishment of biological reserves with the goal to maximize the number of species contained in the reserves. When species distributions are known, this corresponds to the maximal coverage problem. In practice, knowledge of species distributions may be incomplete and only incidence probabilities are available. In this case, the goal is to maximize the expected number of species contained in the reserves. This is called the maximal expected coverage problem. This paper describes and illustrates a formal approach to assess the value of information, such as site surveys or species surveys, in this problem.     

Reserve network planning for fishes in the middle and lower Yangtze River basin by systematic conservation approaches

Although China has established more than 600 wetland nature reserves, conservation gaps still exist for many species, especially for freshwater fishes. Underlying this problem is the fact that top-level planning is missing in the construction of nature reserves. To promote the development of nature reserves for fishes, this study took the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River basin (MLYRB) as an example to carry out top-level reserve network planning for fishes using approaches of systematic conservation planning. Typical fish species living in freshwater habitats were defined and considered in the planning. Based on sample data collected from large quantities of literatures, continuous distribution patterns of 142 fishes were obtained with species distribution modeling and subsequent processing, and the distributions of another eleven species were artificially designated. With the distribution pattern of species, Marxan was used to carry out conservation planning. To obtain ideal solutions with representativeness, persistence, and efficiency, parameters were set with careful consideration regarding existing wetland reserves, human disturbances, hydrological connectivity, and representation targets of species. Marxan produced the selection frequency of planning units (PUs) and a best solution. Selection frequency indicates the relative protection importance of a PU. The best solution is a representative of ideal fish reserve networks. Both of the PUs with high selection frequency and those in the best solution have low proportions included in existing wetland nature reserves, suggesting that there are significant conservation gaps for fish species in MLYRB. The best solution could serve as a reference for establishing a fish reserve network in the MLYRB. There is great flexibility for replacing selected PUs in the solution, and such flexibility facilitates the implementation of the solution in reality in case of unexpected obstacles. Further, we suggested adopting a freshwater management framework in the implementation of such solution.     

Effects of data characteristics on the results of reserve selection algorithms

We tested the effects of four data characteristics on the results of reserve selection algorithms. The data characteristics were nestedness of features (land types in this case), rarity of features, size variation of sites (potential reserves) and size of data sets (numbers of sites and features). We manipulated data sets to produce three levels, with replication, of each of these data characteristics while holding the other three characteristics constant. We then used an optimizing algorithm and three heuristic algorithms to select sites to solve several reservation problems. We measured efficiency as the number or total area of selected sites, indicating the relative cost of a reserve system. Higher nestedness increased the efficiency of all algorithms (reduced the total cost of new reserves). Higher rarity reduced the efficiency of all algorithms (increased the total cost of new reserves). More variation in site size increased the efficiency of all algorithms expressed in terms of total area of selected sites. We measured the suboptimality of heuristic algorithms as the percentage increase of their results over optimal (minimum possible) results. Suboptimality is a measure of the reliability of heuristics as indicative costing analyses. Higher rarity reduced the suboptimality of heuristics (increased their reliability) and there is some evidence that more size variation did the same for the total area of selected sites. We discuss the implications of these results for the use of reserve selection algorithms as indicative and real-world planning tools.     

Gathering public information for habitat selection: prospecting birds cue on parental activity

Because habitat quality strongly affects individual fitness, understanding individual habitat selection strategies is fundamental for most aspects of the evolution and conservation of species. Several studies suggest that individuals gather public information, i.e. information derived from the reproductive performance of conspecifics, to assess and select habitats. However, the behavioural mechanisms of information gathering, i.e. prospecting, are largely unknown, despite the fact that they directly constrain individual selection strategies. To test whether prospectors gather public information or other cues of habitat quality, we manipulated brood size of collared flycatchers (Ficedula albicollis) and investigated subsequent attraction of prospectors. Experimentally adding two nestlings increased the probability of attracting prospectors to the nest as a result of increased parental feeding rates. Prospectors were attracted to the most successful sites because feeding rate predicted subsequent fledgling production. In the year following prospecting, individuals selected a breeding site very close to the prospected site. These results provide the first experimental evidence, to our knowledge, of the links between information gathering behaviour and breeding habitat selection strategies based on public information.     

Beyond opportunism: Key principles for systematic reserve selection

The intention and practice of conservation reserve selection are different. A major reason for systems of reserves is to sustain biological diversity. This involves protecting examples of as many natural features, e.g. species, communities or environments, as possible. In reality, however, new reserves have rarely been dedicated for their representation of features. Furthermore, the opportunism that has characterized the development of reserve systems can actually jeopardize the representation of all features in reserves through the inefficient allocation of limited resources. More systematic approaches are essential if reserves are to play their role in protecting biodiversity. Some basic principles for conservation planning are emerging from recent systematic procedures for reserve selection. These principles will help to link intention and practice.     

