Local Scale Comparisons of Biodiversity as a Test for Global Protected Area Ecological Performance: A Meta-Analysis

Terrestrial protected areas (PAs) are cornerstones of global biodiversity conservation. Their efficacy in terms of maintaining biodiversity is, however, much debated. Studies to date have been unable to provide a general answer as to PA conservation efficacy because of their typically restricted geographic and/or taxonomic focus, or qualitative approaches focusing on proxies for biodiversity, such as deforestation. Given the rarity of historical data to enable comparisons of biodiversity before/after PA establishment, many smaller scale studies over the past 30 years have directly compared biodiversity inside PAs to that of surrounding areas, which provides one measure of PA ecological performance. Here we use a meta-analysis of such studies (N = 86) to test if PAs contain higher biodiversity values than surrounding areas, and so assess their contribution to determining PA efficacy. We find that PAs generally have higher abundances of individual species, higher assemblage abundances, and higher species richness values compared with alternative land uses. Local scale studies in combination thus show that PAs retain more biodiversity than alternative land use areas. Nonetheless, much variation is present in the effect sizes, which underscores the context-specificity of PA efficacy.     

Protected Areas in Tropical Africa: Assessing Threats and Conservation Activities

Numerous protected areas (PAs) have been created in Africa to safeguard wildlife and other natural resources. However, significant threats from anthropogenic activities and decline of wildlife populations persist, while conservation efforts in most PAs are still minimal. We assessed the impact level of the most common threats to wildlife within PAs in tropical Africa and the relationship of conservation activities with threat impact level. We collated data on 98 PAs with tropical forest cover from 15 countries across West, Central and East Africa. For this, we assembled information about local threats as well as conservation activities from published and unpublished literature, and questionnaires sent to long-term field workers. We constructed general linear models to test the significance of specific conservation activities in relation to the threat impact level. Subsistence and commercial hunting were identified as the most common direct threats to wildlife and found to be most prevalent in West and Central Africa. Agriculture and logging represented the most common indirect threats, and were most prevalent in West Africa. We found that the long-term presence of conservation activities (such as law enforcement, research and tourism) was associated with lower threat impact levels. Our results highlight deficiencies in the management effectiveness of several PAs across tropical Africa, and conclude that PA management should invest more into conservation activities with long-term duration.     

Interface processes between protected and unprotected areas: A global review and ways forward

Land‐use changes and the expansion of protected areas (PAs) have amplified the interaction between protected and unprotected areas worldwide. In this context, ‘interface processes' (human–nature and cross‐boundary interactions inside and around PAs) have become central to issues around the conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem services. This scientific literature review aimed to explore current knowledge and research gaps on interface processes regarding terrestrial PAs. At first, 3,515 references related to the topic were extracted through a standardized search on the Web of Science and analyzed with scientometric techniques. Next, a full‐text analysis was conducted on a sample of 240 research papers. A keyword analysis revealed a wide diversity of research topics, from ‘pure' ecology to sociopolitical research. We found a bias in the geographical distribution of research, with half the papers focusing on eight countries. Additionally, we found that the spatial extent of cross‐boundary interactions was rarely assessed, preventing any clear delimitation of PA interactive zones. In the 240 research papers we scanned, we identified 403 processes that were studied. The ecological effects of PAs were well documented and appeared to be positive overall. In contrast, the effects of PAs on local communities were understudied and, according to the literature focusing on these, were very variable according to local contexts. Our findings highlight key research advances on interface processes, especially regarding the ecological outcomes of PAs, the influence of human activities on biodiversity, and PA governance issues. In contrast, main knowledge gaps concern the spatial extent of interactive zones, as well as the interactions between local people and conservation actions and how to promote synergies between them. While the review was limited to terrestrial PAs, its findings allow us to propose research priorities for tackling environmental and socioeconomic challenges in the face of a rapidly changing world.     

Forest protection in Central India: do differences in monitoring by state and local institutions result in diverse social and ecological impacts?

