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ABSTRACT Systematic conservation planning ( SCP) is a field of conservation biology concerned with delivering on-the-ground actions that achieve conservation goals. It describes a set of operational models that cover both design and implementation of conservation, with a strong focus on mobilising the collective action typically required to implement conservation. SCP, as it was originally described, was composed of six different stages: collection of data, identification of conservation goals, evaluation of the existing protected area network, design of expansions, implementation of conservation action, and long-term maintenance of biodiversity in the network. Since then, the operational model has been expanded into several different variants. Conservation actions applied inside SCP include establishment and expansion of reserve networks and allocation of habitat restoration and management. Within the broader context of SCP, there is a fundamental biogeographic-economic analysis frequently called spatial conservation prioritisation or conservation assessment, which is used for identifying where important areas for biodiversity are and how conservation goals might be achieved efficiently. Here, we review the usage and meaning of the 12 biogeographic-economic core concepts of SCP: adequacy, complementarity, comprehensiveness, effectiveness, efficiency, flexibility, irreplaceability, replacement cost, representation, representativeness, threat, and vulnerability. Some of the concepts have clear definitions whereas others may have alternative and possibly conflicting definitions. With a comprehensive literature review literature, we elucidate the historical backgrounds of these concepts, the first definitions and usages, alternative later definitions, key applications, and prior reviews. This review reduces linguistic uncertainty in the application of SCP. Since SCP is a global activity with a multitude of different stakeholders involved, it is vital that those involved can speak the same language. Through these concepts, this review serves as a source of information about the historical development of SCP. It provides a comprehensive review for anyone wishing to understand the key concepts of spatial prioritisation within SCP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is leading to the development of land-based mitigation and adaptation strategies that are likely to have substantial impacts on global biodiversity. Of these, approaches to maintain carbon within existing natural ecosystems could have particularly large benefits for biodiversity. However, the geographical distributions of terrestrial carbon stocks and biodiversity differ. Using conservation planning analyses for the New World and Britain, we conclude that a carbon-only strategy would not be effective at conserving biodiversity, as have previous studies. Nonetheless, we find that a combined carbon-biodiversity strategy could simultaneously protect 90% of carbon stocks (relative to a carbon-only conservation strategy) and > 90% of the biodiversity (relative to a biodiversity-only strategy) in both regions. This combined approach encapsulates the principle of complementarity, whereby locations that contain different sets of species are prioritised, and hence disproportionately safeguard localised species that are not protected effectively by carbon-only strategies. It is efficient because localised species are concentrated into small parts of the terrestrial land surface, whereas carbon is somewhat more evenly distributed; and carbon stocks protected in one location are equivalent to those protected elsewhere. Efficient compromises can only be achieved when biodiversity and carbon are incorporated together within a spatial planning process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is an important threat to biodiversity globally, but there are major uncertainties associated with its magnitude and ecological consequences. Here, we investigate how three major classes of uncertainty, linguistic uncertainty, epistemic uncertainty (uncertainty about facts), and human decision uncertainty, have been accounted for in scientific literature about climate change. Some sources of uncertainty are poorly characterized and epistemic uncertainty is much more commonly treated than linguistic or human decision uncertainty. Furthermore, we show that linguistic and human decision uncertainties are relatively better treated in the literature on sociopolitics or economics than in natural sciences, which often overlook communication between stakeholders and socioeconomic consequences. As uncertainty can significantly influence implementation of conservation, we discuss uncertainties associated with some commonly proposed conservation adaptation actions to mitigate climate change. There may be major differences between strategies, with implications on how they should be viewed in conservation planning. We conclude that evaluating conservation strategies in terms of different types of uncertainty will facilitate communication between disciplines and stakeholders. While accounting for uncertainties in a quantitative manner is difficult and data demanding, even qualitative appreciation about the uncertainties inherent in conservation strategies can facilitate and improve decision making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The Natura 2000 (N2k) network of protected areas is a backbone of biodiversity conservation in Europe, with likely further relevance for the development of green infrastructure. EU member states have legal responsibilities for evaluating the condition of and maintaining their national networks. While it is desirable to maintain the condition of the N2k network or even improve it by habitat restoration, it is a fact that national environmental bodies operate under budgetary constraints – money available for conservation is limited. Consequently, there may be a need to prioritize targeting of conservation effort in and around the N2k network. In this study we develop a high-resolution spatial conservation prioritization for the Finnish national N2k network, using data about the distribution and quality of 68 N2k habitats occurring in Finland. The aim of the work is to identify management landscapes, landscapes that have exceptionally high conservation value and which could be managed as one management unit. We identify top-priority areas of the N2k network. We also identify highest-priority N2k areas that do not have the status of a protected area in the Finnish legislation. The present work was commissioned by the Natural Heritage Services of Metsähallitus, a national administrator that is responsible for the maintenance of the Finnish protected area network. The primary purpose of this work is to assist targeting of habitat maintenance, management and restoration in and around the Finnish N2k network. The analysis done here could be replicated elsewhere using publicly available spatial prioritization software. