Open AccessStrategic protection of landslide vulnerable mountains for biodiversity conservation under land-cover and climate change impacts
Author(s) -
Binbin V. Li,
Clinton N. Jenkins,
Weihua Xu
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
proceedings of the national academy of sciences of the united states of america
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.011
H-Index - 771
eISSN - 1091-6490
pISSN - 0027-8424
DOI - 10.1073/pnas.2113416118
Subject(s) - deforestation (computer science) , landslide , biodiversity , climate change , vulnerability (computing) , geography , land cover , land use , population , environmental protection , environmental resource management , agroforestry , ecology , environmental science , geology , demography , geotechnical engineering , computer security , sociology , computer science , biology , programming language
Significance Landslides are triggered more often by human-induced changes, such as deforestation, infrastructure building, and increasing precipitation extremes, because of climate change. The huge economic and societal loss calls for a more cost-effective way to reduce risks and ensure sustainable development. Land-cover and land-use changes not only increase landslide susceptibility but also drive habitat loss and species extinctions. The high spatial overlap between landslide susceptibility and biodiversity in mountains provides an opportunity to achieve co-benefits in conservation and development. The identification of vulnerable mountains with both high biodiversity and landslide susceptibility prioritizes the regions for expansion of protected areas, forest conservation, and restoration, providing a nature-based solution to mitigate landslide risks through the protection of natural habitat.