Journal for Nature Conservation最新文献

Political boundaries often do not coincide with ecological boundaries, and it is common for the same physical geographical unit to span multiple countries. Exploring establishing transboundary protected areas and ecological networks can effectively protect the integrity of natural ecosystems separated by political boundaries. Based on the integrated evaluation of ecosystem services function, ecological vulnerability, and ecosystem integrity, this study explored a methodological system for evaluating ecological protection priority areas in transboundary areas and selected the Altai Mountains, which span four countries, contain China, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Mongolia, as a typical case to conduct empirical research. The study found that the extremely important areas of ecosystem services function, ecological vulnerability, and ecosystem integrity showed transboundary contiguous characteristics. Furthermore, weighted overlay analysis identified the spatial distribution pattern of ecological protection priority areas in the Altai Mountains. We suggested establishing transboundary protected areas in the four countries’ transboundary areas, building the identified ecological protection priority areas and existing protected areas into a transboundary protected area network, and deepening a multi-party transboundary protection cooperation mechanism. This study can provide a theoretical and practical reference to achieve the 2030 biodiversity conservation goals.

The impact of pesticides on fauna remains a little-known topic. In Europe and North America, the belief that insecticide use may be partially linked to populational declines in pollinating insects is one based on fragments of evidence. Classifying pesticides as a biodiversity threat might therefore be more reliant on the perceived interactions between species and sprayed crops. Brazil’s high pesticide use and rich biodiversity provide an opportunity to assess whether spatial parameters can be used to infer the potential biodiversity threat of pesticides by mapping the risk of exposure faced by 100 animal species considered threatened by these chemical agents. A given specie’s risk of exposure is the proportion of its potential distribution that overlaps with agricultural areas utilizing pesticides relative to the area of remnant natural vegetation. When these parameters were applied, results show that only 16 % of those species in Brazil considered threatened by pesticides had a high risk of exposure. This article argues that citing pesticides as a specie’s threat based only on assumptions confuses the understanding of a link that is already difficult to verify. Spatial parameters such as risk of exposure offer a more objective approach to assess the threat plausibility pesticides pose to fauna and can reveal other overlooked species possessing higher potential from being impacted by these chemical agents.

In Tropical Andes, livestock predation is the main cause of conflict between Andean bears (Tremarctos ornatus) and humans. In central Peru, the small village of San Pedro de Churco, located in buffer zone of Pampa Hermosa National Sanctuary, has experienced a conflict with Andean bears since 2013 due to the livestock depredation of cattle. To create a baseline for formulating mitigation measures, we seek to analyze which environmental and anthropogenic characteristics best explain the habitat use by the Andean bear in this conflict region. Using camera traps, transects, and occupancy modeling, we distributed 16 sampling units in the conflict area from May 2019 to November 2020. We collected seven variables: slope, forest cover, the occurrence of Puya bromeliads, livestock abundance, distance from S.P. Churco village, distance to trails, and rainfall. We expected that variables linked to food resources would have a large explanatory weight (w⁺) positively on habitat use by the Andean bear, while anthropogenic variables would have a negative impact on the species’ habitat use due to disturbances caused by human activity. Our results demonstrated the importance of maintaining the cloud forests (w⁺=0.61) and the high-Andean grasslands with Puya (w⁺=0.66) for the establishment of the Andean bear in conflict areas, in addition to the effect of seasonality (w⁺=0.63) on the use of different habitats and the resource availability for the species. However, the presence of abundant livestock (w⁺=-0.64) may be causing the displacement of bears, negatively impacting the availability of their habitats in conflict zones. The habitat use rate by bears across the study area was 0.69 with a detectability of 0.15, and we identified six individuals through the body marks. Based on the results and the conflict landscape, we mapped the focal areas sampling with the greatest potential for livestock depredation by Andean bears and the implications for management and coexistence. Measures that conserve cloud forests and the Puya grasslands, as well as more sustainable and profitable livestock management practices can be prioritized to reduce human-bear conflict in the region.