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Aim Global conservation policies, such as the Convention on Biological Diversity ( CBD) decision to aim for the protection of 17% of the area of terrestrial ecosystems by 2020, are typically realized at national levels. We investigate the difference between continentally coordinated conservation versus nationally devolved conservation, in a manner relevant for the Nagoya resolution. Location The terrestrial areas of the Western Hemisphere. Methods We used IUCN distribution data for 8463 species of mammals, birds and amphibians in the Western Hemisphere. We investigated the consequences of prioritizing land at a continental scale, versus analysing priorities within each country separately. Spatial prioritization was performed using the Zonation software, which produces a complementarity-based hierarchical priority ranking across the area of interest. Results We found that coordinated continent-wide priorities achieved > 50% higher mean protection levels than national analyses for the top 17% of land. National prioritizations also result in spatial priority patterns that can be considered as artefacts at the continental scale: in bands of high-priority land concentrated at terrestrial political boundaries, such as at low-latitude edges of temperate zone countries. We find that this edge artefact also correlates with the present distribution of conservation areas, with the density of conservation areas within 50 km of a national border being > 50% higher than the density of conservation areas away from national borders. Main conclusions The means by which national priorities are integrated with continental or global conservation prioritization will have considerable influence on how much is achieved by the CBD resolution. Focus on national species distributions and priorities will result in lost performance because of emphasis on nationally rare species that are comparatively common elsewhere. National borders intersect species distributions (and possibly diversity gradients), leading to clustering of nationally rare species and priority areas close to the border. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Connectivity is a vital component of metapopulation and landscape ecology, influencing fundamental processes such as population dynamics, evolution, and community responses to climate change. Here, we review ongoing developments in connectivity science, providing perspectives on recent advances in identifying, quantifying, modelling and analysing connectivity, and highlight new applications for conservation. We also address ongoing challenges for connectivity research, explore opportunities for addressing them and highlight potential linkages with other fields of research. Continued development of connectivity science will provide insights into key aspects of ecology and the evolution of species, and will also contribute significantly towards achieving more effective conservation outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gap analysis is used to analyse reserve networks and their coverage of biodiversity, thus identifying gaps in biodiversity representation that may be filled by additional conservation measures. Gap analysis has been used to identify priorities for species and habitat types. When it is applied to identify gaps in the coverage of environmental variables, it embodies the assumption that combinations of environmental variables are effective surrogates for biodiversity attributes. The question remains of how to fill gaps in conservation systems efficiently. Conservation prioritization software can identify those areas outside existing conservation areas that contribute to the efficient covering of gaps in biodiversity features. We show how environmental gap analysis can be implemented using high-resolution information about environmental variables and ecosystem condition with the publicly available conservation prioritization software, Zonation. Our method is based on the conversion of combinations of environmental variables into biodiversity features. We also replicated the analysis by using Species Distribution Models (SDMs) as biodiversity features to evaluate the robustness and utility of our environment-based analysis. We apply the technique to a planning case study of the state of Victoria, Australia. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The Convention on Biological Diversity ( CBD) aims at the conservation of all three levels of biodiversity, that is, ecosystems, species and genes. Genetic diversity represents evolutionary potential and is important for ecosystem functioning. Unfortunately, genetic diversity in natural populations is hardly considered in conservation strategies because it is difficult to measure and has been hypothesised to co-vary with species richness. This means that species richness is taken as a surrogate of genetic diversity in conservation planning, though their relationship has not been properly evaluated. We tested whether the genetic and species levels of biodiversity co-vary, using a large-scale and multi-species approach. We chose the high-mountain flora of the Alps and the Carpathians as study systems and demonstrate that species richness and genetic diversity are not correlated. Species richness thus cannot act as a surrogate for genetic diversity. Our results have important consequences for implementing the CBD when designing conservation strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In Australia, over 50% of threatened species occur within the urban fringe and accelerating urbanization is now a key threat. Biodiversity near and within urban areas brings much social benefit but its maintenance involves complex trade-offs between competing land uses. Urban design typically views biodiversity as a development constraint, not a value to be enhanced into the future. We argue that decisions could be more transparent and systematic and we demonstrate that efficient development solutions can be found that avoid areas important for biodiversity. We present a case study in the context of land use change across the city of Wyndham, a local Government west of Melbourne, Australia. We use reserve design tools in a novel way to identify priority development sites, based on a synthesis of ecological, social and economic data. Trade-offs between biodiversity conservation and other key development objectives and constraints (transport planning, flood risk and food production) are quantified. The analysis can be conducted dynamically with visually compelling output, facilitating more transparent, efficient and democratically derived urban planning solutions. We suggest that government agencies could adopt similar approaches to identify efficient planning solutions for both biodiversity and development in urban environments. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Copyright of Conservation Biology is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Summary 1. Applications of graph-theoretic connectivity are increasing at an exponential rate in ecology and conservation. Here, limitations of these measures are summarized. 2. Graph-theoretic connectivity measures are fundamentally limited as they require specification of a habitat quality threshold to allow definition of habitat patches (nodes). Frequently, a second threshold (critical dispersal distance) is applied in the identification of graph edges. 3. Graph-theoretic measures are poorly applicable to large-scale, high-resolution, grid-based data that describe distributions of species in habitats of varying quality. 4. Graph-theoretic connectivity primarily concerns the emigration-immigration component of spatial population-dynamics. Therefore, it cannot alone answer questions about the regional population size, resilience or persistence of a focal species. 5. Synthesis and applications: Conservation managers in particular should appreciate these limitations before applying graph-theoretic analysis to spatial conservation planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article illustrates the land use method that leads to the success of conservation prioritization in Great Britain. It reveals that the method aims to develop a conservation priority ranking that balances between needs of biodiversity conservation, carbon storage, agricultural value, and urban development potential. It notes that the method also aims to balance the spatial allocation of alternative land uses to lessen the conflicts between biodiversity and urban areas.