Protection of forests and wildlife outside protected areas (PAs) is necessary for the conservation of wildlife. Extension of conservation efforts outside the existing PA may result in restrictions on local forest resource use. Such situations arise due to differences in understanding of forest as a resource for communities and as a conservation space for endangered species. A clearer focus is needed on the functionality and socio-ecological outcomes of different forest management institutions to address such issues. We conducted a study in a forest landscape connecting Pench and Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserves (TRs) in Central India. The two main forest management institutions were the Forest Department (FD) and local communities managing forest resources. We conducted vegetation surveys and focus group discussions in 15 villages selected based on presence or absence of active protection and monitoring of forest resources by either FD or local people. We found that forests with monitoring had significantly higher tree density and vegetation species richness compared to forests without monitoring. Tree density was observed to be higher in sites monitored by villagers rather than those monitored by FD. Self-regulation and resource sharing in locally monitored forests were more acceptable to local communities. In forests monitored by the FD, local communities indicated a feeling of alienation from the forest that weakened their motivation to protect the forest and wildlife. Recognition of local community rights is essential to achieve conservation goals and reduce social conflicts outside PAs, requiring collaboration between state and local institutions.     

Measuring impact of protected area management interventions: current and future use of the Global Database of Protected Area Management Effectiveness

Protected areas (PAs) are at the forefront of conservation efforts, and yet despite considerable progress towards the global target of having 17% of the world''s land area within protected areas by 2020, biodiversity continues to decline. The discrepancy between increasing PA coverage and negative biodiversity trends has resulted in renewed efforts to enhance PA effectiveness. The global conservation community has conducted thousands of assessments of protected area management effectiveness (PAME), and interest in the use of these data to help measure the conservation impact of PA management interventions is high. Here, we summarize the status of PAME assessment, review the published evidence for a link between PAME assessment results and the conservation impacts of PAs, and discuss the limitations and future use of PAME data in measuring the impact of PA management interventions on conservation outcomes. We conclude that PAME data, while designed as a tool for local adaptive management, may also help to provide insights into the impact of PA management interventions from the local-to-global scale. However, the subjective and ordinal characteristics of the data present significant limitations for their application in rigorous scientific impact evaluations, a problem that should be recognized and mitigated where possible.     

The management effectiveness of protected areas in Kenya

Merely designating new and/or expanding existing protected areas (PAs) does not guarantee the protection of critical ecosystems and species. The management of PAs must be effective to sustain meaningful conservational outcomes. We inferred the management effectiveness of PAs in Kenya based on the representation of ranges and distribution of multiple diversity dimensions of terrestrial mammals and their association with governance and designation types. We hypothesized that different governance types underlie variable management efficacies, such that stricter-managed PAs have better habitats that attract more wildlife, translating to higher species diversity compared to less strictly-managed PAs, especially for focal species groups (large carnivores, large herbivores, and endangered species). The results showed nearly all terrestrial mammals in Kenya represented in at least one PA. However, the relative proportion of represented ranges were low, and analysis of spatial conservation prioritization showed significant expansion beyond current PAs needed to achieve a one third coverage of focal species’ ranges in a best-solution reserve system. Differences in PA governance and designation types were not systematically associated with diversity variances, and while there were more unique species in state-managed PAs than in privately-managed ones, averaged diversity coefficients were comparable between categories. Diversity variances explained by PA size and status year were low in a combined species pool but increased in focal species groups. These findings suggest that success in terrestrial mammal conservation in PAs in Kenya require clearly and formally streamlined definition, performance feedback, and collaboration terms between state-managed and privately-managed PAs.

