Optimized Spatial Priorities for Biodiversity Conservation in China: A Systematic Conservation Planning Perspective

Wu, Ruidong; Long, Yongcheng; Malanson, George P.; Garber, Paul A.; Zhang, Shuang; Li, Diqiang; Zhao, Peng; Wang, Longzhu; Duo, Hairui

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0103783

Cited by 40 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Although China is confronting serious environmental problems during its rapid social and economic development (Wu et al. ), it has emphasized conservation of biodiversity in recent years (Wang et al. ; Wandesforde‐Smith et al.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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China's endemic vertebrates sheltering under the protective umbrella of the giant panda

Pimm

2015

Conservation Biology

154

110

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The giant panda attracts disproportionate conservation resources. How well does this emphasis protect other endemic species? Detailed data on geographical ranges are not available for plants or invertebrates, so we restrict our analyses to 3 vertebrate taxa: birds, mammals, and amphibians. There are gaps in their protection, and we recommend practical actions to fill them. We identified patterns of species richness, then identified which species are endemic to China, and then which, like the panda, live in forests. After refining each species' range by its known elevational range and remaining forest habitats as determined from remote sensing, we identified the top 5% richest areas as the centers of endemism. Southern mountains, especially the eastern Hengduan Mountains, were centers for all 3 taxa. Over 96% of the panda habitat overlapped the endemic centers. Thus, investing in almost any panda habitat will benefit many other endemics. Existing panda national nature reserves cover all but one of the endemic species that overlap with the panda's distribution. Of particular interest are 14 mammal, 20 bird, and 82 amphibian species that are inadequately protected. Most of these species the International Union for Conservation of Nature currently deems threatened. But 7 mammal, 3 bird, and 20 amphibian species are currently nonthreatened, yet their geographical ranges are <20,000 km(2) after accounting for elevational restriction and remaining habitats. These species concentrate mainly in Sichuan, Yunnan, Nan Mountains, and Hainan. There is a high concentration in the east Daxiang and Xiaoxiang Mountains of Sichuan, where pandas are absent and where there are no national nature reserves. The others concentrate in Yunnan, Nan Mountains, and Hainan. Here, 10 prefectures might establish new protected areas or upgrade local nature reserves to national status.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Nature reserves are small in central and eastern China, where human activities dominate (Wu et al. ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

China's endemic vertebrates sheltering under the protective umbrella of the giant panda

Pimm

2015

Conservation Biology

154

110

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“…It is a decision-support tool, which solves an optimization problem of representing a set of conservation features (species, ecosystems, ecoregions or ecosystem services) at a minimal cost, and has been widely used for identifying CAs in China (Wu et al 2014;Zhang et al 2014) and across the world (Powers et al 2013;Hermoso et al 2013;Tulloch et al 2016;Powers et al 2016). The Qinghai Province was partitioned into 4 km × 4 km grids or 44,475 planning units (PUs).…”

Section: Proposed Conservation Priority Areasmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We set the cost of each PU as the value of the human footprint index (Sanderson et al 2002). This index assumed that PUs with less human disturbance have higher social acceptance (Powers et al 2013) and a lower conservation cost, and is widely accepted as a universal conservation cost surrogate (Fajardo et al 2014;Wu et al 2014). We ran different scenarios using the Zonae Cogito Decision Support System to test the most suitable parameters for MARXAN whereby we varied the boundary length modifier (BLM) and the species penalty factor (SPF).…”

Section: Proposed Conservation Priority Areasmentioning

confidence: 99%

Proposed biodiversity conservation areas: gap analysis and spatial prioritization on the inadequately studied Qinghai Plateau, China

