The Next 50 Years: Opportunities for Diversifying the Ecological Representation of the National Wilderness Preservation System within the Contiguous United States

Aycrigg, Jocelyn L.; Tricker, James; Belote, R. Travis; Dietz, Matt S; Duarte, Lisa; Aplet, Gregory H.

doi:10.5849/jof.15-050

Cited by 10 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…), and roadless lands (Aycrigg et al. ). Our assessment of ecological representation is based on the proportion of an ecosystem's total area that occurs in lands identified in the Protected Areas Database (PAD) v 1.4 as GAP status 1 or 2 (USGS Gap Analysis Program ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wild, connected, and diverse: building a more resilient system of protected areas

Belote¹,

Dietz²,

Jenkins

et al. 2017

Ecological Applications

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Abstract. Current systems of conservation reserves may be insufficient to sustain biodiversity in the face of climate change and habitat losses. Consequently, calls have been made to protect Earth's remaining wildlands and complete the system of protected areas by establishing conservation reserves that (1) better represent ecosystems, (2) increase connectivity to facilitate biota movement in response to stressors including climate change, and (3) promote species persistence within intact landscapes. Using geospatial data, we conducted an assessment for expanding protected areas within the contiguous United States to include the least humanmodified wildlands, establish a connected network, and better represent ecosystem diversity and hotspots of biodiversity. Our composite map highlights areas of high value to achieve these goals in the western United States, where existing protected areas and lands with high ecological integrity are concentrated. We also identified important areas in the East rich in species and containing ecosystems that are poorly represented in the existing protected area system. Expanding protection to these priority areas is ultimately expected to create a more resilient system for protecting the nation's biological heritage. This expectation should be subject to rigorous testing prior to implementation, and regional monitoring will ensure areas and actions are adjusted over time.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wild, connected, and diverse: building a more resilient system of protected areas

Belote¹,

Dietz²,

Jenkins

et al. 2017

Ecological Applications

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“…We were interested in whether IRAs contained ecosystems not otherwise well‐protected in existing protected areas. We relied on the GAP national land cover data set (USGS, 30‐m resolution) to evaluate ecological representation of protected areas and IRAs (Aycrigg et al, 2013, 2016; Dietz, Belote, Aplet, & Aycrigg, 2015). We extracted landcover data within protected areas, as well as protected areas with the inclusion of IRAs to calculate increase in representation.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Conservation value of national forest roadless areas

Talty¹,

Lacroix

Aplet³

et al. 2020

Conservat Sci and Prac

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Conservation scientists call for establishing additional protected areas amidst ongoing threats of expanding human development. Nevertheless, some existing protected areas are being downsized and demoted of their existing conservation protections. In 2001, the Roadless Area Conservation Rule prohibited road construction and timber harvest in 240,000 km 2 of inventoried roadless areas (IRAs) located on United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service lands. IRAs represent a non-legislative protected status that is in jeopardy of conservation demotion or "degazettement," and few national protected area assessments recognize the IRA designation. Since the rule's conception two decades ago, little research has been conducted to assess the conservation values of IRAs and the values they could add to the existing system of highly protected areas in the continental United States. To increase understanding of these conservation values, we assessed three aspects of roadless areas: (a) how wild and intact are IRA lands compared to state, national, and protected lands, (b) how do IRAs complement the size, connectedness, and representation of protected lands, and (c) how do IRAs contribute to protection of important ecosystem services (drinking water and annual carbon capture)? Through this analysis we found that many IRAs are among the most wild, undeveloped areas both in the nation and within their respective states. IRAs increase the size of-and reduce isolation between-protected areas, likely buffering them from external stressors. In some places, IRAs protect watersheds that deliver drinking water to hundreds of thousands of people. IRAs also add significantly to the total carbon captured by existing protected areas. The results of our evaluation demonstrate the potential of IRAs to contribute to the conservation value of the U.S. protected area system and to deliver important ecosystem services.

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“…Finally, we evaluated the mean corridor value of some federal land units that may be candidates for elevated protection status but that are not currently legislatively protected as wilderness or national park. Specifically, we calculated the mean composite corridor value of all U.S. Forest Service Inventoried Roadless Areas and Wilderness Study Areas (N = 1,148) and BLM Wilderness Study Areas (N = 268) to identify potential land units important for maintaining a national network of large, connected, protected areas and that are potential candidates for elevated levels of protection ( sensu [ 40 ]). We excluded units ≤ 3,000 ha from this analysis to ensure an adequate sample of at least 30 grid cells from the composite corridor value raster.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identifying Corridors among Large Protected Areas in the United States

Belote¹,

Dietz²,

McRae

et al. 2016

PLoS ONE

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116

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Conservation scientists emphasize the importance of maintaining a connected network of protected areas to prevent ecosystems and populations from becoming isolated, reduce the risk of extinction, and ultimately sustain biodiversity. Keeping protected areas connected in a network is increasingly recognized as a conservation priority in the current era of rapid climate change. Models that identify suitable linkages between core areas have been used to prioritize potentially important corridors for maintaining functional connectivity. Here, we identify the most “natural” (i.e., least human-modified) corridors between large protected areas in the contiguous Unites States. We aggregated results from multiple connectivity models to develop a composite map of corridors reflecting agreement of models run under different assumptions about how human modification of land may influence connectivity. To identify which land units are most important for sustaining structural connectivity, we used the composite map of corridors to evaluate connectivity priorities in two ways: (1) among land units outside of our pool of large core protected areas and (2) among units administratively protected as Inventoried Roadless (IRAs) or Wilderness Study Areas (WSAs). Corridor values varied substantially among classes of “unprotected” non-core land units, and land units of high connectivity value and priority represent diverse ownerships and existing levels of protections. We provide a ranking of IRAs and WSAs that should be prioritized for additional protection to maintain minimal human modification. Our results provide a coarse-scale assessment of connectivity priorities for maintaining a connected network of protected areas.

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The Next 50 Years: Opportunities for Diversifying the Ecological Representation of the National Wilderness Preservation System within the Contiguous United States

Cited by 10 publications

References 13 publications

Wild, connected, and diverse: building a more resilient system of protected areas

Wild, connected, and diverse: building a more resilient system of protected areas

Conservation value of national forest roadless areas

Identifying Corridors among Large Protected Areas in the United States

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