Population viability can depend on habitat area, habitat quality, the spatial arrangement of habitats (aggregations and connections) and the properties of the intervening non-breeding (matrix) land. Hodgson et al. [Journal of Applied Ecology (2009) 964] and Doerr, Barrett & Doerr (Journal of Applied Ecology, 2011) disagree on the relative importance of these landscape attributes in enabling species to persist and change their distributions in response to climate change. A brief review of published evidence suggests that variations in habitat area and quality have bigger effects than variations in spatial arrangement of habitats or properties of the intervening land. Even if structural features in the matrix have a measurable effect on dispersal rates, this does not necessarily lead to significant increases in population viability. Large and high-quality habitats provide source populations and locations for colonisation, so they are the main determinants of the capacity of species to shift their distributions in response to climate change because populations must be established successively in each new region. Synthesis and applications. Retaining as much high quality natural and semi-natural habitat as possible should remain the key focus for conservation, especially during a period of climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1. The challenge of climate change forces us to re-examine the assumptions underlying conservation planning. 2. Increasing ‘connectivity’ has emerged as the most favored option for conservation in the face of climate change. 3. We argue that the importance of connectivity is being overemphasized: quantifying the benefits of connectivity per se is plagued with uncertainty, and connectivity can be coincidentally improved by targeting more concrete metrics: habitat area and habitat quality. 4. Synthesis and applications. Before investing in connectivity projects, conservation practitioners should analyze the benefits expected to arise from increasing connectivity and compare them with alternative investments, to ensure as much biodiversity conservation and resilience to climate change as possible within their budget. Strategies that we expect to remain robust in the face of climate change include maintaining and increasing the area of high quality habitats, prioritizing areas that have high environmental heterogeneity and controlling other anthropogenic threatening processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The rapid growth of cities around the world is now seen as a major contributor to global biodiversity loss and many governments include biodiversity conservation as an explicit policy goal. To help prevent further loss of biodiversity, there is an urgent need for more strategic approaches to conservation planning in urban environments based on a scientific understanding of landscape patterns, species requirements and development pressures. In this study, we demonstrate the use of new conservation planning tools to better integrate information on threatened species into landuse planning. We present a case study in the Greater Melbourne area that utilises the Zonation conservation planning tool with data for 30 threatened fauna species. We perform a multi-species spatial prioritisation that incorporates species-specific connectivity requirements and demonstrate the use of this information in a number of landuse planning contexts. First, we quantitatively assess the differences between Melbourne''s current conservation areas with the locations prioritised by Zonation and determine priority areas for their extension. We then show how the prioritisation can be used in decisions regarding Melbourne''s Urban Growth Boundary and in rezoning land for development. Finally, we demonstrate how the prioritisation can be used to identify areas of conservation significance within individual developments that account for the wider landscape context. These results demonstrate how conservation planning tools can be better integrated into the different stages of landuse planning for future urban growth. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Many species have to track changes in the spatial distribution of suitable habitat from generation to generation. Understanding the dynamics of such species will likely require spatially explicit models, and patch-based metapopulation models are potentially approptiate. However, relatively little attention has been paid to developing metapopulation models that include habitat dynamics, and very little to testing the predictions of these models. We tested three predictions from theory about the differences between dynamic habitat metapopulations and their static counterparts using long-term survey data from two metapopulations of the butterfly Plebejus argus. As predicted, we showed first that the metapopulation inhabiting dynamic habitat had a lower level of habitat occupancy, which could not be accounted for by other differences between the metapopulations. Secondly, we found that patch occupancy did not significantly increase with increasing patch connectivity in dynamic habitat, whereas there was a strong positive connectivity-occupancy relationship in static habitat. Thirdly, we found no significant relationship between patch occupandy and patch quality in dynamic habitat, whereas there was a strong, positive, quality-occupancy relationship in static habitat. Modeling confirmed that the differences in mean patch occupancy and connectivity—occupancy slope could arise without changing the species' metapopulation parameters—importantly, without changing the dependence of colonization upon connectivity. We found that, for a range of landscape scenarios, successional simulations always produced a lower connectivity-occupancy slope than comparable simulations with static patches, whether compared' like-for-like or controlling for mean occupancy. We conclude that landscape-scale studies may often underestimate the importance of connectivity for species occurrence and persistence because habitat turnover can obscure the connectivity- occupancy relationship in commonly available snapshot data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1. A principal goal of protected-area networks is to maintain viable populations of as many species as possible, particularly those that are vulnerable to environmental change outside reserves. Ideally, one wants to be able to protect all biodiversity when selecting priority areas for conservation. 