Wildlife population trends in protected areas predicted by national socio-economic metrics and body size
Barnes, Megan D., Craigie, Ian D., Harrison, Luke B., Geldmann, Jonas, Collen, Ben, Whitmee, Sarah, Balmford, Andrew, Burgess, Neil D., Brooks, Thomas, Hockings, Marc, and Woodley, Stephen (2016) Wildlife population trends in protected areas predicted by national socio-economic metrics and body size. Nature Communications, 7. 12747. pp. 1-9.
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Abstract
Ensuring that protected areas (PAs) maintain the biodiversity within their boundaries is fundamental in achieving global conservation goals. Despite this objective, wildlife abundance changes in PAs are patchily documented and poorly understood. Here, we use linear mixed effect models to explore correlates of population change in 1,902 populations of birds and mammals from 447 PAs globally. On an average, we find PAs are maintaining populations of monitored birds and mammals within their boundaries. Wildlife population trends are more positive in PAs located in countries with higher development scores, and for larger-bodied species. These results suggest that active management can consistently overcome disadvantages of lower reproductive rates and more severe threats experienced by larger species of birds and mammals. The link between wildlife trends and national development shows that the social and economic conditions supporting PAs are critical for the successful maintenance of their wildlife populations.
| Item ID: | 46411 |
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| Item Type: | Article (Research - C1) |
| ISSN: | 2041-1723 |
| Additional Information: | This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. |
| Funders: | International Union for Conservation of Nature, Canada (IUCN), European Union (EU) Development Fund, University of Queensland (UQ) School of Geography Planning and Environmental Management, University of Queensland (UQ) Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions, Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), CASE |
| Projects and Grants: | IUCN Global Protected Areas Program, EU Biodiversity and Protected Areas Management (BIOPAMA) Programme, NERC studentship NER/S/A/2006/14094, CASE UNEP-WCMC |
| Date Deposited: | 09 Nov 2016 07:43 |
| FoR Codes: | 41 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES > 4104 Environmental management > 410401 Conservation and biodiversity @ 100% |
| SEO Codes: | 96 ENVIRONMENT > 9606 Environmental and Natural Resource Evaluation > 960605 Institutional Arrangements for Environmental Protection @ 100% |
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