Housing growth in and near United States protected areas limits their conservation value

Abstract

Protected areas are crucial for biodiversity conservation because they provide safe havens for species threatened by land-use change and resulting habitat loss. However, protected areas are only effective when they stop habitat loss within their boundaries, and are connected via corridors to other wild areas. The effectiveness of protected areas is threatened by development; however, the extent of this threat is unknown. We compiled spatially-detailed housing growth data from 1940 to 2030, and quantified growth for each wilderness area, national park, and national forest in the conterminous United States. Our findings show that housing development in the United States may severely limit the ability of protected areas to function as a modern “Noah’s Ark.” Between 1940 and 2000, 28 million housing units were built within 50 km of protected areas, and 940,000 were built within national forests. Housing growth rates during the 1990s within 1 km of protected areas (20% per decade) outpaced the national average (13%). If long-term trends continue, another 17 million housing units will be built within 50 km of protected areas by 2030 (1 million within 1 km), greatly diminishing their conservation value. US protected areas are increasingly isolated, housing development in their surroundings is decreasing their effective size, and national forests are even threatened by habitat loss within their administrative boundaries. Protected areas in the United States are thus threatened similarly to those in developing countries. However, housing growth poses the main threat to protected areas in the United States whereas deforestation is the main threat in developing countries.

Solar energy development impacts on land cover change and protected areas

“…Proximity impacts result from the fragmentation and degradation of land near and between protected areas, reducing ecological flows of energy, organisms, and goods (16)(17)(18)(19)(20). In a study of 57 …”

“…Recent studies have underscored the role that proximity of threats to protected areas plays in meeting conservation goals (16)(17)(18)(19)(20). Protected areas may preclude habitat loss within boundaries; however, a prevailing cause of degradation within protected areas is land use and land cover change in surrounding areas.…”

Climate change, wine, and conservation

“…Ex-urban development with associated residential or artisanal vineyards may act in synergy with changes in wine suitability. Since 1940, parts of the Canadian Rockies and western Montana have experienced some of the highest decadal housing growth rates (more than 400%) within 50 km of a protected area (34). Similar housing growth in the Napa Valley of California has been associated with extensive development of small-estate vineyards.…”

Fragmentation effects of oil wells and roads on the Yellow River Delta, North China

“…Many ecologists have applied buffer analysis to identify the pattern of drivers in protected areas (Radeloff et al, 2010), but it was difficult to estimate the influences of oil wells on the interspaces by buffer analysis since the Yellow River Delta NR was divided into two separate parts. In this study, therefore, we used grids with cell length 2 Â 2 km to describe the distribution of oil wells.…”