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Vulnerabilities of protected lands in the face of climate and human footprint changes

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  • Nawal Shrestha

    (Institute of Innovation Ecology, Lanzhou University
    College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University
    Society for Conservation Biology Nepal, Bagdol)

  • Xiaoting Xu

    (College of Life Sciences, Sichuan University)

  • Jiahui Meng

    (College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University)

  • Zhiheng Wang

    (College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University)

Abstract

Protected areas (PAs) play a pivotal role in maintaining viable populations of species and minimizing their habitat loss. Globally, there are currently over 200,000 PAs that cover approximately 15% of land area. The post-2020 global biodiversity framework aims to expand this coverage to 30% by 2030. However, focusing only on the percentage coverage of PAs without evaluating their effectiveness may fail to achieve conservation goals. Here, we use a multidimensional approach incorporating species, climate and anthropogenic vulnerabilities to assess the threat levels in over 2500 PAs in China. We identify nearly 10% of PAs as the most threatened PAs in China and about one-fifth PAs as hotspots of climate and anthropogenic vulnerabilities. We also find high climate instability in species vulnerability hotspots, suggesting an elevated likelihood of species’ extirpation therein. Our framework could be useful in assessing resiliency of global protected lands and also in selecting near optimal areas for their future expansion.

Suggested Citation

  • Nawal Shrestha & Xiaoting Xu & Jiahui Meng & Zhiheng Wang, 2021. "Vulnerabilities of protected lands in the face of climate and human footprint changes," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-9, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:12:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-021-21914-w
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-21914-w
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    Cited by:

    1. Dang, Yuxuan & Zhao, Zhenting & Kong, Xiangbin & Lei, Ming & Liao, Yubo & Xie, Zhen & Song, Wei, 2023. "Discerning the process of cultivated land governance transition in China since the reform and opening-up-- Based on the multiple streams framework," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    2. Li Zhao & Mingxi Du & Wei Du & Jiahuan Guo & Ziyan Liao & Xiang Kang & Qiuyu Liu, 2022. "Evaluation of the Carbon Sink Capacity of the Proposed Kunlun Mountain National Park," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(16), pages 1-16, August.
    3. Shen, Jiake & Zhu, Wenjia & Peng, Zhenwei & Wang, Yuncai, 2023. "Improving landscape ecological network connectivity in urbanizing areas from dual dimensions of structure and function," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 482(C).
    4. Acosta-Arreola, Jaime & Domínguez-Hüttinger, Elisa & Aguirre, Pablo & González, Nicolás & Meave, Jorge A., 2023. "Predicting dynamic trajectories of a protected plant community under contrasting conservation regimes: Insights from data-based modelling," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 484(C).

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