2. Using the area-prioritization algorithm ZONATION, we identified the locations where UK Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) species of mammals, birds, herptiles, butterflies and plants occur in concentrated populations with high connectivity. Both these features are likely to be correlated with population persistence. The analyses were successful in maintaining a high proportion of the connectivity of narrow-range species, and large total amounts of the connectivity of wider-range species over 10% of the land surface of Great Britain. 3. Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP – high priority) species of one taxonomic group were not particularly good surrogates (indicators) for BAP species of other taxonomic groups. Hence, maintaining population concentrations of one taxonomic group did not guarantee doing likewise for other taxa. 4. Species with narrow geographic ranges were most effective at predicting conservation success for other species, probably because they represent the range of environmental conditions required by other species. 5. Synthesis and applications. This study identifies landscape-scale priority areas for conservation of priority species from several taxonomic groups, using the Zonation software. ‘Indicator groups’ were only partially successful as predictors of priority areas for other taxonomic groups, and therefore, the identification of priority areas for biodiversity conservation should include information from all taxonomic groups available. Larger areas should be protected to account for species not included in the analyses. Conservation solutions based on data for many different species, and particularly those species with narrowly defined ranges, appear to be most effective at protecting other rare taxa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the evolution of systematic conservation planning (SCP) and organizes elements of the discipline into a concept map that displays the interrelationships that exist between SCP, representativeness, complementarity, irreplaceability, threat, vulnerability, and flexibility. Within the context of this map, complementarity arises as an emergent property of the system, rather than as a central concept. It is broken down into subgroups that include biodiversity within planning, social acceptability, and solution methods. Interactions examined include economic interactions, trade-offs, and a fundamental ecological interaction.

Robust design of Marine Protected Areas in ocean environments is often challenging due to inadequate knowledge of biodiversity patterns, reflecting difficulties in the prediction of species distributions from sampling data that are often sparse or inadequate. Models that combine species and environmental data, such as Gradient Forests (GF), provide one analytical approach to this problem, efficiently combining available information to produce spatial models of species turnover throughout an area of interest. Spatial estimates of species turnover can then be classified to estimate spatial patterns in species composition; however, the performance of GF-based classifications within a conservation planning context has not previously been evaluated. Here we assess the utility for conservation planning (using the software Zonation) of a GF-based hierarchical classification that summarises spatial patterns in demersal fish composition in the oceans around New Zealand. Progressively more complex Zonation analyses assessed the effects of (i) varying the number of classification groups, (ii) adding information describing species turnover, and (iii) adding information describing spatial variation in demersal fish species richness. The best-performing GF-based conservation ranking used layers describing the distributions of 30 classification groups, demersal fish species turnover between these groups, and species richness. Conservation outcomes from this ranking were only marginally less efficient than those from a more conventional ranking that used 217 individual species distribution layers (7% less efficient). This indicates that GF-based classifications may provide a practical alternative for marine conservation planning. Additional advantages arise from the greater ease with which a single classification layer summarising complex biodiversity patterns can facilitate decision-making in participatory stakeholder processes. [Display omitted] • Gradient Forest-based environmental classifications described spatial patterns of demersal fish composition, turnover and richness. • The efficacy of Gradient Forest-based classifications for conservation planning were compared to 'traditional' estimates of individual species' distributions. • A single Gradient Forest-based classification was only marginally less efficient in a conservation planning analysis than a more conventional approach (7% less efficient). • Gradient Forest-based classifications summarise complex biodiversity patterns and provide a practical alternative for marine conservation planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1. Regions of the world with highest biodiversity and greatest conservation needs are often simultaneously data poor. An effective surrogate strategy would be invaluable for conservation prioritization in such regions. Large-scale environmental data are readily available, but the effectiveness of environmental surrogate strategies for conservation planning has not been confirmed. In this study, we compare a range of such strategies. 2. Environmental surrogacy is based on the idea that by covering a wide range of different environmental conditions, one also achieves high species representation. The effectiveness of this strategy may be enhanced by using community-level modelling techniques, in conjunction with best-available biological (species distribution) data, to calibrate the relationship between environmental gradients and community richness and composition. We develop a novel approach, called maximization of complementary richness, which accounts for gradients in species richness and non-constant turnover rates of community composition in environmental space. 