     

Reconciling conservation and development in protected areas of the Global South

As cornerstones for biodiversity conservation, protected areas (PAs) are critical to safeguard biodiversity. However, PAs are criticized for their limited ecological effectiveness and their negative social impacts. This article seeks to provide an overview on the contested nature of PAs and places PAs in the tension field of conservation and development, which are diverging forces specifically in the Global South. A reconciliation of PAs as parts of a wider landscape of interlinked social-ecological systems may increase the potential of PAs to contribute to the sustainable development goals, including the creation of sustainable human-nature relationships, environmental health and landscape resilience. The environmental justice framework appears useful in the endeavour to improve the social-ecological integrity of current conservation practises and to increase the ability of PA systems to withstand shocks. Considering PAs as systems in which people and nature interact in manifold ways may help increase their integrity, but understanding these interactions requires sustainability researchers and conservation practitioners to recognize the plurality in value towards nature, nature understanding and conceptualisations. Such deep understanding seems pivotal in working towards synergies of sustainable use, biocultural diversity and wilderness. Concludingly, this article emphasizes the need for holistic approaches rather than sectoral specialisations and radicalisations to achieve arrays of sustainability goals.     

Factors influencing conservation attitudes of local people in Western Serengeti,Tanzania

Attitudinal studies are increasingly being adopted as tools for evaluating public understanding, acceptance and the impact of conservation interventions. The findings of these studies have been useful in guiding the policy interventions. Many factors affect conservation attitudes positively or negatively. The factors inspiring positive attitudes are likely to enhance the conservation objectives while those inducing negative attitudes may detrimentally undermine these objectives. The magnitude of the resultant effects of each particular factor is determined by the historical, political, ecological, socio-cultural and economic conditions and this may call for different management interventions. In this study we examined how conservation attitudes in western Serengeti are shaped by the following factors: level of conflicts with protected areas; wildlife imposed constraints (inadequate pasture, water, diseases, loss of livestock during migration, theft and depredation); participation in the community based project; and socio-demographic factors (age, education level, wealth, immigration, gender and household size). The results indicated that the level of conflicts, participation in the community based project, inadequate pasture, lack of water, diseases, wealth and education were important in shaping peoples’ attitudes. However, in a stepwise linear regression analysis, 59% of the variation in peoples’ attitudes was explained by three variables i.e., conflict level with protected areas, lack of water and participation in the community based project. In addition to these variables, level of education also contributed in explaining 51% of the variation in people’s attitude regarding the status of the game reserves. Five variables (lack of water, level of education, inadequate pasture, participation in the community based project and diseases) explained 12% of the variation in people’s attitude towards Serengeti National Park. The paper discusses the implications for conservation of these results and recommends some measures to realise effective conservation of wildlife resources.     

自然保护区管理的博弈分析

自然保护区作为地球上生态保育的基石,其管理的有效性和可持续性一直是备受关注的热点问题之一。自然保护区管理涉及自然环境和社会经济两大系统,具有复杂性特征。为解析这种复杂性,可以把自然保护区管理看成是博弈问题,将博弈论作为有力工具来解决自然保护区管理中的各种矛盾冲突,协调各种利益关系,以促进自然保护区管理的科学性、有效性和可持续性。一般地,自然保护区可以描述为n人博弈,能够通过Nash均衡和n人合作博弈的Shapley值以及核仁(Nucleolus)等方法求解。作者用博弈论思想分析了自然保护区管理中天然林保护、以电代柴和适度开发等典型案例,总结了自然保护区管理博弈分析的一般步骤。认为必须通过政策、体制和机制创新,促进自然保护区管理中各利益主体的广泛参与和密切合作,才能实现自然保护区管理中公平与效率、高效与持续的统一。     

Polyamines in macroalgae: advances and future perspectives

Polyamines (PA) are ubiquitous, small, aliphatic cations found in all living cells. In recent years the importance of these molecules for macroalgae has become evident and a substantial body of knowledge has been accumulated over the last three decades. This review summarizes research on the PAs found in macroalgae, their transport and metabolism, and their biological significance in processes such as cell division, chloroplast development, and reproduction. The involvement of PAs in environmental stress responses in macroalgae is also addressed. The discussion of PAs in this review not only demonstrates that PAs play an important role in physiological processes in macroalgae, but also clearly demonstrates the similarities and differences between PA metabolism in macroalgae and higher plants. Key areas for future research are also discussed.     

