Biodiversity conservation gaps in the Brazilian protected areas

Oliveira, Ubirajara; Soares‐Filho, Britaldo; Paglia, Adriano Pereira; Brescovit, Antônio D.; Carvalho, Cláudio José Barros de; Silva, Daniel P.; Rezende, Daniella Teixeira de; Leite, Felipe Sá Fortes; Batista, João A. N.; Barbosa, João Paulo Peixoto Pena; Stehmann, João Renato; Ascher, John S.; Vasconcelos, Marcelo Ferreira de; Marco, Paulo De; Löwenberg‐Neto, Peter; Ferro, Viviane Gianluppi; Santos, Adalberto J.

doi:10.1038/s41598-017-08707-2

Cited by 206 publications

(175 citation statements)

References 49 publications

(57 reference statements)

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“…In Brazil, the advance of agribusiness over large areas has caused the rapid disappearance of ecosystems and habitats characteristic of Cerrado, leaving it as a highly threatened and fragmented ecoregion with <20% of its remaining area undisturbed (Strassburg et al, ). Furthermore, this ecoregion is poorly protected, with only 7.7% of its surface under protection (Oliveira et al, ). Unfortunately, in the other two countries that can preserve part of the Cerrado flora, Bolivia and Paraguay, are also vulnerable given the rapid change of their natural cover (Redo, Aide, & Clark, ; Salazar, Baldi, Hirota, Syktus, & McAlpine, ; Salazar et al, ; Vallejos et al, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A dark scenario for Cerrado plant species: Effects of future climate, land use and protected areas ineffectiveness

Velazco

Villalobos

Galvão

et al. 2019

Diversity and Distributions

109

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Aim The anthropogenic climate change and land use change are considered two of the main factors that are altering biodiversity at the global scale. An evaluation that combined both factors can be relevant to detect which species could be the most vulnerable and reveal the regions of highest stability or susceptibility to biodiversity. We aimed to: (a) assess the effect of climate change and land use on the distribution of Cerrado plant species for different countries where they occur, (b) evaluate the effectiveness of the current network of protected areas (PAs) to safeguards species under different greenhouse–gas (GHG) emissions and land use scenarios, and (c) estimate the vulnerability of species based on protection effectiveness and habitat loss. Location Bolivia, Brazil and Paraguay. Methods We modelled the distribution of 1,553 plant species of Cerrado and evaluated species range loss caused by present and future land use and two GHG for 2050 and 2080. We assessed species vulnerability combining the representativeness of species within conservation units with the loss of species’ ranges outside PAs. Results We found that climate change and land use will cause great damage to Cerrado flora by 2050 and 2080, even under optimistic conditions. The greatest impacts of land use will occur in the regions where the greatest richness will be harboured. The conservation of the species will be seriously affected since the PA network is not as effective in safeguarding them under current or future conditions. Main conclusions The low level of protection together with the losses caused by the advance of agricultural lands will lead most species being highly vulnerable. Due to the distinct impacts of climate and land use over the three countries, conservation strategies should be implemented at transboundary and national levels.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A dark scenario for Cerrado plant species: Effects of future climate, land use and protected areas ineffectiveness

Velazco

Villalobos

Galvão

et al. 2019

Diversity and Distributions

109

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“…In general, the current PA configuration is considered insufficient to conserve the species or groups of species whose ranges are projected to change (Velazco et al 2019). Other dimensions of Brazil's biodiversity, such as endemic species, unique evolutionary lineages, and key ecosystem services, are probably not sufficiently covered within Brazilian PAs as well (Oliveira et al 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A climate‐change vulnerability and adaptation assessment for Brazil's protected areas