3. We show that our novel technique can achieve notably higher species representation than what is achieved using past approaches. Simple strategies, such as direct use of environmental data only or environmental clustering, achieved species representation only slightly better than random selection of sites. P-median selection from ordinations of community composition had intermediate performance. Performance of our new maximization of complementary richness technique was closer to the representation levels of optimal reserve networks than to random selection of sites. 4. Synthesis and applications. We found that there are three critical components that are relevant for success: a good model for community turnover (compositional dissimilarity), a good model for species richness, and a selection procedure that appropriately utilizes both turnover and richness information. By taking these into account, one can achieve reasonable levels of species representation. We conclude that using surrogates based on community-level modelling is a highly promising strategy for cost-effective conservation prioritization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aggregation of reserve networks is generally considered desirable for biological and economic reasons: aggregation reduces negative edge effects and facilitates metapopulation dynamics, which plausibly leads to improved persistence of species. Economically, aggregated networks are less expensive to manage than fragmented ones. Therefore, many reserve-design methods use qualitative heuristics, such as distance-based criteria or boundary-length penalties to induce reserve aggregation. We devised a quantitative method that introduces aggregation into reserve networks. We call the method the boundary-quality penalty (BQP) because the biological value of a land unit (grid cell) is penalized when the unit occurs close enough to the edge of a reserve such that a fragmentation or edge effect would reduce population densities in the reserved cell. The BQP can be estimated for any habitat model that includes neighborhood (connectivity) effects, and it can be introduced into reserve selection software in a standardized manner. We used the BQP in a reserve-design case study of the Hunter Valley of southeastern Australia. The BQP resulted in a more highly aggregated reserve network structure. The degree of aggregation required was specified by observed (albeit modeled) biological responses to fragmentation. Estimating the effects of fragmentation on individual species and incorporating estimated effects in the objective function of reserve-selection algorithms is a coherent and defensible way to select aggregated reserves. We implemented the BQP in the context of the Zonation method, but it could as well be implemented into any other spatially explicit reserve-planning framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Conservation Biology is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Methods for reserve selection and conservation planning often ignore uncertainty. For example, presence-absence observations and predictions of habitat models are used as inputs but commonly assumed to be without error. We applied information-gap decision theory to develop uncertainty analysis methods for reserve selection. Our proposed method seeks a solution that is robust in achieving a given conservation target, despite uncertainty in the data. We maximized robustness in reserve selection through a novel method, “distribution discounting,” in which the site- and species-specific measure of conservation value (related to species-specific occupancy probabilities) was penalized by an error measure (in our study, related to accuracy of statistical prediction). Because distribution discounting can be implemented as a modification of input files, it is a computationally efficient solution for implementing uncertainty analysis into reserve selection. Thus, the method is particularly useful for high-dimensional decision problems characteristic of regional conservation assessment. We implemented distribution discounting in the zonation reserve-selection algorithm that produces a hierarchy of conservation priorities throughout the landscape. We applied it to reserve selection for seven priority fauna in a landscape in New South Wales, Australia. The distribution discounting method can be easily adapted for use with different kinds of data (e.g., probability of occurrence or abundance) and different landscape descriptions (grid or patch based) and incorporated into other reserve-selection algorithms and software. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reserve selection methods are often based on information on species' occurrence. This can be presence absence data, or probabilities of occurrence estimated with species distribution models. However, the effect of the choice of distribution model on the outcome of a reserve selection method has been ignored. Here we test a range of species distribution models with three different reserve selection methods. The distribution models had different combinations of variables related to habitat quality and connectivity (which incorporates the effect of spatial habitat configuration on species occurrence). The reserve selection methods included (i) a minimum set approach without spatial considerations; (ii) a clustering reserve selection method; and (iii) a dynamic approach where probabilities of occurrence are re-evaluated according to the spatial pattern of selected sites. The sets of selected reserves were assessed by re-computing species probability of occurrence in reserves using the best probability model and assuming loss of non-selected habitat. The results show that particular choices of distribution model and selection method may lead to reserves that overestimate the achieved target; in other words, species may seem to be represented but the reserve network may actually not be able to support them in the long-term. Instead, the use of models that incorporated connectivity as a variable resulted in the selection of aggregated