Conservation planning of vertebrate diversity in a Mediterranean agricultural-dominant landscape

Enrique de la Montana; Jose M. Rey Benayas; Ana Vasques; Irene Razola; Luis Cayuela

doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2011.07.001

Conservation planning of vertebrate diversity in a Mediterranean agricultural-dominant landscape

Enrique de la Montana^*, Jose M. Rey Benayas, Ana Vasques, Irene Razola, Luis Cayuela

^*Corresponding author for this work

Spatial Ecology and Global Change

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

To improve effectiveness of protected areas, selection of priority areas should include consideration of three main components, namely special conservation elements, focal species and representation. We present a three-track approach related to these components for vertebrate conservation planning in Castilla-La Mancha, central Spain. As special conservation elements, we identified Priority Areas for Conservation of species using five criteria: species richness, geographic rarity, species vulnerability, a Combined Index of these three criteria, and a Standardised Biodiversity Index (SBI) that integrate the three criteria and four studied taxa. The Natura 2000 Network was used to include conservation areas for focal species. We evaluated the representation of every landscape type in the existing conservation areas. To delineate the spatial configuration for vertebrate conservation, we combined the identified Priority Areas for Conservation, existing conservation areas and connectivity areas by cost-distance analysis. The Combined Index was the most efficient criterion analyzed to identify Priority Areas for Conservation. The Natura 2000 Network showed a high percentage of coincidence with identified Priority Areas for Conservation, whereas the natural protected areas network had a low percentage of coincidence. Six agricultural landscapes were inadequately represented in the current conservation network According to our multi-track approach, similar to 29% of study area was required to capture 100% of vertebrate species and all landscape types. Our results show that the existing conservation areas are insufficient to guarantee the conservation of biodiversity in the study region. Additional areas with outstanding features of diversity, connectivity areas, and establishment of targets for off-reserve conservation are of fundamental importance for strengthening biodiversity conservation. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	2468-2478
Number of pages	11
Journal	Biological Conservation
Volume	144
Issue number	10
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2011.07.001
Publication status	Published - Oct 2011

Funding

This study was funded by the grant projects CGL2004-355-BOS, CGL2007-60533-BOS and CGL2010-18312 (CICYT, Ministry of Education and Science, Spain). E.M. received research fellowships from the University of Alcala and the Madrid Autonomous Community. We are grateful to I. Valencia for collaborating in this research. R. Sandoval and F. Albuquerque kindly improved the English of the manuscript.

Keywords

Agroecosystem
Combined Index of biodiversity
Gap analysis
Landscape representation
Least-cost path analysis
Natura 2000 Network
AGRI-ENVIRONMENT SCHEMES
BIODIVERSITY HOTSPOTS
BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY
IDENTIFYING AREAS
SPECIES RICHNESS
PROTECTED AREAS
NATURE-RESERVES
ECOLOGY
PRIORITIZATION
AMPHIBIANS

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10.1016/j.biocon.2011.07.001

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@article{085b687f36e147d3bdd3b00d409d3eb8,

title = "Conservation planning of vertebrate diversity in a Mediterranean agricultural-dominant landscape",

abstract = "To improve effectiveness of protected areas, selection of priority areas should include consideration of three main components, namely special conservation elements, focal species and representation. We present a three-track approach related to these components for vertebrate conservation planning in Castilla-La Mancha, central Spain. As special conservation elements, we identified Priority Areas for Conservation of species using five criteria: species richness, geographic rarity, species vulnerability, a Combined Index of these three criteria, and a Standardised Biodiversity Index (SBI) that integrate the three criteria and four studied taxa. The Natura 2000 Network was used to include conservation areas for focal species. We evaluated the representation of every landscape type in the existing conservation areas. To delineate the spatial configuration for vertebrate conservation, we combined the identified Priority Areas for Conservation, existing conservation areas and connectivity areas by cost-distance analysis. The Combined Index was the most efficient criterion analyzed to identify Priority Areas for Conservation. The Natura 2000 Network showed a high percentage of coincidence with identified Priority Areas for Conservation, whereas the natural protected areas network had a low percentage of coincidence. Six agricultural landscapes were inadequately represented in the current conservation network According to our multi-track approach, similar to 29% of study area was required to capture 100% of vertebrate species and all landscape types. Our results show that the existing conservation areas are insufficient to guarantee the conservation of biodiversity in the study region. Additional areas with outstanding features of diversity, connectivity areas, and establishment of targets for off-reserve conservation are of fundamental importance for strengthening biodiversity conservation. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.",

keywords = "Agroecosystem, Combined Index of biodiversity, Gap analysis, Landscape representation, Least-cost path analysis, Natura 2000 Network, AGRI-ENVIRONMENT SCHEMES, BIODIVERSITY HOTSPOTS, BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY, IDENTIFYING AREAS, SPECIES RICHNESS, PROTECTED AREAS, NATURE-RESERVES, ECOLOGY, PRIORITIZATION, AMPHIBIANS",

author = "{de la Montana}, Enrique and {Rey Benayas}, {Jose M.} and Ana Vasques and Irene Razola and Luis Cayuela",

year = "2011",

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doi = "10.1016/j.biocon.2011.07.001",