Impact of terrestrial protected areas on the fish diversity and habitat quality: Evidence from tropical river Pranhita,India

The conservation and management of inland fish and freshwater ecosystems immensely contribute to global sustainable development. The existing ‘Protected Area’ (PA) network does not represent freshwater resources well and seldom considers its fish communities, while designating PAs. A study was undertaken to quantitatively assess the role played by the three terrestrial PAs (IUCN category IV) in conserving fish diversity and preserving habitat quality in the river reaches bordering the three PAs of the river Pranhita. It is a unique river system in the Indian Deccan Plateau in terms of fish diversity and community structure. Field surveys were conducted during the non-monsoon and monsoon seasons in 2020–21, that recorded 53 species including endemic and threatened fishes from river Pranhita, which represent more than one-third the number of fish species of Telangana state. The higher diversity and lower dominance index value (p < 0.01) reported in PAs compared to Eco Sensitive Zones and unprotected areas during the non-monsoon season indicate the role of intact physical habitat in providing refuges to the fish species in monsoon dependent tropical rivers. The optimal water quality revealed no significant difference (p > 0.0001) between protected and unprotected river reaches, and healthy biotic integrity assessed on the basis of fish community structure was attributed to the contiguous flow and less anthropogenic disturbance. This study supports that it can be considered as a representative zone for the conservation and protection of indigenous and endemic fish species of the Godavari Basin. The results concluded that the scope of the terrestrial PA network in India could be potentially extended to their bordering aquatic ecosystems, especially rivers to maintain pristine habitat conditions and conserve the fish genetic resources to ensure the flow of ecosystem services.     

Why do we lose protected areas? Factors influencing protected area downgrading,downsizing and degazettement in the tropics and subtropics

Protected areas (PAs) are an essential tool for the conservation of biodiversity globally. Previous studies have focussed on the effectiveness of PAs and the design of optimal PA networks. However, not all PAs remain intact permanently; many PAs undergo downgrading, downsizing and/or degazettement (PADDD), a fact largely ignored until recently. The drivers of enacted PADDD events and the factors influencing its spatial occurrence are poorly understood, potentially undermining the efficacy of PAs and PA networks. Here we examine the spatial relationship between PADDD and economic, demographic and structural variables, using a 110‐year data set of 342 enacted PADDD events across 44 countries in the tropics and subtropics. We find that the probability of an enacted PADDD event increases with the size of the PA and through a synergistic interaction between PA size and local population densities. Our results are robust to the under‐reporting of enacted PADDD events that occur among smaller PAs and in regions with lower population density. We find an economic motive for PADDD events, given that the opportunity costs associated with larger PAs are higher, on average, than smaller PAs. Our findings suggest a need for conservation practitioners to better consider PA characteristics, as well as the social, economic and political context in which PAs are situated, to aid the creation of more efficient and sustainable PA networks. In particular, the dynamics of enacted PADDD events highlight the need to explicitly consider PA robustness as a core component of systematic conservation planning for PA networks.     

Tigers,tourists and wildlife: visitor demographics and experience in three Indian Tiger Reserves

Ecotourism or sustainable tourism is an effective conservation tool. Recently increasing trends in visitations to protected areas (PAs) in India particularly, tiger reserves (TRs) have been documented. A questionnaire survey was carried out to objectively investigate visitor experience in three high profile tiger reserves (n = 684). Information on the role of nature interpreters, media and infrastructure was collected to assess how they influence tourist activity, aspiration and satisfaction in a PA. Domestic tourist formed majority of the visitor numbers in all three PAs (82.7%). Tourists who visit these PAs chose to have close encounters with large mammals especially tigers. Primary attraction for visitors were wild mammals > tigers > peacefulness > photography > bird watching. Visitors mainly travelled in groups with a family (43–58%). Majority of visitors to PAs were from minor cities situated 200–600 km from a PA. Visitors informed that their primary source of information regarding a PA was word of mouth (hearsay, 35.78%) and newspaper (24%). These sources of information varied significantly across eight other categories and parks. Designing each visit as an interpretive experience and meaningful conservation activity for largely for the domestic visitors as well as gradually increasing international visitors can be encouraged in such PAs.     

