The Landscape Species Approach: spatially-explicit conservation planning applied in the Adirondacks, USA, and San Guillermo-Laguna Brava, Argentina, landscapes K a r l A . D i d i e r , M i c h a l e J . G l e n n o n , A n d r É s N o v a r o , E r i c W . S a n d e r s o n S a m a n t h a S t r i n d b e r g , S u s a n W a l k e r and S e b Á s t i a n D i M a r t i n o Abstract The Landscape Species Approach is a framework developed by the Wildlife Conservation Society for planning landscape-scale conservation based on a suite of focal species. The approach has so far been implemented at 12 terrestrial and two marine sites. We demonstrate the approach using two sites, the Adirondack Park, USA, and San Guillermo-Laguna Brava Landscape, Argentina. We describe the spatially explicit components, including steps to map the attainable (Biological Landscape), current, and future distribution of Landscape Species, human activities (Human Landscapes) and their impacts on Landscape Species, the possible impacts of conservation actions (Conservation Landscapes), and a procedure to set spatial conservation priorities. We discuss advantages and innovations of the approach, including how it incorporates both vulnerability of biodiversity and possible recovery. Finally, we discuss improvements that can be made to the approach, costs, and implications for conservation at the two sites.

Human-nature interactions shape biodiversity and natural resources. Planning conservation and engaging stakeholders in dialogues about conservation require an understanding of indirect threats arising from socioeconomic and political conditions, plus participatory methods to build consensus for action. We present a method for spatial assessment of threats, which involves stakeholders in decision-making and planning for conservation. We developed and tested the method in wildlife conservation projects in Asia, Africa, Madagascar, and Central America. The method follows a fivestep process: each participant lists the human activities that are the most damaging to biodiversity and natural resources in their region (direct threats) and the role that users, managers, and policymakers play to promote or facilitate these activities (indirect threats); all participants vote to rank the worst direct threats and to map the locations of these threats at their site. The output maps are amenable to use in GIS analysis. We show how these maps help to plan, monitor, and implement interventions in wildlife conservation projects.

Climate change is predicted to be a major threat for biodiversity and, from a conservation prospective, it is important to understand how ecosystems may respond to that change. Predicted climate change effects on the distribution of meadows in the arid and semiarid Argentinean Patagonia by 2050 were assessed for change trends and areas of desertification vulnerability using species distribution models (SDM) and climatechange models. Four modelling techniques composed an ensemble-forecasting approach. Suitable areas for meadows will decrease by 7.85% by 2050 given predicted changes in climate. However, there were two contrasting trends: severe reduction of suitable areas for meadows in north-west Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego Island, and an expansion of suitable areas for meadows in the south and a small section in the north-west. Meadows in Patagonia will likely be impacted by climate change, probably due to changes in precipitation regimes, and consequently many species that rely on meadows in an arid environment will also be impacted. Given the low level of protection of meadows in Patagonia, such information on meadow distribution and vulnerability to climate change will be important for increasing and improving the network of conservation areas through conservation planning.

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