Sleeping accommodations for researchers increase the likelihood of biodiversity inventories in protected areas

Abstract

Biodiversity assessments are important for successful conservation initiatives. However, many protected areas (PAs) still have no biodiversity inventories of important species-rich taxa, such as invertebrates, that deliver important ecosystem services (e.g., pollination, nutrient cycling) or are biological indicators. Here, we investigated if the likelihood of having arthropod inventories in PAs (state parks) was influenced by PA size, date of PA creation, distance to the nearest university, main vegetation type (forest/savanna), and availability of accommodations for researchers by inspecting management plans from 61 PAs in southeastern Brazil. Only 13 PAs (22%) had arthropod inventories considered in park management plans. The availability of accommodations for researchers was the only variable influencing the likelihood of a PA to have arthropod inventories. A modest investment (around US$35,000 in Brazil) is required to make accommodations available for researchers in a PA and may positively impact information acquisition that is key to planning and protecting biodiversity.