Landscape-scale conservation design across biotic realms: sequential integration of aquatic and terrestrial landscapes

Leonard, Paul B.; Baldwin, Robert F.; Hanks, R. Daniel

doi:10.1038/s41598-017-15304-w

Cited by 51 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 69 publications

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“…The majority of the subcatchments prioritized using this approach have longitudinal connections with adjacent ‘protected’ subcatchments, making it easier to implement actions to protect or further enhance their status and provide catchment‐wide benefits. By integrating river, wetland, and lake ecosystems, the prioritizations achieve a degree of cross‐realm connectivity (Arthington, Finlayson, & Pittock, ; Leonard, Baldwin, & Hanks, ) by identifying the catchments that would add the most value to existing highly intact New Zealand freshwater ecosystems if restored and protected.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Approaches to the selection of a network of freshwater ecosystems within New Zealand for conservation

West¹,

Leathwick²,

Dean‐Speirs³

2019

Aquatic Conservation

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1. Although the freshwater environments of New Zealand once comprised an extensive interconnected network of rivers, lakes, and wetlands, their extent, condition, and connectivity have been reduced since human settlement, with consequent impacts on ecosystem functioning and the species that reside within them. An imbalance in the protection of freshwater ecosystems, with significant underrepresentation of lowland freshwater ecosystems, makes these the most threatened ecosystems in New Zealand.2. Recent policy initiatives are attempting to take a whole-catchment view, i.e. 'from the mountains to the sea'. There is also an increased focus on the restoration of vulnerable water bodies that still support moderate values, in preference to previous long-term restoration programmes for the most degraded freshwater sites. The outcomes of these programmes have been less certain, with opportunities lost for systems that are declining in condition but have not yet reached the threshold of degradation for investment.3. This work demonstrates the gains that can be made through the use of spatial conservation prioritization software to identify priority catchments for freshwater restoration, emphasizing the representation of a full range of ecosystems and species, while also taking account of longitudinal-connectivity constraints within catchments.4. Third-order subcatchments were the most suitable scale for this prioritization, to capture the most important components within the largest river catchments. Populations of important native fish populations and the locations of major terrestrial conservation projects were also considered when assessing priorities; iteratively chosen weightings were applied to control the balance of representation across these different features.5. Consideration was also given to existing patterns of protection, in order to assess the biodiversity representation within areas currently protected and to identify sites that would provide maximum additional benefits if restored or protected.6. The resulting subcatchment prioritizations have contributed strongly to regional collaborative restoration processes.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Approaches to the selection of a network of freshwater ecosystems within New Zealand for conservation

West¹,

Leathwick²,

Dean‐Speirs³

2019

Aquatic Conservation

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“…F I G U R E 5 Map of study area with application of the cultural resources mapping framework using the cultural resources diversity index Practitioners and policymakers can use the outputs of our method to identify areas of cultural resources in an ecoregion and visualize the spatial distribution of those resources. The outputs can also be incorporated by planners in modeling tools that are used to establish conservation priorities (Leonard et al, 2017). The additional information from the framework can highlight areas where cultural resources and biodiversity overlap or are proximate, helping to identify where biodiversity value might be aligned with cultural value.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…All of the features were then mapped and analyzed within a 1 km 2 hexagonal grid across the study area. Hexagons were chosen as this was the unit of analysis for the larger conservation-planning effort we were working within (Leonard, Baldwin, & Hanks, 2017).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A framework for mapping cultural resources in landscape conservation planning

Ogletree

Powell

Baldwin

et al. 2019

Conservat Sci and Prac

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Cultural resources can be an important means of connecting people to conservation efforts. Currently, it is difficult to identify and map these tangible and intangible aspects of the landscape. We propose a framework to include cultural resources in spatial conservation planning that acknowledges the different scales of importance and management of sites. Through categorizing and mapping sites of national, state, local, interest group, and community management, cultural resources can be measured and included in existing planning tools. Data on cultural resources are a primary limitation due to availability and fragmentation. Until data sources improve, our framework provides a stopgap that allows for cultural resources to be included in conservation‐planning efforts.

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“…By contrast, planning management actions across connected ecosystems can result in co‐benefits, if the management achieves objectives in several of the ecosystems (Adams et al, ). Although guidelines for freshwater management highlight the need for integration, there are only a few cross‐realm case studies to date that target freshwater–terrestrial (Leonard, Baldwin, & Hanks, ) or terrestrial (catchment)–marine systems (Klein et al, ). Some studies claim to integrate management or conservation across realms, but they only consider some forms of influence: for example, a threat originating in one realm and how it affects connected realms (Álvarez‐Romero et al, ).…”

Section: The Eight Research Areas and Their Innovations For Freshwatementioning

confidence: 99%

Combining eight research areas to foster the uptake of ecosystem‐based management in fresh waters

Langhans

Domisch

Balbi

et al. 2019

Aquatic Conservation

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Freshwater ecosystems are under a constant risk of being irreversibly damaged by human pressures that threaten their biodiversity, the sustainability of ecosystem services (ESs), and human well‐being. Despite the implementation of various environmental regulations, the challenges of safeguarding freshwater assets have so far not been tackled successfully. A promising way forward to stop the loss of freshwater biodiversity and to sustain freshwater‐based ESs is by implementing ecosystem‐based management (EBM), an environmental planning and adaptive management approach that jointly considers social and ecological needs. Responsible for considerable recent success in sustainably managing and conserving marine ecosystems, EBM has not yet been championed for fresh waters. A major reason for the delayed uptake of EBM in fresh waters is likely to be its complexity, requiring planners to be familiar with the latest developments in a range of different research areas. EBM would therefore benefit from becoming more tangible to receive attention on the ground. To facilitate uptake, eight core research areas for EBM and their innovations are introduced, and the way in which they feed into the workflow that guides the EBM planning stage is explained. The workflow links biodiversity distributions with ES supply‐and‐demand modelling and SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely) target planning, including scenario‐ and cross‐realm perspectives, the prioritization of management alternatives, spatial prioritization of biodiversity conservation and ES areas, and the quantification of uncertainties. Given the extensive resources, time, and technical capacity required to implement the full workflow, a light and an ultralight version of the workflow are also provided. Applied in concert, the eight well‐known research areas allow for better planning and operationalizing, and eventually for implementing EBM in freshwater ecosystems. EBM has great potential to increase public acceptance by introducing the consideration of human needs and aspirations into typically biodiversity‐driven conservation and management approaches. This will ultimately improve the integrity of freshwater ecosystems.

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Landscape-scale conservation design across biotic realms: sequential integration of aquatic and terrestrial landscapes

Cited by 51 publications

References 69 publications

Approaches to the selection of a network of freshwater ecosystems within New Zealand for conservation

Approaches to the selection of a network of freshwater ecosystems within New Zealand for conservation

A framework for mapping cultural resources in landscape conservation planning

Combining eight research areas to foster the uptake of ecosystem‐based management in fresh waters

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