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Orientación de Acciones de Conservación a Través de Evaluación de la Protección y Amenazas Exurbanas
Author(s) -
THEOBALD DAVID M.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
conservation biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.2
H-Index - 222
eISSN - 1523-1739
pISSN - 0888-8892
DOI - 10.1111/j.1523-1739.2003.00250.x
Subject(s) - threatened species , geography , biodiversity , environmental resource management , conservation status , land cover , protected area , environmental planning , fragmentation (computing) , land use , environmental protection , agroforestry , ecology , environmental science , habitat , biology
Landscape‐level assessments of biodiversity strive to guide land‐use planning and conservation activities by providing information about areas of high biodiversity value and low protection status. I developed a methodology to assess the level of threat to conservation of biodiversity to help guide conservation action. This method incorporates socioeconomic indicators of risk, including developed and roaded areas, and measures the proportion of conservation lands affected by developed areas. In addition, I developed a metric called conservation potential to measure the degree of fragmentation of patches caused by development. As an illustration I applied this methodology to Colorado (U.S.A.). Protection levels were determined by examining land ownership, resulting in protected lands (status levels 1 and 2) and unprotected lands (status levels 3 and 4). Areas were considered threatened (at risk) if a land‐cover patch had >20% roaded area, >15% developed area, or was highly fragmented. Although 24 of 43 natural land‐cover types were unprotected (49% of the state), 9 additional types were threatened. Combining conservation‐status protection levels with patterns of threat targets the geographic area where conservation action is needed, provides a way to determine where so‐called protected areas are at risk, and allows conservation strategies to be better refined.