Assessing Local and Surrounding Threats to the Protected Area Network in a Biodiversity Hotspot: The Hengduan Mountains of Southwest China

Protected areas (PAs) not only serve as refuges of biodiversity conservation but are also part of large ecosystems and are vulnerable to change caused by human activity from surrounding lands, especially in biodiversity hotspots. Assessing threats to PAs and surrounding areas is therefore a critical step in effective conservation planning. We apply a threat framework as a means of quantitatively assessing local and surrounding threats to different types of PAs with gradient buffers, and to main ecoregions in the Hengduan Mountain Hotspot of southwest China. Our findings show that national protected areas (NPAs) have lower and significantly lower threat values (p<0.05) than provincial protected areas (PPAs) and other protected areas (OPAs), respectively, which indicates that NPAs are lands with a lower threat level and higher levels of protection and management. PAs have clear edge effects, as the proportion of areas with low threat levels decline dramatically in the 5-kilometer buffers just outside the PAs. However, NPAs suffered greater declines (58.3%) than PPAs (34.8%) and OPAs (33.4%) in the 5-kilometer buffers. Moreover, a significant positive correlation was found between the size of PAs and the proportion of areas with low threat levels that they contained in both PAs and PA buffers (p<0.01). To control or mitigate current threats at the regional scale, PA managers often require quantitative information related to threat intensities and spatial distribution. The threat assessment in the Hengduan Mountain Hotspot will be useful to policy makers and managers in their efforts to establish effective plans and target-oriented management strategies.     

Using the Rao's Q diversity index as an indicator of protected area effectiveness in conserving biodiversity

Developing innovative monitoring systems for biodiversity outcomes in protected areas (PAs) are important to enable effective adaptive management. Here we show how to quantitatively detect and monitor temporal and spatial patterns in environmental heterogeneity, an important indicator of ecological integrity and biodiversity patterns. We used a 28-year time series (1991–2018) generated from freely available Landsat satellite imagery and Rao's quadratic index to calculate relative heterogeneity and trends in heterogeneity for 41 PAs across South Africa. We selected PAs where mega-herbivore assemblages were similar and where management objectives were broadly aligned with South African legislation to protect biodiversity. There was a three-fold difference in heterogeneity among PAs, mainly linked to variation in topography and rainfall. Heterogeneity decreased in 12 (29%), increased in three (7%) and remained stable in 26 (64%) PA's. These trends were not explained by overall heterogeneity, PA size, or rainfall – i.e., PAs that were smaller, drier, and more homogenous were not more likely to show decreasing trends than PAs that were larger, wetter, and generally more heterogenous. Rather trends in heterogeneity are likely the result of interactions between regional process (e.g., rainfall) and local factors such fire regimes, megaherbivore densities, and park management. The framework presented here can be extended to include every PA nationally, or even globally, and the data product fully automated. This presents an opportunity for conservation management to incorporate this important biodiversity indicator in PA monitoring programs as well as other large-scale ecological monitoring initiatives.     