reserves with higher potential for species long-term persistence. As reserve design aims at the long-term protection of species, it is important to be aware of the uncertainties related to model and method choice and their implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Conservation Biology is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Reserve selection often concerns the design of reserve networks for the long-term maintenance of biodiversity. We considered uncertainty in the context of three common reserve-selection formulations, the expected number of populations, proportional coverage of land-cover types, and the probability of having at least one population. By uncertainty, we mean variance in the outcome of any probability-based reserve selection formulation. A typical reserve-selection formulation might ask for the least expensive set of sites that contains n populations per species. It is implicit here that this requirement concerns the expected number of populations, which actually is obtained only with a 50% chance. If the requirement is changed to select the least expensive set of sites that gives n populations per species with a 95% probability, the number of sites required in the solution increases and the identity of the sites is changed toward sites that have high probabilities of persistence (or occurrence) and low associated binomial variance. Anthropogenic threat is one factor that may cause probabilistic uncertainty in the context of proportional area coverage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reserve design is concerned with optimal selection of sites for new conservation areas. Spatial reserve design explicitly considers the spatial pattern of the proposed reserve network and the effects of that pattern on reserve cost and/or ability to maintain species there. The vast majority of reserve selection formulations have assumed a linear problem structure, which effectively means that the biological value of a potential reserve site does not depend on the pattern of selected cells. However, spatial population dynamics and auto correlation cause the biological values of neighboring sites to be interdependent. Habitat degradation may have indirect negative effects on bio diversity in areas neighboring the degraded site as a result of, for example, negative edge effects or lower permeability for animal movement. In this study, I present a formulation and a spatial optimization algorithm for nonlinear reserve selection problems in grid- based landscapes that accounts for interdependent site values. The method is demonstrated using habitat maps and nonlinear habitat models for threatened birds in the Netherlands, and it is shown that near-optimal solutions are found for regions consisting of up to hundreds of thousands grid cells, a landscape size much larger than those commonly attempted even with linear reserve selection formulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study that examines the migration and survival of the butterfly Parnassius smintheus in a heterogeneous landscape consisting of 21 habitat patches imbedded in a matrix of meadow and forest habitat. The results show the need for spatial population studies to account for the effects of different habitat types on the migration of individuals among habitat patches. It also suggests management options for the conservation of endangered species in other parts of the world.

Journal of Applied Ecology (2004) 41, 252–262 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Site-selection algorithms are used in reserve design to select networks of sites that maximize biodiversity, given some constraints. These algorithms are based on a snapshot of species occurrence, and they typically aim to minimize the area or cost needed to represent all the species once or a few times. Most of these algorithms ignore the question of how well species are likely to persist in the set of selected sites in the long term. Furthermore, the role of the unselected habitat in biodiversity persistence has received no attention in this context. We used a theoretical approach to evaluate the long-term performance of reserve networks in preserving biodiversity by using a model of spatiotemporal population dynamics ( a metapopulation model ). We compared extinction rates of species in reserve networks in two situations: when all sites remain suitable habitat for the species and, conversely, when the habitat in the unselected sites is lost. We made this comparison to explore the significance of unselected sites for spatial population dynamics and for the continued presence of species in the reserve network. Basic site-selection algorithms are liable to perform badly in terms of biodiversity maintenance because the persistence of species may be strongly dependent on sites not included in the reserve network. Our results support recent calls for the integration of spatial population modeling into reserve network design. Advances in metapopulation theory provide tools that can be used for this purpose. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the single-species dynamic site selection. It explores how to maximize the long-term persistence of a species living in a metapopulation. It describes an optimization method, which uses a combination of evolutionary optimization and local search to find the optimal selection of sites.

Examines the connectivity measures in highly fragmented environments. Factor in determining species distribution; General properties of the connectivity measures; Basis in calculating connectivity.

Investigates the kinds of systematic biases that caused in metapopulation model parameter estimates by the three error types. Description of the three error types; Effects of these biases on model predictions and possible conservation decisions; Implications for metapopulation data collection.

Examines the usage and measurement of landscape connectivity for spatial ecology. Differences in landscape and metapopulation ecology; Essentiality of the connectivity concept in both landscape ecology and in metapopulation biology; Scheme of measuring landscape-level connectivity that involves the measurement of immigration into equal-sized areas, patches or grid cells.