Human-wildlife conflict affects the social-ecological systems essential for sustainable development. In human-dominated landscapes, effective management necessitates context-specific strategies that promote workable coexistence. This present study evaluates community perspectives on human-wildlife conflict management strategies through Importance-Performance Analysis in Chitwan National Park, Nepal. As a cost-effective and user-friendly tool, Importance-Performance Analysis helps protected area managers prioritize strategies and make informed decisions. Our findings reveal eight management strategies with significant importance-performance gaps, suggesting that park management is falling short in meeting both farmers’ and non-farmers’ needs. The graphical representation of Importance-Performance Analysis matrix visually identifies three high priority strategies—enhanced livelihood diversification skills, promotion of alternative livelihoods, and fast-tracked compensation schemes—that demand immediate action. The ANOVA results show varying perspectives between farmers and non-farmers across the park’s four management sectors (Kasara, Sauraha, Madi, and Amaltari), regarding the importance and performance of management strategies. This study demonstrates that Importance-Performance Analysis can be effectively adapted by protected area managers to evaluate and enhance management effectiveness from stakeholders’ perspectives, thereby balancing biodiversity conservation with community well-being and advancing the global goal of ‘living in harmony with nature’.

Syagrus coronata (Mart.) Becc. (Arecaceae), known as licuri, is a palm tree widely distributed throughout the Brazilian semi-arid, being currently vulnerable to extinction. Its fruits are exploited by both humans and animals, representing high sociocultural, economic, and ecological relevance. This palm tree is found in areas under different management intensity and land use; therefore, both medium and long-term ecological monitoring programs are essential to verify the effects of anthropogenic disturbances on the dynamic of their populations. Information on population structure and growth (λ) from 2018 to 2021 was obtained in 40 plots of 20 × 20 m (1.6 ha). Population matrix models based on five life stages (seedling, sapling, juvenile, immature adult, and reproductive adults) were obtained, in addition to information on fruit productivity and harvesting intensity. Individuals from the seedling stage predominated in both pasture and natural habitats. The populations from two habitats were stable (Pasture λ = 1.00 and Natural λ = 1.01); however, no transition occurred from earlier up to later stages. The population in the pasture was characterized by a low transition rate (recruitment of juveniles onwards), caused mainly by the pressure exerted by cattle. Our results suggest that the adult reproductive and seedling stages are the most important for the survival and growth of the populations. Harvest intensity had no effect on population growth, and only 16.65 % of the fruit annual production was collected. Therefore, fruit harvesting is sustainable, but the type of pasture management might compromise the future of the population. Management strategies ought to reduce the pressure exerted by livestock to increase the transition between stages and maintain the S. coronata populations over several years.

Projects demanding deforestation to expand urban infrastructure and road networks put pressure on the Atlantic Forest − a hyper-fragmented global conservation hotspot known for its high biodiversity and endemism. To support decision-making, we applied a scientific approach to analyse the immediate and long-term impacts of two major planned projects in the most threatened Atlantic Forest region – the Pernambuco Endemism Center, a crucial area for the survival of many endemic species. A Metropolitan Road Arch and a Training School for Career Sergeants are expected in the Environmental Protection Area Aldeia-Beberibe (31,634 ha) in the next few years. The area has 198 protected forest remnants, including one larger than 10,000 ha. Our analysis shows that the projects’ implementation may deforest 189 ha, increase fragment number by 3.5 % and decrease the average patch area by 4 %. The largest fragment will be divided into two. We may lose 335,307 trees and 44,655.59 Mg of carbon. Approximately 112.67 ha of watershed protection will be damaged. Thus, in the medium to long term, habitat quality will worsen, and the probability of connectivity will decrease, restricting forest-dependent species’ mobility considerably. To date, alternative areas have been proposed in meetings, working groups, and environmental advisory bodies for the analysed projects. We strongly oppose further deforestation and suggest that science-based approaches must be immediately considered for any project that requires forest suppression in highly fragmented landscapes. This is crucial to mitigate the alarming scenarios of extreme climate and biodiversity loss that we are currently witnessing in Brazil and worldwide.

