Assessing Protected Area Zoning Effectiveness With Remote Sensing Data: The Case of Nahuel Huapi National Park, Argentina
Protected areas (PAs) remain the most important tool to prevent biodiversity loss and habitat degradation worldwide, but the formal creation of a PA constitutes only the first step. In recent decades, concerns about PA effectiveness have arisen, and several PAs have been evaluated using different me...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2022-06-01
|
| Series: | Frontiers in Remote Sensing |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frsen.2022.901463/full |
| _version_ | 1797967925732179968 |
|---|---|
| author | María Daniela Rivarola Jacob Dein Daniel Simberloff Hannah Victoria Herrero |
| author_facet | María Daniela Rivarola Jacob Dein Daniel Simberloff Hannah Victoria Herrero |
| author_sort | María Daniela Rivarola |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Protected areas (PAs) remain the most important tool to prevent biodiversity loss and habitat degradation worldwide, but the formal creation of a PA constitutes only the first step. In recent decades, concerns about PA effectiveness have arisen, and several PAs have been evaluated using different methods. Results show that while some PAs are achieving their conservation goals, others have been less effective. Particularly, assessing broadscale outcomes is a method that allows us to monitor change over time at a large scale, using remote sensing data. In this study, we evaluated the effectiveness of Nahuel Huapi National Park, with particular attention to its three protection categories: Strict Natural Reserve (SNR), National Park (NP), and National Reserve (NR) (IUCN categories Ia, II, and VI respectively). We compared changes in Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) among sites in these categories and between them and neighboring unprotected areas, over the period 2000–2020. Overall, habitat degradation was low, and we found no difference among the four categories evaluated. Nevertheless, a greening process has been conspicuous in the entire area, with higher values both in the SNR and in the unprotected area. We propose possible explanations as we consider variables such as dominant tree species, precipitation, temperature, elevation, and wildfires. This study supports the importance of NHNP at the regional and national levels, particularly its SNR areas. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T02:38:55Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-676fbe1740fc42ed8a9632fb7f1c610b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2673-6187 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T02:38:55Z |
| publishDate | 2022-06-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Remote Sensing |
| spelling | doaj.art-676fbe1740fc42ed8a9632fb7f1c610b2023-01-02T19:32:57ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Remote Sensing2673-61872022-06-01310.3389/frsen.2022.901463901463Assessing Protected Area Zoning Effectiveness With Remote Sensing Data: The Case of Nahuel Huapi National Park, ArgentinaMaría Daniela Rivarola0Jacob Dein1Daniel Simberloff2Hannah Victoria Herrero3Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, United StatesGeography Department, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, United StatesEcology and Evolutionary Biology Department, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, United StatesGeography Department, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, United StatesProtected areas (PAs) remain the most important tool to prevent biodiversity loss and habitat degradation worldwide, but the formal creation of a PA constitutes only the first step. In recent decades, concerns about PA effectiveness have arisen, and several PAs have been evaluated using different methods. Results show that while some PAs are achieving their conservation goals, others have been less effective. Particularly, assessing broadscale outcomes is a method that allows us to monitor change over time at a large scale, using remote sensing data. In this study, we evaluated the effectiveness of Nahuel Huapi National Park, with particular attention to its three protection categories: Strict Natural Reserve (SNR), National Park (NP), and National Reserve (NR) (IUCN categories Ia, II, and VI respectively). We compared changes in Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) among sites in these categories and between them and neighboring unprotected areas, over the period 2000–2020. Overall, habitat degradation was low, and we found no difference among the four categories evaluated. Nevertheless, a greening process has been conspicuous in the entire area, with higher values both in the SNR and in the unprotected area. We propose possible explanations as we consider variables such as dominant tree species, precipitation, temperature, elevation, and wildfires. This study supports the importance of NHNP at the regional and national levels, particularly its SNR areas.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frsen.2022.901463/fullconservationNDVIprotection categoriestemperate foresttime series analysis |
| spellingShingle | María Daniela Rivarola Jacob Dein Daniel Simberloff Hannah Victoria Herrero Assessing Protected Area Zoning Effectiveness With Remote Sensing Data: The Case of Nahuel Huapi National Park, Argentina Frontiers in Remote Sensing conservation NDVI protection categories temperate forest time series analysis |
| title | Assessing Protected Area Zoning Effectiveness With Remote Sensing Data: The Case of Nahuel Huapi National Park, Argentina |
| title_full | Assessing Protected Area Zoning Effectiveness With Remote Sensing Data: The Case of Nahuel Huapi National Park, Argentina |
| title_fullStr | Assessing Protected Area Zoning Effectiveness With Remote Sensing Data: The Case of Nahuel Huapi National Park, Argentina |
| title_full_unstemmed | Assessing Protected Area Zoning Effectiveness With Remote Sensing Data: The Case of Nahuel Huapi National Park, Argentina |
| title_short | Assessing Protected Area Zoning Effectiveness With Remote Sensing Data: The Case of Nahuel Huapi National Park, Argentina |
| title_sort | assessing protected area zoning effectiveness with remote sensing data the case of nahuel huapi national park argentina |
| topic | conservation NDVI protection categories temperate forest time series analysis |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frsen.2022.901463/full |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT mariadanielarivarola assessingprotectedareazoningeffectivenesswithremotesensingdatathecaseofnahuelhuapinationalparkargentina AT jacobdein assessingprotectedareazoningeffectivenesswithremotesensingdatathecaseofnahuelhuapinationalparkargentina AT danielsimberloff assessingprotectedareazoningeffectivenesswithremotesensingdatathecaseofnahuelhuapinationalparkargentina AT hannahvictoriaherrero assessingprotectedareazoningeffectivenesswithremotesensingdatathecaseofnahuelhuapinationalparkargentina |