Recent studies on metapopulation dynamics have emphasized the need for improved methods for quantifying individual movements between local populations and habitat patches. In this paper, we report on a 6-yr study in which a network of 12 habitat patches occupied by the bog fritillary, Proclossiana eunomia , was surveyed, with special focus on quantifying movements between the habitat patches. We applied the Virtual Migration model which has been designed to estimate survival and migration parameters in a metapopulation of several connected local populations. The model was parameterized using mark-release-recapture data collected during 6 yr. Generally, the estimated parameter values indicated a high level of movements, with roughly half of butterfly-days spent outside the natal patch. Mortality within patches was higher in males than in females. Females tended to be more mobile and spent more time outside their natal patch than males. Further analysis of the MRR data shows that in this protandrous species males tend to move very little between habitat patches before substantial numbers of females have emerged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1. The construction of a predictive metapopulation model includes three steps: the choice of factors affecting metapopulation dynamics, the choice of model structure, and finally parameter estimation and model testing. 2. Unless the assumption is made that the metapopulation is at stochastic quasiequilibrium and unless the method of parameter estimation of model parameters uses that assumption, estimates from a limited amount of data will usually predict a trend in metapopulation size. 3. This implicit estimation of a trend occurs because extinction-colonization stochasticity, possibly amplified by regional stochasticity, leads to unequal numbers of observed extinction and colonization events during a short study period. 4. Metapopulation models, such as those based on the logistic regression model, that rely on observed population turnover events in parameter estimation are sensitive to the implicit estimation of a trend. 5. A new parameter estimation method, based on Monte Carlo inference for statistically implicit models, allows an explicit decision about whether metapopulation quasi-stability is assumed or not. 6. Our confidence in metapopulation model parameter estimates that have been produced from only a few years of data is decreased by the need to know before parameter estimation whether the metapopulation is in quasi-stable state or not. 7. The choice of whether metapopulation stability is assumed or not in parameter estimation should be done consciously. Typical data sets cover only a few years and rarely allow a statistical test of a possible trend. While making the decision about stability one should consider any information about the landscape history and species and metapopulation characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conservation planning addresses the development and expansion of protected areas and requires data on for instance species, habitats, and biodiversity. Data on threats is often minimal, although necessary in conservation planning. In principle, threats should guide which conservation actions to take and where, and how to allocate resources. The lack of threat information may also limit the validity of areas to be conserved, if the condition of areas is degraded by threats unknown. The protocol described here outlines the methodology for a systematic review to explore how threats are theoretically and methodologically understood and used in conservation plans across freshwater, marine and terrestrial environments. Our primary research question is: how have threats informed conservation planning? Studies will be categorized according to the types of threats and conservation features used, theoretical and methodological approaches applied, geographical context, and biome. The results are expected to increase our understanding about how threats can and should be addressed in conservation planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We used a combination of community attributes to measure urban Biodiversity Quality. • We introduce a protocol for spatial prioritization of urban Biodiversity Quality. • Expert evaluations and pre-existing spatial data were used in the protocol. • Priority mapping helps planners and developers to avoid biodiversity loss. • The method is easy to replicate but requires spatial data and expert knowledge. Spatial prioritization can produce useful information about biodiversity values from urban areas. However, its typical focus on (endangered) species distributions assumes a rather restricted approach to urban biodiversity. In 2006, Feest suggested that five attributes of species assemblages more holistically describe the so called "Biodiversity Quality" of an area: species richness, biomass, population density, evenness, and rarity. Here we apply these attributes in spatial prioritization for urban biodiversity, across ten taxonomic groups: vascular plants, polypores, fungi (other than polypores), birds, bats, mammals (other than bats), herpetofauna, butterflies, hymenoptera, and beetles. In addition, we introduce two more attributes relevant for urban biodiversity conservation: support for specialist species and regional representativeness of the species assemblages. First, spatial data about local urban biotopes was acquired. For each taxon, the capacity of each urban biotope to support the seven introduced attributes of Biodiversity Quality was evaluated via expert elicitation. Expert opinion was then translated into a spatial analysis implemented with the Zonation software. Different anthropogenic, semi-natural, and natural habitats, such as herb-rich forests, lakeshores, open wastelands, fortifications, and botanical gardens, were identified as important for urban Biodiversity Quality. To minimize negative impact on biodiversity, future construction and development should be directed to built-up areas and agricultural fields. Our conception of urban biodiversity lies in between species- and habitat/ecosystem -based analyses and offers a more comprehensive perception of urban biodiversity than a focus on species distributions only, which facilitates the planning of ecologically sustainable cities and biodiverse urban green infrastructure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of green infrastructure (GI) seeks to identify and prioritize areas of high ecological value for wildlife and people, to improve the integration of natural values in landscape planning decisions. In 2018, the canton of Geneva, Switzerland, established a roadmap for biodiversity conservation, which includes the operationalization of GI covering 30% of the territory by 2030. In this paper, we demonstrate a GI mapping framework in the canton of Geneva. Our approach is based on the combined assessment of three 'pillars', namely species' distribution, landscape structure and connectivity, and ecosystem services, to optimize the allocation of conservation actions using the spatial prioritization software, Zonation. The identified priority conservation areas closely overlap