Targeting current species ranges and carbon stocks fails to conserve biodiversity in a changing climate: opportunities to support climate adaptation under 30 × 30
Protecting areas for climate adaptation will be essential to ensuring greater opportunity for species conservation well into the future. However, many proposals for protected areas expansion focus on our understanding of current spatial patterns, which may be ineffective surrogates for future needs....
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2022-01-01
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| Series: | Environmental Research Letters |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac4f8c |
| _version_ | 1827869606485688320 |
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| author | Lindsay M Dreiss L Mae Lacey Theodore C Weber Aimee Delach Talia E Niederman Jacob W Malcom |
| author_facet | Lindsay M Dreiss L Mae Lacey Theodore C Weber Aimee Delach Talia E Niederman Jacob W Malcom |
| author_sort | Lindsay M Dreiss |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Protecting areas for climate adaptation will be essential to ensuring greater opportunity for species conservation well into the future. However, many proposals for protected areas expansion focus on our understanding of current spatial patterns, which may be ineffective surrogates for future needs. A science-driven call to address the biodiversity and climate crises by conserving at least 30% of lands and waters by 2030, 30 × 30, presents new opportunities to inform the siting of new protections globally and in the US. Here we identify climate refugia and corridors based on a weighted combination of currently available models; compare them to current biodiversity hotspots and carbon-rich areas to understand how 30 × 30 protections siting may be biased by data omission; and compare identified refugia and corridors to the protected areas database to assess current levels of protection. Available data indicate that 20.5% and 27.5% of identified climate adaptation areas (refugia and/or corridor) coincides with current imperiled species hotspots and carbon-rich areas, respectively. With only 12.5% of climate refugia and corridors protected, a continued focus on current spatial patterns in species and carbon richness will not inherently conserve places critical for climate adaptation. However, there is ample opportunity for establishing future-minded protections: 52% of the contiguous US falls into the top quartile of values for at least one class of climate refugia. Nearly 27% is already part of the protected areas network but managed for multiple uses that may limit their ability to contribute to the goals of 30 × 30. Additionally, nearly two-thirds of nationally identified refugia coincide with ecoregion-specific refugia suggesting representation of nearly all ecoregions in national efforts focused on conserving climate refugia. Based on these results, we recommend that land planners and managers make more explicit policy priorities and strategic decisions for future-minded protections and climate adaptation. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T15:47:28Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-eee043e7cf824c65ac6f94ac5f9c9ffa |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1748-9326 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T15:47:28Z |
| publishDate | 2022-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environmental Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj.art-eee043e7cf824c65ac6f94ac5f9c9ffa2023-08-09T15:24:38ZengIOP PublishingEnvironmental Research Letters1748-93262022-01-0117202403310.1088/1748-9326/ac4f8cTargeting current species ranges and carbon stocks fails to conserve biodiversity in a changing climate: opportunities to support climate adaptation under 30 × 30Lindsay M Dreiss0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8167-0812L Mae Lacey1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7355-1124Theodore C Weber2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6436-9179Aimee Delach3https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6400-9483Talia E Niederman4https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5201-2386Jacob W Malcom5https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4904-8369Center for Conservation Innovation, Defenders of Wildlife , 1130 17th St. NW, Washington, DC, 20036, United States of AmericaCenter for Conservation Innovation, Defenders of Wildlife , 1130 17th St. NW, Washington, DC, 20036, United States of AmericaDepartment of Landscape Conservation, Defenders of Wildlife , 1130 17th St. NW, Washington, DC, 20036, United States of AmericaDepartment of Landscape Conservation, Defenders of Wildlife , 1130 17th St. NW, Washington, DC, 20036, United States of AmericaCenter for Conservation Innovation, Defenders of Wildlife , 1130 17th St. NW, Washington, DC, 20036, United States of AmericaCenter for Conservation Innovation, Defenders of Wildlife , 1130 17th St. NW, Washington, DC, 20036, United States of AmericaProtecting areas for climate adaptation will be essential to ensuring greater opportunity for species conservation well into the future. However, many proposals for protected areas expansion focus on our understanding of current spatial patterns, which may be ineffective surrogates for future needs. A science-driven call to address the biodiversity and climate crises by conserving at least 30% of lands and waters by 2030, 30 × 30, presents new opportunities to inform the siting of new protections globally and in the US. Here we identify climate refugia and corridors based on a weighted combination of currently available models; compare them to current biodiversity hotspots and carbon-rich areas to understand how 30 × 30 protections siting may be biased by data omission; and compare identified refugia and corridors to the protected areas database to assess current levels of protection. Available data indicate that 20.5% and 27.5% of identified climate adaptation areas (refugia and/or corridor) coincides with current imperiled species hotspots and carbon-rich areas, respectively. With only 12.5% of climate refugia and corridors protected, a continued focus on current spatial patterns in species and carbon richness will not inherently conserve places critical for climate adaptation. However, there is ample opportunity for establishing future-minded protections: 52% of the contiguous US falls into the top quartile of values for at least one class of climate refugia. Nearly 27% is already part of the protected areas network but managed for multiple uses that may limit their ability to contribute to the goals of 30 × 30. Additionally, nearly two-thirds of nationally identified refugia coincide with ecoregion-specific refugia suggesting representation of nearly all ecoregions in national efforts focused on conserving climate refugia. Based on these results, we recommend that land planners and managers make more explicit policy priorities and strategic decisions for future-minded protections and climate adaptation.https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac4f8cclimate refugiaclimate corridorsprotected areasbiodiversity conservationcarbon mitigation |
| spellingShingle | Lindsay M Dreiss L Mae Lacey Theodore C Weber Aimee Delach Talia E Niederman Jacob W Malcom Targeting current species ranges and carbon stocks fails to conserve biodiversity in a changing climate: opportunities to support climate adaptation under 30 × 30 Environmental Research Letters climate refugia climate corridors protected areas biodiversity conservation carbon mitigation |
| title | Targeting current species ranges and carbon stocks fails to conserve biodiversity in a changing climate: opportunities to support climate adaptation under 30 × 30 |
| title_full | Targeting current species ranges and carbon stocks fails to conserve biodiversity in a changing climate: opportunities to support climate adaptation under 30 × 30 |
| title_fullStr | Targeting current species ranges and carbon stocks fails to conserve biodiversity in a changing climate: opportunities to support climate adaptation under 30 × 30 |
| title_full_unstemmed | Targeting current species ranges and carbon stocks fails to conserve biodiversity in a changing climate: opportunities to support climate adaptation under 30 × 30 |
| title_short | Targeting current species ranges and carbon stocks fails to conserve biodiversity in a changing climate: opportunities to support climate adaptation under 30 × 30 |
| title_sort | targeting current species ranges and carbon stocks fails to conserve biodiversity in a changing climate opportunities to support climate adaptation under 30 30 |
| topic | climate refugia climate corridors protected areas biodiversity conservation carbon mitigation |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac4f8c |
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