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Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit Signatories pledged to establish a system of protected areas Reserves should be Comprehensive Representative Adequate Flexible and Efficient considerIrreplaceability Shape Connectivity Risk spreading. RESERVE DESIGN. The Goal: - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
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Rio de Janeiro Earth SummitSignatories pledged to establish a system of protected areas
Reserves should be ComprehensiveRepresentativeAdequateFlexible and Efficient
consider IrreplaceabilityShapeConnectivityRisk spreading
The Goal:A reserve system that includes and sustains all biodiversity and ecosystem processes of the region
RESERVE DESIGN
HOW?
STAGES IN SYSTEMATIC CONSERVATION PLANNING
1. Compile data on biodiversity2. Identify conservation goals
3. Review existing conservation areas4. Select additional areas
5. Implement conservation actions6. Maintain the required values of selected areas
HOW
CHOOSING A SURROGATE FOR BIODiVERISTY
Margules and Pressey 2000
Designing a reserve system
MINIMAL SET- minimize the resources expended while meeting all conservation objectives---> efficient baseline reserve system for minimal cost
MAXIMAL COVERAGE - maximise the level of representation for each feature given a fixed amount of resources---> system with best bang for the buck
Designing a reserve system
Mathematical algorithms are used to solve the minimal set or maximal coverage problem
-iterative process that selects best site at any given step given a set of explicit rules
Greedy algorithmSelect site that adds most unprotected sppRarity algorithmSelect sites that represent rare species firstSelect site that adds most unprotected spp
Designing a reserve system
Common Approach with Large Datasets Simulated annealing
Start with random reserve systemAdd/remove one siteEvaluate change to system +ve/-veInitially accept good and bad changesGradually reduce chance accepting a bad changeEventually only accept good changes
---> reliable and flexible decision making
What features can be used as surrogates for overall biodiversity?
Flagship Species charismatic speciesUmbrella Species
Species requiring massive areasBiodiversity Indicators -
Sets of spp that indicate areas of high species richness
Land types -land systems or vegetation classes
Evaluating Flagship and Umbrella Species
Columbia Plateau - 1241 sites 211 species
9 charismatic species
Evaluating Flagship and Umbrella Species
Columbia Plateau - 1241 sites 211 species
9 charismatic spp --> protect all sites where found
% spp protected 50%
% sites required 40%
10 random spp
% spp protected 40%
% sites required 12%
Umbrellas and flagships are expensive
Evaluating Flagship and Umbrella Species
Columbia plateau - 1241 sites 211 species
Number of times each charismatic spp represented
Per
cent
age Spp protected
Sites required
Umbrellas and flagships are not representative
Andelman and Fagan 2000 PNAS 97: 5954-5959
Evaluating biodiversity indicators
Prendergast et al. 1993 Nature 365: 335-7
Are hotspots for one taxa hotspots for all taxa?
Do hotspots help protect rare species?
DATA - UK
- birds butterflies dragonflies
- liverworts and aquatic plants
Evaluating biodiversity indicators
Prendergast et al. 1993 Nature 365: 335-7
Are hotspots for one taxa hotspots for all taxa?
NO
Evaluating biodiversity indicators
Do hotspots help protect rare species?
Rare butterflies
10x10 km squares
NO - 25% or more of rare species are not found in hotspots
Evaluating biodiversity indicators
Uganda - 15,000 km2 of forest reserve - 3,000 km2 slated to be strict reserve
Evaluating biodiversity indicators
Uganda - 15,000 km2 of forest reserve - 3,000 km2 slated to be strict reserve
Data - 5 yr inventory of 50 forests- woody plants, large moths, butterflies birds and small mammals- 2452 spp
Does spp richness of one taxa predict others?Q. How would you test this?
Evaluating biodiversity indicators
Correlations
Correlations after controlling for forest size and sampling effort
Spp richness of one taxa does not predict overall biodiversity very well
Howard et al 1998 Nature 394: 472-5
Evaluating biodiversity indicators
But reserves selected based on birds or butterflies are as good as reserves based on all taxa
Evaluating biodiversity indicators
Van Jaarsveld et al. 1998 Science 279: 2106
South Africa - Transvaal
Data - 25x25km grid squares (n=474) - mammals, birds, butterflies- vascular plants- termites, ant-lions, beetles
Selected minimum set to represent all spp of each taxa Measured overlap in minimum sets selected (number sq’s shared/number additional sq’s)
Evaluating biodiversity indicators
Van Jaarsveld et al. 1998 Science 279: 2106
Comparison of species sets
Mean overlap 10%Min overlap 0 % - mammals/birds + termitesMax overlap 21%- butterflies + beetles
Different conservation areas are required to conserve different taxa
Additional limitations of species data
Spatial biases in databasesrecords typically reflect accessfalse negatives
Taxonomic bias in information qualityundescribed spplimited resourceslimited taxonomic training
Evaluating use of landtypes in reserve design
Venetia-Limpopo Nature Reserve, SA350 km2
9 Land Facets - based on geology, soil profile and topography
Reserve selection1 km2 grid sq % representation of each landtypeadjacency constraint
Wessels et al 1999 Biol Cons 89: 21-38
Evaluating use of landtypes in reserve design
How representative are the “selected” reserves?
Tested by assessing diversity of BirdsDung beetles
Assemblages vary with landtypeLandtype reserves represent bird/beetle diversity
Evaluating use of landtypes in reserve design
Cape Floristic Region, SA122,000 km2 - > 6000 endemic plant speciesUNESCO World heritage site
Evaluating use of landtypes in reserve design
Cape Floristic Region, SA122,000 km2
102 broad habitat units (untransformed land)vegetationclimate geologytopography
Reserve selection -current reserve selected+ minimum set to achieve conservation
target (%) by BHU
Evaluating use of landtypes in reserve design
Cape Floristic Region, SAHow representative are the reserves?
Proteas - well sampled Vertebrates - fish, amphibians, reptiles
BHU minimum set represented79% of unreserved proteas35% of unreserved vertebrates
BHUs are a good surrogate for SOME Species
Summary Surrogates for overall biodiversity?
Flagships NOBiodiversity Indicators NOLandtypes NO
So what features should be used?
Combine inexpensive land type infoWith other surrogates
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