亚洲象与竹/蕉分布隔离的生态效果及其保护对策探讨

把分布在滇南的西双版纳自然保护区内的亚洲象频繁出走 ,毁坏农作物、伤害人畜的原因与自然保护区片断化以及它们与其重要采食植物黄竹、野芭蕉等分布的隔离联系起来探讨 ,由此提出了对亚洲象保护的一些措施。由于亚洲象在西双版纳几乎没有天敌 ,而且也得到较好的保护 ,其群居自 1 976年以来 ,由 1 0 1头发展至约 2 5 0头 ,自然保护区片断化和食物匮缺成为亚洲象走出自然保护区的重要原因。相反 ,在没有亚洲象控制的地区 ,黄竹和野芭蕉等以其高效的繁殖能力以及耐火烧的特性而在一些刀耕火种的弃荒地和退化生态系统迅速发展 ,成为以它们各自为优势的群落 (丛 ) ,大幅度地降低了群落的物种多样性     

Nestedness, biogeographic theory, and the design of nature reserves

I examine the relationship between nested distributional patterns and the degree to which several small reserves will contain more species than would a single reserve of equal total area (SLOSS). Nestedness is a common property of species distributions on real and habitat islands. However, there is considerable variation in nestedness among species distributions, some of which is related to the physical and biological background of the archipelagoes. Nestedness does not vary according to the taxonomic group examined (with the exception of aquatic invertebrates). Nestedness does vary between real and habitat islands (with aquatic invertebrates excluded), but not between oceanic and land-bridge islands. The more a biota is nested, the more likely it is that a single large reserve would preserve more species. However, nestedness is a rather poor predictor of SLOSS, as the vast majority of archipelagoes support a strategy of several small reserves, even though almost all of them are significantly nested. Nestedness says little about optimal reserve design and management, and appears to be a weak conservation tool. Received: 30 May 1995 / Accepted: 1 April 1997     

The impact investigation and adaptation strategy analysis of climate change on nature reserve in China

Nature reserve has been served as the important pathway for biodiversity conservation and carbon storage. Global climate change is an indisputable fact and impacted the biodiversity and nature reserve. How nature reserves adapt to climate change has drawn more and more concerns. This research conducted questionnaires of 68 national nature reserves from 24 provincial regions, and the questionnaires showed that all surveyed nature reserves experienced climate change, and 68.57%, 61.43% and 68.57% of nature reserves, respectively, considered warming temperature, precipitation change, and occurrence of extreme climate events as new threats to them. These new factors directly threat the distribution range and survival of endangered species, change of ecosystem function, enhance of pest and disease damages, and directed damage the infrastructures. However, most of the surveyed nature reserves did not consider the systematic monitoring the facts of climate change, and lack actions and strategies of initiative adaptation to climate change. At last, we proposed the strategies for nature reserves to adapt to climate change, including enhancing the monitoring on the impact of climate change, making scientific planning and designing for development of nature reserves, decreasing the pressure through sustainable development, and enhancing the scientific research and the investment to improve the ability of nature reserves to adapt to climate change.     

Optimized Floating Refugia: a new strategy for species conservation in production forest landscapes

Timber production forests can support diverse ecological communities, but existing conservation strategies fail to maximize this potential. While methods for limiting logging damage and locating biological reserves have been developed, strategies focused on the sequence and arrangement of harvest units are lacking, particularly for situations in which species-specific knowledge is limited. We present a new landscape-level approach to forest conservation that anticipates local extinctions and focuses on facilitating re-colonization via strategic spatiotemporal harvest plans (which are informed by species occurrence data only). As a proof of concept, we applied our framework to data from four tropical forest sites and found clear benefits of optimized spatiotemporal harvest plans relative to non-optimized harvest plans (random and three pattern-based plans). Our proposed approach, termed the Optimized Floating Refugia strategy, requires minimal species-specific knowledge and can be used to enhance existing conservation efforts (e.g. biological reserve establishment, reduced-impact logging). The approach effectively prioritizes logging-sensitive habitat specialists with restricted ranges and thus provides the largest benefits to the most extinction-prone species. This simple but novel method shows promise as a general strategy to improve biodiversity conservation in species-rich production forest landscapes.     

气候变化对野生生物类自然保护区的影响及其风险

自然保护区是禁止开发区域、生态保护红线、自然保护地等生态功能重要地区的核心组成部分，在保护生物多样性、保障国家生态安全中居于重要地位。在生态文明体系加快构建、人类活动不利影响逐渐得到遏制的背景下，气候变化及其影响将成为自然保护区建设和管理面临的主要挑战。鉴于此，分析和总结了气候变化对野生生物的影响，剖析了气候变化对野生生物类自然保护区的风险，以期为协同推进自然保护区管理与应对气候变化工作、建立完善国土空间规划体系和自然保护地体系的自然保护区管理制度等提供科学依据。结果表明，气候变化对野生动植物物种分布、生物物候、种间关系的影响更加凸显，加剧了物种灭绝风险；气候变化影响特别是气候变化引起的物种适应性迁移，将对以相对固定的空间布局、保护边界、功能分区为主要特征的自然保护区建设和管理模式提出新的挑战，使得野生生物类自然保护区保护对象、保护功能等面临风险，形成自然保护区气候变化风险；而且当前自然保护区优化调整仍然滞后于气候变化影响，将进一步加剧自然保护区气候变化风险。