Li¹,

Xu²,

Powers³

et al. 2018

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Global biodiversity priorities are primarily addressed through the establishment or expansion of conservation areas (CAs). Spatial prioritization of these CAs can help minimize biodiversity loss by accounting for the uneven distribution of biodiversity and conservation considerations (e.g., accessibility, cost, and biodiversity threats). Furthermore, optimized spatial priorities can help facilitate the judicious use of limited conservation resources by identifying cost effective CA designs. Here, we demonstrate how key species and ecosystems can be incorporated into systematic conservation planning to propose the expansion and addition of new CAs in the biodiversity-unique and data-poor region of Qinghai Plateau, China. We combined species distribution models with a systematic conservation planning tool, MARXAN to identify CAs for biodiversity on Qinghai Plateau. A set of 57 optimal CAs (273,872 km 2 , 39.3 % of this Province) were required to achieve the defined conservation targets in Qinghai Province. We also identified 29 new CAs (139,216 km 2 , 20% of Qinghai Province) outside the existing nature reserve (NRs) that are necessary to fully achieve the proposed conservation targets. The conservation importance of these 29 new CAs was also indicated, with 10 labeled as high priority, 11 as medium priority, and 8 as low priority. High priority areas were more abundant in the eastern and southeastern parts of this region. Our results RESEARCH ARTICLE Launched to accelerate biodiversity conservation A peer-reviewed open-access journalRenqiang Li et al. / Nature Conservation 24: 1-20 (2018) 2 suggest that many species remain inadequately protected within the Qinghai Plateau, with conservation gaps in eastern and northwestern regions. The proposed more representative and effective CAs can provide useful information for adjusting the existing NRs and developing the first National Park in China.

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“…Likewise, National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans developed by Contracting Parties to fulfill their obligations under Article 6 (General Measures for Conservation and Sustainable Use) of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) use biodiversity data to inform spatial planning processes by governments and the private sector, helping to identify national priorities (Bowles-Newark et al, 2014). Improvements to national biodiversity data are guiding changes in conservation policies and on-the-ground actions, with long-term datasets enabling the identification of priority conservation areas for protecting biodiversity and maintaining ecological security and aiding in the development of biodiversity "red lists" (e.g., Wu et al, 2014;Wu, 2016). Finally, international treaties, such as the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS), as well as regional regulations, such as the European Union Wildlife Trade Regulations, are likewise dependent on reliable and current data to assess the conservation status of species and to track countries' adherence to trade regulations.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Blueprints of Effective Biodiversity and Conservation Knowledge Products That Support Marine Policy

et al. 2017

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Biodiversity and conservation data are generally costly to collect, particularly in the marine realm. Hence, data collected for a given-often scientific-purpose are occasionally contributed toward secondary needs, such as policy implementation or other types of decision-making. However, while the quality and accessibility of marine biodiversity and conservation data have improved over the past decade, the ways in which these data can be used to develop and implement relevant management and conservation measures and actions are not always explicit. For this reason, there are a number of scientifically-sound datasets that are not used systematically to inform policy and decisions. Transforming these marine biodiversity and conservation datasets into knowledge products that convey the information required by policy-and decision-makers is an important step in strengthening knowledge exchange across the science-policy interface. Here, we identify seven characteristics of a selection of online biodiversity and conservation knowledge products that contribute to their ability to support policy-and decision-making in the marine realm (as measured by e.g., mentions in policy resolutions/decisions, or use for reporting under selected policy instruments; use in high-level screening for areas of biodiversity importance). These characteristics include: a clear policy mandate; established networks of collaborators; iterative co-design of a user-friendly interface; standardized, comprehensive and documented methods with quality assurance; consistent capacity and succession planning; accessible data and value-added products that are fit-for-purpose; and metrics of use collated and reported. The outcomes of this review are intended to: (a) support data creators/owners/providers in designing and curating biodiversity and conservation knowledge products that have Weatherdon et al.Blueprints of Effective Knowledge Products greater influence, and hence impact, in policy-and decision-making, and (b) provide recommendations for how decision-and policy-makers can support the development, implementation, and sustainability of robust biodiversity and conservation knowledge products through the framing of marine policy and decision-making frameworks.

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Optimized Spatial Priorities for Biodiversity Conservation in China: A Systematic Conservation Planning Perspective

Cited by 40 publications

References 22 publications

China's endemic vertebrates sheltering under the protective umbrella of the giant panda

China's endemic vertebrates sheltering under the protective umbrella of the giant panda

Proposed biodiversity conservation areas: gap analysis and spatial prioritization on the inadequately studied Qinghai Plateau, China

Blueprints of Effective Biodiversity and Conservation Knowledge Products That Support Marine Policy

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