Prospects for Canada's protected areas in an era of rapid climate change

Lemieux, Christopher J.; Beechey, Thomas J.; Gray, Paul A.

doi:10.1016/j.landusepol.2011.03.008

Cited by 65 publications

(49 citation statements)

References 61 publications

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“…These projections place Canada's boreal zone among the regions expected to experience the greatest climate change (Plummer et al 2006). Several authors have suggested that Canada's protected area system may be sensitive to climate change impacts Suffling and Scott 2002;Lemieux and Scott 2005;Lemieux et al 2011aLemieux et al , 2011b. Notably, the representation of boreal forests, in particular, is expected to decline as biomes shift north, given the current distribution of PPAs Lemieux and Scott 2005).…”

Section: Park and Protected Area Network In The Context Of Climate Cmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Climate impacts can be addressed in conservation planning in several ways. As with guidelines for the protection of landscape dynamics, the creation of large, connected protected areas is often recommended to protect shifting patterns of biodiversity, especially with reference to climate change (Halpin 1997;Heller and Zavaleta 2009;Lemieux et al 2011a). Large and diverse reserves may contain sufficient environmental heterogeneity to accommodate shifting habitats within their boundaries, at least in the short term (Ackerly et al 2010).…”

Section: Climate Changementioning

confidence: 99%

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Protected areas in boreal Canada: a baseline and considerations for the continued development of a representative and effective reserve network

2014

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REVIEWProtected areas in boreal Canada: a baseline and considerations for the continued development of a representative and effective reserve network 1 Margaret E. Andrew, Michael A. Wulder, and Jeffrey A. Cardille Abstract: Boreal forests maintain regionally important biodiversity and globally important ecosystem services, such as carbon storage and freshwater resources. Many boreal systems have limited anthropogenic disturbances and are preserved, in effect, to date largely by their harsh climates and remoteness. As of 2011, almost 10% of Canada is subject to some manner of formal protection, with 4.5% of this protected area found within the boreal zone. The management of existing parks and protected areas (PPAs) is shared amongst many federal, provincial, and territorial jurisdictions. Although there are currently low levels of anthropogenic development in some portions of the boreal zone (especially the north), if expansion of protected areas is of interest, there are challenges to traditional PPA networks that may be more prominent in the boreal zone than elsewhere: (1) the boreal zone is home to charismatic mammal species with area requirements much larger than typical PPAs; (2) the boreal zone is characterized by natural disturbance regimes that impact large areas; and (3) projected changes to climate for the boreal zone are among the greatest in the world, creating temporal considerations for conservation planning exercises. There is currently no PPA assessment specific to boreal Canada. To address this lack of an assessment, we developed a conservation gap analysis of the current PPA system with respect to a variety of environmental surrogates (ecozones, land cover, vegetation productivity, and landscape structure). The amount of formally protected land varied within each surrogate, with few commonly reported features meeting national or international conservation targets. Furthermore, few reserves met the areal requirements that have been previously recommended to protect large mammals or accommodate the disturbance regimes present. We also discuss considerations and implications of area-based versus value-based protection objectives. While recognizing that there are still scientific challenges around understanding and evaluating the effectiveness of PPAs, based upon our review and assessment, the following considerations should inform conservation options for the boreal zone: (1) representation of the distribution of natural features within the PPA network; (2) effective maintenance of habitat requirements and spatial resilience to both cyclical and directional changes in spatial patterns through large, connected reserves; and (3) implementation of sustainable forest management practices (where applicable) throughout the broader landscape, as traditional on-reserve protection is unlikely to be sufficient to meet conservation goals. The Canadian boreal is unique in possessing large tracts of inaccessible forested lands that are not subject to management interventions, thereby offering functions similar...

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Section: Park and Protected Area Network In The Context Of Climate Cmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Climate Changementioning

confidence: 99%

Protected areas in boreal Canada: a baseline and considerations for the continued development of a representative and effective reserve network

2014

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“…Consequently, the need for adaptation is not always clear. However, many studies confirm that climate change will have an effect on soils (Lavee et al, 1998;Nearing et al, 2004), water availability (Manabe et al, 2004;Frei et al, 2006;Otero et al, 2011), river systems (Arora and Boer, 2001;Huntjens et al, 2010), agriculture (Rounsevell and Reay, 2009;Bindi and Olesen, 2011;Lorencová et al, 2013) fauna and flora (Burns et al, 2003;Berry et al, 2006) and on ecosystems in general (Harris et al, 2006;Lemieux et al, 2011). These findings provide strong indications that the landscape as a whole may also be affected by climate change as it integrates all these single aspects into one entity (Thompson et al, 1998;Callaghan et al, 2004;McEvoy et al, 2008).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Often, the management approach of such landscapes is oriented towards preventing changes, like climate change. However, it would be more beneficial to tackle inevitable changes, and thus reinforce the resilience of the system (Bieling et al, 2011;Lemieux et al, 2011). Bieling et al (2011) describe resilience as "the ability to deal with disturbances or change without altering the essential characteristics of the system in question".…”

Section: Assessing the Potential Impacts Of Climate Change On Traditimentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the potential impacts of climate change on traditional landscapes and their heritage values on the local level: Case studies in the Dender basin in Flanders, Belgium

Dupont

Eetvelde

2013

Land Use Policy

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GIS, based on the results of impact-and model studies. The vulnerability maps indicate that both case studies are sensitive to climate change. In particular, forest desiccation, wind throw, crop deterioration, soil erosion and flooding might affect the landscape quality and threaten the natural-scientific, historical and aesthetic heritage values of the landscapes. In order to preserve these heritage values, the adaptation maps present possible adaptation measures, which are sustainable and non-destructive with respect to the landscape quality. Although adaptation will cause change as well, it offers more chances to preserve the heritage values of the landscapes. To be effective, detailed climate change vulnerability and adaptation maps should be included in the binding landscape management plans.

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“…Many of the priorities focused on the question of environmental change, and particularly climate change, which has, in recent years, developed from a theoretical or future issue into a practical day-to-day management challenge for many protected area agencies (Lemieux et al, 2011). While there is certainly some repetition here, there is also a wide range of issues raised, from broadranging questions about the ability of protected areas to function under climate change to quite specific management-related responses, and ways to encourage learning and adaptation on the ground.…”

Section: Managing For Environmental Change Including Climate Changementioning

confidence: 99%

Priorities for protected area research

Dudley¹,

Hockings²,

Stolton³

et al. 2018

Parks

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A hundred research priorities of critical importance to protected area management were identified by a targeted survey of conservation professionals; half researchers and half practitioners. Respondents were selected to represent a range of disciplines, every continent except Antarctica and roughly equal numbers of men and women. The results analysed thematically and grouped as potential research topics as by both practitioners and researchers. Priority research gaps reveal a high interest to demonstrate the role of protected areas within a broader discussion about sustainable futures and if and how protected areas can address a range of conservation and socio-economic challenges effectively. The paper lists the hundred priorities structured under broad headings of management, ecology, governance and social (including political and economic issues) and helps contribute to setting future research agendas.

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Prospects for Canada's protected areas in an era of rapid climate change

Cited by 65 publications

References 61 publications

Protected areas in boreal Canada: a baseline and considerations for the continued development of a representative and effective reserve network

Protected areas in boreal Canada: a baseline and considerations for the continued development of a representative and effective reserve network

Assessing the potential impacts of climate change on traditional landscapes and their heritage values on the local level: Case studies in the Dender basin in Flanders, Belgium

Priorities for protected area research

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