existing natural reserves. Including the three pillars in the landscape prioritization should also improve adhesion to the GI idea, without undermining the protection of threatened species. With regards to land use planning, public and private land parcels with high values for GI may require specific incentives to maintain their desirable characteristics, as they are more likely to be degraded than areas with more building restrictions. Visualizing priority conservation areas in a spatially explicit manner will support decision-makers in Geneva to optimally allocate limited resources for ecosystem preservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Policies and research increasingly focus on the protection of ecosystem services (ESs) through priority-area conservation. Priority areas for ESs should be identified based on ES capacity and ES demand and account for the connections between areas of ES capacity and demand (flow) resulting in areas of unique demand-supply connections (flow zones). We tested ways to account for ES demand and flow zones to identify priority areas in the European Union. We mapped the capacity and demand of a global (carbon sequestration), a regional (flood regulation), and 3 local ESs (air quality, pollination, and urban leisure). We used Zonation software to identify priority areas for ESs based on 6 tests: with and without accounting for ES demand and 4 tests that accounted for the effect of ES flow zone. There was only 37.1% overlap between the 25% of priority areas that encompassed the most ESs with and without accounting for ES demand. The level of ESs maintained in the priority areas increased from 23.2% to 57.9% after accounting for ES demand, especially for ESs with a small flow zone. Accounting for flow zone had a small effect on the location of priority areas and level of ESs maintained but resulted in fewer flow zones without ES maintained relative to ignoring flow zones. Accounting for demand and flow zones enhanced representation and distribution of ESs with local to regional flow zones without large trade-offs relative to the global ES. We found that ignoring ES demand led to the identification of priority areas in remote regions where benefits from ES capacity to society were small. Incorporating ESs in conservation planning should therefore always account for ES demand to identify an effective priority network for ESs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The challenge of balancing biodiversity protection with economic growth is epitomized by the development of renewable and unconventional energy, whose adoption is aimed at stemming the impacts of global climate change, yet has outpaced our understanding of biodiversity impacts. We evaluated the potential conflict between biodiversity protection and future electricity generation from renewable (wind farms, run-of-river hydro) and non-renewable (shale gas) sources in British Columbia (BC), Canada using three metrics: greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, electricity cost, and overlap between future development and conservation priorities for several fish and wildlife groups - small-bodied vertebrates, large mammals, freshwater fish – and undisturbed landscapes. Sharp trade-offs in global versus regional biodiversity conservation exist for all energy technologies, and in BC they are currently smallest for wind energy: low GHG emissions, low-moderate overlap with top conservation priorities, and competitive energy cost. GHG emissions from shale gas are 1000 times higher than those from renewable sources, and run-of-river hydro has high overlap with conservation priorities for small-bodied vertebrates. When all species groups were considered simultaneously, run-of-river hydro had moderate overlap (0.56), while shale gas and onshore wind had low overlap with top conservation priorities (0.23 and 0.24, respectively). The unintended cost of distributed energy sources for regional biodiversity suggest that trade-offs based on more diverse metrics must be incorporated into energy planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: On the basis of multitaxon biogeographical processes related to region‐specific geohistory and palaeoclimate, we identified a balanced and area‐effective protected area network (PAN) expansion in the East Asian islands, a global biodiversity hotspot. Location: Japanese archipelago, Ryukyu archipelago and Izu‐Bonin oceanic islands. Methods: We modelled the distributions of 6,325 species (amphibians, birds, freshwater fish, mammals, plants and reptiles) using 4,389,489 occurrence data points. We then applied the Zonation software for spatial conservation prioritization. First, we identified environmental drivers underpinning taxon‐specific biodiversity patterns. Second, we analysed each taxon individually to understand baseline priority patterns. Third, we combined all taxa into an inclusive analysis to identify the most important PAN expansions. Results: Biodiversity patterns were well explained by geographical factors (climate, habitat stability, isolation and area), but their explanatory power differed between the taxa. There was remarkably little overlap between priority areas for the individual higher taxa. The inclusive prioritization analysis across all taxa identified priority regions, in particular in southern subtropical and mountainous areas. Expanding the PAN up to 17% would cover most of the ranges for rare and/or restricted‐range species. On average, approximately 30% of the ranges of all species could be covered by the 17% expansion identified here. Main conclusions: Our analyses identified top candidates for the expansion of Japan's protected area network. Taxon‐specific prioritization was informative for understanding the conservation priority patterns of different taxa associated with unique biogeographical processes. For the basis of PAN expansion, we recommend multi‐taxon prioritization as an area‐efficient compromise that reflects taxon‐specific priority patterns. Spatial prioritization across multiple taxa provides a promising start for the development of conservation plans with the aim of long‐term persistence of biodiversity on the East Asian islands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Island biogeography theory posits that species richness increases with island size and decreases with isolation. This logic underpins much conservation policy and regulation, with preference given to conserving large, highly connected areas, and relative ambivalence shown toward protecting small, isolated habitat patches. We undertook a global synthesis of the relationship between the conservation value of habitat patches and their size and isolation, based on 31 systematic conservation planning studies across four continents. We found that small, isolated patches are inordinately important for biodiversity conservation. Our results provide a powerful argument for redressing the neglect of small, isolated habitat patches, for urgently prioritizing their restoration, and for avoiding simplistic application of island biogeography theory in conservation decisions [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]