Effectiveness of Protected Areas in Conserving Large Carnivores in Europe

Santini, Luca; Boitani, Luigi; Maiorano, Luigi; Rondinini, Carlo

doi:10.1002/9781118338117.ch7

Cited by 21 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…While conservation of large carnivores seems an effective strategy for protecting habitat necessary for their prey and associated species (Kunkel, Atwood, Ruth, Pletscher, & Hornocker, 2013;Sergio et al, 2008), large carnivores management strategies and their conservation implications face many challenges. For example, it is difficult to dedicate to them spatially extensive heterogeneous landscapes to fulfil their broad ecological requirements and range-wide home ranges (Chapron et al, 2014;Ripple et al, 2014;Santini, Boitani, Maiorano, & Rondinini, 2016). In many cases, they require action on a scale that is seldom seen in terrestrial conservation, including coordinated trans-boundary initiatives (Farhadinia et al, 2015;Rabinowitz & Zeller, 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Combining landscape suitability and habitat connectivity to conserve the last surviving population of cheetah in Asia

Ahmadi

Nezami²,

Jowkar³

et al. 2017

Diversity and Distributions

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Aim The Asiatic cheetah, Acinonyx jubatus venaticus, a critically endangered large felid, has disappeared from vast tracks of its historical range across south‐western Asia. It is currently confined to the arid ecosystems of central Iran for which little is known about its distribution and habitat linkages. We proposed the first evaluation of Asiatic cheetah's distribution and developed models of landscape suitability and connectivity to inform future conservation planning. Location Central Iran. Methods We analysed presence data of a 14‐year‐long cheetah monitoring programme according to environmental and anthropogenic factors, and generated an ensemble model of habitat suitability based on seven species distribution models (SDMs). We then used the concept of circuit theory and landscape connectivity prioritization (LCP) on resultant core habitats and landscape suitability to evaluate potential linkages between core areas. Results Core habitats, that is, the areas hosting the largest continuous suitable habitats for Asiatic cheetahs, covered approximately 49,144 km2 (c. 6.3% of the study area). Availability of prey species, avoidance of human‐dominated areas and their infrastructures, and rough landscapes covered with sparse vegetation were the most predictive factors of the core habitats for the last cheetah population in Asia. Although relatively vast, the area of potential core habitats available to cheetahs appeared to be fragmented with limited connectivity between the northern and southern parts of this distribution. Main conclusions Our approach highlights the importance of distribution models to recognize, at a coarse‐scale level, a spatial population structure and habitat suitability characteristics for a large carnivore surviving at very low density. We have identified specific areas of suitable habitat where developing new landscape protection and adaptive conservation management; and improving the safety of important linkages between core habitats are likely to promote the conservation of the last surviving population of cheetah in Asia.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Combining landscape suitability and habitat connectivity to conserve the last surviving population of cheetah in Asia

Ahmadi

Nezami²,

Jowkar³

et al. 2017

Diversity and Distributions

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“…Coverage evaluations usually evaluate coverage of the current range of a species (e.g. [ 2 , 34 – 36 ]); however, the wolf is quickly recolonising the remaining vacant habitat in Poland [ 18 ], and if current trends continue, all suitable habitat in Poland will soon host wolves. We chose this approach instead of evaluating coverage of the current wolf range to ensure the study will remain future-proof, and not become obsolete as the wolf recolonises more areas.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Deficiencies in Natura 2000 for protecting recovering large carnivores: A spotlight on the wolf Canis lupus in Poland

Diserens

Borowik

Nowak³

et al. 2017

PLoS ONE

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If protected areas are to remain relevant in our dynamic world they must be adapted to changes in species ranges. In the EU one of the most notable such changes is the recent recovery of large carnivores, which are protected by Natura 2000 at the national and population levels. However, the Natura 2000 network was designed prior to their recent recovery, which raises the question whether the network is sufficient to protect the contemporary ranges of large carnivores. To investigate this question we evaluated Natura 2000 coverage of the three wolf Canis lupus populations in Poland. Wolf tracking data showed that wolves have recolonised almost all suitable habitat in Poland (as determined by a recent habitat suitability model), so we calculated the overlap between the Natura 2000 network and all wolf habitat in Poland. On the basis of published Natura 2000 criteria, we used 20% as the minimum required coverage. At the national level, wolves are sufficiently protected (22% coverage), but at the population level, the Baltic and Carpathian populations are far better protected (28 and 47%, respectively) than the endangered Central European Lowland population (12%). As Natura 2000 insufficiently protects the most endangered wolf population in Poland, we recommend expansion of Natura 2000 to protect at least an additional 8% of wolf habitat in western Poland, and discuss which specific forests are most in need of additional coverage. Implementation of these actions will have positive conservation implications and help Poland to fulfil its Habitats Directive obligations. As it is likely that similar gaps in Natura 2000 are arising in other EU member states experiencing large carnivore recoveries, particularly in Central Europe, we make the case for a flexible approach to Natura 2000 and suggest that such coverage evaluations may be beneficial elsewhere.

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“…Recently, the Natura 2000 network was also assessed in terms of habitat connectivity Santini et al 2015;Van der Sluis et al 2004;Van der Sluis et al 2012b). The authors concluded that the addition of Natura 2000 SACs to European protected areas had a substantial effect on connectivity, particularly for long-distance dispersers.…”

Section: Figure 1-1 the Natura 2000 Network For The Eu-28 Which Compmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, Natura 2000 network could be improved for some species and in some countries.  The percentage of protection in Natura 2000 (representation) may be misleading when focusing on large mammals (Santini et al, 2014(Santini et al, , 2015. These species live at very low densities and require much larger areas to be protected than smaller or ectothermic (cold-blooded) species.…”

Section: Mammalsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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How much Biodiversity is in Natura 2000? : the “Umbrella Effect” of the European Natura 2000 protected area network : technical report

Sluis

Foppen²,

Gillings³

et al. 2016

Self Cite

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Effectiveness of Protected Areas in Conserving Large Carnivores in Europe

Cited by 21 publications

References 30 publications

Combining landscape suitability and habitat connectivity to conserve the last surviving population of cheetah in Asia

Combining landscape suitability and habitat connectivity to conserve the last surviving population of cheetah in Asia

Deficiencies in Natura 2000 for protecting recovering large carnivores: A spotlight on the wolf Canis lupus in Poland

How much Biodiversity is in Natura 2000? : the “Umbrella Effect” of the European Natura 2000 protected area network : technical report

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