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volume = "144",

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journal = "Biological Conservation",

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T1 - Conservation planning of vertebrate diversity in a Mediterranean agricultural-dominant landscape

AU - de la Montana, Enrique

AU - Rey Benayas, Jose M.

AU - Vasques, Ana

AU - Razola, Irene

AU - Cayuela, Luis

PY - 2011/10

Y1 - 2011/10

N2 - To improve effectiveness of protected areas, selection of priority areas should include consideration of three main components, namely special conservation elements, focal species and representation. We present a three-track approach related to these components for vertebrate conservation planning in Castilla-La Mancha, central Spain. As special conservation elements, we identified Priority Areas for Conservation of species using five criteria: species richness, geographic rarity, species vulnerability, a Combined Index of these three criteria, and a Standardised Biodiversity Index (SBI) that integrate the three criteria and four studied taxa. The Natura 2000 Network was used to include conservation areas for focal species. We evaluated the representation of every landscape type in the existing conservation areas. To delineate the spatial configuration for vertebrate conservation, we combined the identified Priority Areas for Conservation, existing conservation areas and connectivity areas by cost-distance analysis. The Combined Index was the most efficient criterion analyzed to identify Priority Areas for Conservation. The Natura 2000 Network showed a high percentage of coincidence with identified Priority Areas for Conservation, whereas the natural protected areas network had a low percentage of coincidence. Six agricultural landscapes were inadequately represented in the current conservation network According to our multi-track approach, similar to 29% of study area was required to capture 100% of vertebrate species and all landscape types. Our results show that the existing conservation areas are insufficient to guarantee the conservation of biodiversity in the study region. Additional areas with outstanding features of diversity, connectivity areas, and establishment of targets for off-reserve conservation are of fundamental importance for strengthening biodiversity conservation. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

AB - To improve effectiveness of protected areas, selection of priority areas should include consideration of three main components, namely special conservation elements, focal species and representation. We present a three-track approach related to these components for vertebrate conservation planning in Castilla-La Mancha, central Spain. As special conservation elements, we identified Priority Areas for Conservation of species using five criteria: species richness, geographic rarity, species vulnerability, a Combined Index of these three criteria, and a Standardised Biodiversity Index (SBI) that integrate the three criteria and four studied taxa. The Natura 2000 Network was used to include conservation areas for focal species. We evaluated the representation of every landscape type in the existing conservation areas. To delineate the spatial configuration for vertebrate conservation, we combined the identified Priority Areas for Conservation, existing conservation areas and connectivity areas by cost-distance analysis. The Combined Index was the most efficient criterion analyzed to identify Priority Areas for Conservation. The Natura 2000 Network showed a high percentage of coincidence with identified Priority Areas for Conservation, whereas the natural protected areas network had a low percentage of coincidence. Six agricultural landscapes were inadequately represented in the current conservation network According to our multi-track approach, similar to 29% of study area was required to capture 100% of vertebrate species and all landscape types. Our results show that the existing conservation areas are insufficient to guarantee the conservation of biodiversity in the study region. Additional areas with outstanding features of diversity, connectivity areas, and establishment of targets for off-reserve conservation are of fundamental importance for strengthening biodiversity conservation. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

KW - Agroecosystem

KW - Combined Index of biodiversity

KW - Gap analysis

KW - Landscape representation

KW - Least-cost path analysis

KW - Natura 2000 Network

KW - AGRI-ENVIRONMENT SCHEMES

KW - BIODIVERSITY HOTSPOTS

KW - BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY

KW - IDENTIFYING AREAS

KW - SPECIES RICHNESS

KW - PROTECTED AREAS

KW - NATURE-RESERVES

KW - ECOLOGY

KW - PRIORITIZATION

KW - AMPHIBIANS

U2 - 10.1016/j.biocon.2011.07.001

DO - 10.1016/j.biocon.2011.07.001

M3 - Article

SN - 0006-3207

VL - 144

SP - 2468

EP - 2478

JO - Biological Conservation

JF - Biological Conservation

IS - 10

ER -

Conservation planning of vertebrate diversity in a Mediterranean agricultural-dominant landscape

Abstract

Funding

Keywords

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