The effects of fertilization on the trait-abundance relationships in a Tibetan alpine meadow community

Aims Comparisons of the trait–abundance relationships from various habitat types are critical for community ecology, which can offer us insights about the mechanisms underlying the local community assembly, such as the relative role of neutral vs. niche processes in shaping community structure. Here, we explored the responses of trait–abundance relationships to nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) fertilization in an alpine meadow.Methods Five fertilization treatments (an unfertilized control and additions of N, P, K and NPK respectively) were implemented using randomized block design in an alpine Tibetan meadow. Species relative abundance (SRA), plant above-ground biomass and species richness were measured in each plot. For 24 common species, we measured species functional traits: saturated height, specific leaf area (SLA) and leaf dry matter content (LDMC) in each treatment but seed size only in the unfertilized control. Standard major axis (SMA) regression and phylogenetically independent contrasts (PICs) analysis were used to analyse species trait–abundance relationships in response to different fertilization treatments.Important findings Positive correlations between SRA and saturated height were raised following N, P and NPK fertilizations, which indicated an increase in light competition in these plots. In P fertilized plots, SRA was also positively correlated with LDMC because tall grasses with a nutrients conservation strategy often have a relative competitive advantage in capturing limited light and soil nutrients. In K fertilized plots, neither the trait–abundance relationships nor above-ground biomass or species richness significantly differed from that in the control, which suggests that K was not a limiting resource in our study site. These significant correlations between species traits and relative abundance in fertilized treatment suggest that trait-based selection plays an important role in determining species abundance within local communities in alpine meadows.     

Efficiency of protected areas in Amazon and Atlantic Forest conservation: A spatio-temporal view

The Amazon and Atlantic Forest are considered the world's most biodiverse biomes. Human and climate change impacts are the principal drivers of species loss in both biomes, more severely in the Atlantic Forest. In response to species loss, the main conservation action is the creation of protected areas (PAs). Current knowledge and research on the PA network's conservation efficiency is scarce, and existing studies have mainly considered a past temporal view. In this study, we tested the efficiency of the current PA network to maintain climatically stable areas (CSAs) across the Amazon and Atlantic Forest. To this, we used an ecological niche modeling approach to biome and paleoclimatic simulations. We propose three categories of conservation priority areas for both biomes, considering CSAs, PAs and intact forest remnants. The biomes vary in their respective PA networks' protection efficiency. Regarding protect CSAs, the Amazon PA network is four times more efficient than the Atlantic Forest PA network. New conservation efforts in these two forest biomes require different approaches. We discussed the conservation actions that should be taken in each biome to increase the efficiency of the PA network, considering both the creation and expansion of PAs as well as restoration programs.     

Shifting public values and what they mean for increasing democracy in wildlife management decisions

Over the last century, changing public attitudes about the value of wildlife have triggered substantial changes in species management that have both benefited and hindered conservation efforts. Understanding and integrating contemporary public values is therefore critical for effective conservation outcomes. Using historic and contemporary examples, we highlight how public attitudes—expressed through the media and campaigns—are shaping the management of introduced and native species, as values shift towards animal welfare and mutualism. We focus on the issue of deliberate human-caused killing of wildlife, because protests against such management have disrupted traditional political and management structures that favoured eradication of wildlife across many jurisdictions and ecological contexts. In doing so, we show that it is essential to work with multiple stakeholder interest groups to ensure that wildlife management is informed by science, while also supported by public values. Achieving this hinges on appropriate science communication to build a better-informed public because management decisions are becoming increasingly democratised.     

内蒙古锡林郭勒生物圈保护区中城市(镇)的功能及其与保护区的相互关系

内蒙古锡林郭勒生物圈保护区,是以保护欧亚大陆典型草原生态系统为目的的世界生物圈保护区。为了保护草原生态系统的完整性以及锡林河流域的生态功能．在成立保护区时将锡林浩特城市以及白音锡勒城镇等规划在内。但是,锡林郭勒生物圈保护区成立15a来。长期存在着保护与发展的尖锐矛盾,保护区基本上无核心区、草地类型的生态系统出现大规模的退化、城市(镇)与保护区的发展基本脱节、对自然生态系统的利用处于非常原始的掠夺性利用状态。对于这些问题的解决,应充分考虑到社区的发展问题,解决人的生存出路并提高他们的生活员量。即以锡林郭勒生物圈保护区为例,探讨了城市(镇)的作用及其与保护区的相互关系,指出目前存在的问题以及所采取的对策。