Lapola

Silva

Braga

et al. 2019

Conservation Biology

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Brazil hosts the largest expanse of tropical ecosystems within protected areas (PAs), which shelter biodiversity and support traditional human populations. We assessed the vulnerability to climate change of 993 terrestrial and coastal‐marine Brazilian PAs by combining indicators of climatic‐change hazard with indicators of PA resilience (size, native vegetation cover, and probability of climate‐driven vegetation transition). This combination of indicators allows the identification of broad climate‐change adaptation pathways. Seventeen PAs (20,611 km2) were highly vulnerable and located mainly in the Atlantic Forest (7 PAs), Cerrado (6), and the Amazon (4). Two hundred fifty‐eight PAs (756,569 km2), located primarily in Amazonia, had a medium vulnerability. In the Amazon and western Cerrado, the projected severe climatic change and probability of climate‐driven vegetation transition drove vulnerability up, despite the generally good conservation status of PAs. Over 80% of PAs of high or moderate vulnerability are managed by indigenous populations. Hence, besides the potential risks to biodiversity, the traditional knowledge and livelihoods of the people inhabiting these PAs may be threatened. In at least 870 PAs, primarily in the Atlantic Forest and Amazon, adaptation could happen with little or no intervention due to low climate‐change hazard, high resilience status, or both. At least 20 PAs in the Atlantic Forest, Cerrado, and Amazonia should be targeted for stronger interventions (e.g., improvement of ecological connectivity), given their low resilience status. Despite being a first attempt to link vulnerability and adaptation in Brazilian PAs, we suggest that some of the PAs identified as highly or moderately vulnerable should be prioritized for testing potential adaptation strategies in the near future.

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“…Furthermore, existing knowledge on Amazonian forest species has been poorly integrated within conservation planning frameworks (Addison et al, ; Gardner, Barlow, Chazdon, Robert, & Harvey, ). As a result, biodiversity conservation strategies have failed to protect the majority of endemic species in Brazil (Oliveira et al, ). The latter authors found that <40% of the estimated distribution area for some species fell inside protected areas.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Strategies to optimize modeling habitat suitability of Bertholletia excelsa in the Pan‐Amazonia

Tourne

Ballester

James

et al. 2019

Ecology and Evolution

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AimAmazon‐nut (Bertholletia excelsa) is a hyperdominant and protected tree species, playing a keystone role in nutrient cycling and ecosystem service provision in Amazonia. Our main goal was to develop a robust habitat suitability model of Amazon‐nut and to identify the most important predictor variables to support conservation and tree planting decisions.LocalizationAmazon region, South America.MethodsWe collected 3,325 unique Amazon‐nut records and assembled >100 spatial predictor variables organized across climatic, edaphic, and geophysical categories. We compared suitability models using variables (a) selected through statistical techniques; (b) recommended by experts; and (c) integrating both approaches (a and b). We applied different spatial filtering scenarios to reduce overfitting. We additionally fine‐tuned MAXENT settings to our data. The best model was selected through quantitative and qualitative assessments.ResultsPrincipal component analysis based on expert recommendations was the most appropriate method for predictor selection. Elevation, coarse soil fragments, clay, slope, and annual potential evapotranspiration were the most important predictors. Their relative contribution to the best model amounted to 75%. Filtering of the presences within a radius of 10 km displayed lowest overfitting, a satisfactory omission rate and the most symmetric distribution curve. Our findings suggest that under current environmental conditions, suitable habitat for Amazon‐nut is found across 2.3 million km2, that is, 32% of the Amazon Biome.Main conclusionThe combination of statistical techniques with expert knowledge improved the quality of our suitability model. Topographic and soil variables were the most important predictors. The combination of predictor variable selection, fine‐tuning of model parameters and spatial filtering was critical for the construction of a reliable habitat suitability model.

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Biodiversity conservation gaps in the Brazilian protected areas

Cited by 206 publications

References 49 publications

A dark scenario for Cerrado plant species: Effects of future climate, land use and protected areas ineffectiveness

A dark scenario for Cerrado plant species: Effects of future climate, land use and protected areas ineffectiveness

A climate‐change vulnerability and adaptation assessment for Brazil's protected areas

Strategies to optimize modeling habitat suitability of Bertholletia excelsa in the Pan‐Amazonia

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