Community Conserved Areas exemplify a harmonious interplay between human and nature, contributing to biodiversity conservation. Nonetheless, their sustainability faces jeopardy due to social disruptions. Taking Xishuangbanna as an example, we explore the social-ecological system resilience of Community Conserved Areas at the regional level, taking the disturbances caused by human social activities as the entry point, and construct a resilience evaluation index system based on the pressure-state-response model, evaluating its resilience, and analyzing in depth the factors influencing it. Taking into consideration the pressure, status and response, the percentage of townships with resilience levels ranging from Level V to Level I are 20 %, 23 %, 20 %, 27 % and 10 %, respectively. Among the prominent social factors affecting the resilience of Xishuangbanna’s Community Conserved Areas, the hierarchy of influence, ranked in descending pressure, encompasses: agricultural development, population growth and urbanization rate. The status hierarchy is largely dependent on the quality of resources and the condition of the community. Within the response hierarchy, we have explored factors such as education, traditional culture and forest conservation are key. Our study extends the comprehension of socio-ecological resilience within Community Conserved Areas to encompass the regional scale. This clarification underscores the pivotal role of management systems in fortifying social-ecological system resilience, laying a foundation for regional conservation and management efforts.

Amidst the global decline in biodiversity, there are growing calls for more ambitious conservation targets and practices, including a renewed focus on protecting and restoring natural processes. However, little is known about suitable areas for process-oriented conservation and its different strategies. In this paper, we identify priority areas for process-oriented conservation following an ecoregion-based approach. Using the Alpine Space programme area as a pilot study area, a Wilderness Quality Index is calculated and mapped based on spatial indicators reflecting variations in naturalness, human impact, remoteness, and ruggedness. To identify priority areas for process-oriented conservation, the 10% of areas with the highest wilderness quality are identified for each ecoregion (‘ecoregional approach’) and compared with the identification of the 10% wildest areas of the entire study area (‘conventional approach’). The results show significant differences in priority areas between the two approaches, with those identified by the ecoregional approach being of lower wilderness quality, more dispersed across the study region and different elevation classes, and smaller in size. The ecoregional approach results in a greater coverage of ecosystem- and species-level diversity, yet it highlights a greater need for complementing the protection of wilderness in less modified regions with rewilding initiatives and the expansion of the protected area network in ecoregions with significant human activity. Based on these findings, we discuss the potential and challenges that an ecoregion-based identification of priority areas brings for biodiversity conservation, protection and restoration practice, and local communities. The ecoregion-based approach and the findings of this study can inform initiatives under the EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2030, in particular the target to ‘strictly protect’ 10% of the EU’s land and sea.

The Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus) is one of the most endangered felids in the world, and a high proportion of its populations occur in hunting grounds managed for red-legged partridge (Alectoris rufa) and wild rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus), both game species of high socio-economic value and the latter a key prey species for the lynx. In this case study from south-eastern Portugal, we evaluated the game management practices, the abundance of partridges and rabbits (expressed as Kilometric Abundance Index), and the occurrence of mesocarnivores in four hunting grounds, two with and two without breeding lynx. In all grounds game management was conducted but in those where lynx occurred, full-time gamekeepers were employed and hunting was the major source of income. The results showed that grounds with breeding lynx had higher KAI values for partridges and rabbits, together with reduced mesocarnivores occurrence (particularly red fox Vulpes vulpes and stone marten Martes foina), compared to those without breeding lynx. Our results confirm that lynx occurrence fits within the management traits of those hunting grounds in Iberia aiming to increase partridges and rabbits for sustainable hunting, as they act as ‘natural’ gamekeepers. This could be considered as a ‘win-win’ situation; successful for lynx’s establishment and small game conservation.