The global network of protected areas (PAs) is systematically biased towards remote and
\nunproductive places. Consequently, the processes threatening biodiversity are not halted
\nand conservation impact\u2014defined as the beneficial environmental outcomes arising from
\nprotection relative to the counterfactual of no intervention\u2014is smaller than previously
\nthought. Yet, many conservation plans still target species\u2019 representation, which can fail
\nto lead to impact by not considering the threats they face, such as land conversion and
\nclimate change. Here we aimed to identify spatial conservation priorities that minimize
\nthe risk of land conversion, while retaining sites with high value for threatened plants at
\nrisk from climate change in the Brazilian Cerrado. We compared a method of sequential
\nimplementation of conservation actions to a static strategy applied at one time-step. For
\nboth schedules of conservation actions, we applied two methods for setting priorities:
\n(i) minimizing expected habitat conversion and prioritizing valuable sites for threatened
\nplants (therefore maximizing conservation impact), and (ii) prioritizing sites based only on
\ntheir value for threatened plants, regardless of their vulnerability to land conversion (therefore
\nmaximizing representation). We found that scenarios aimed at maximizing conservation
\nimpact reduced total vegetation loss, while still covering large proportions of species\u2019
\nranges inside PAs and priority sites. Given that planning to avoid vegetation loss provided
\nthese benefits, vegetation information could represent a reliable surrogate for overall biodiversity.
\nBesides allowing for the achievement of two distinct goals (representation and
\nimpact), the impact strategies also present<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The global network of protected areas (PAs) is systematically biased towards remote and unproductive places. Consequently, the processes threatening biodiversity are not halted and conservation impact\u2014defined as the beneficial environmental outcomes arising from protection relative to the counterfactual of no intervention\u2014is smaller than previously thought. Yet, many conservation plans still target species\u2019 representation, which can fail to lead to impact by not considering the threats they face, such as land conversion and climate change. Here we aimed to identify spatial conservation priorities that minimize the risk of land conversion, while retaining sites with high value for threatened plants at risk from climate change in the Brazilian Cerrado. We compared a method of sequential implementation of conservation actions to a static strategy applied at one time-step. For both schedules of conservation actions, we applied two methods for setting priorities: (i) minimizing expected habitat conversion and prioritizing valuable sites for threatened plants (therefore maximizing conservation impact), and (ii) prioritizing sites based only on their value for threatened plants, regardless of their vulnerability to land conversion (therefore maximizing representation). We found that scenarios aimed at maximizing conservation impact reduced total vegetation loss, while still covering large proportions of species\u2019 ranges inside PAs and priority sites. Given that planning to avoid vegetation loss provided these benefits, vegetation information could represent a reliable surrogate for overall biodiversity. Besides allowing for the achievement of two distinct goals (representation and impact), the impact strategies also present<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":2792,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[131],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n