Representation of Ecological Systems within the Protected Areas Network of the Continental United States

Abstract

If conservation of biodiversity is the goal, then the protected areas network of the continental US may be one of our best conservation tools for safeguarding ecological systems (i.e., vegetation communities). We evaluated representation of ecological systems in the current protected areas network and found insufficient representation at three vegetation community levels within lower elevations and moderate to high productivity soils. We used national-level data for ecological systems and a protected areas database to explore alternative ways we might be able to increase representation of ecological systems within the continental US. By following one or more of these alternatives it may be possible to increase the representation of ecological systems in the protected areas network both quantitatively (from 10% up to 39%) and geographically and come closer to meeting the suggested Convention on Biological Diversity target of 17% for terrestrial areas. We used the Landscape Conservation Cooperative framework for regional analysis and found that increased conservation on some private and public lands may be important to the conservation of ecological systems in Western US, while increased public-private partnerships may be important in the conservation of ecological systems in Eastern US. We have not assessed the pros and cons of following the national or regional alternatives, but rather present them as possibilities that may be considered and evaluated as decisions are made to increase the representation of ecological systems in the protected areas network across their range of ecological, geographical, and geophysical occurrence in the continental US into the future.

Quantifying the National Significance of Local Areas for Regional Conservation Planning: North Carolina’s Mountain Treasures

“…Ecosystem representation has recently been calculated using a number of different methods, including those based on the proportion of ecosystem area within different GAP status lands [8], wilderness areas [24], and roadless lands [25]. We recalculated the analyses of Aycrigg et al (2013) using the latest protected areas database (PAD) to map the proportion of total area of each ecosystem occurring in GAP status 1 or 2 areas ( Figure 2C) [23].…”

Quantifying the National Significance of Local Areas for Regional Conservation Planning: North Carolina’s Mountain Treasures

“…Ecosystem representation has recently been calculated using a number of different methods, including based on the proportion of ecosystem area within different GAP status lands [7], wilderness areas [24], and roadless lands [25]. Our assessment of ecological representation is based on the proportion of an ecosystem's total area that occurs in lands identified in the Protected Areas Database (PAD) v 1.4 as GAP status 1 or 2 [23].…”

“…Our assessment of ecological representation is based on the proportion of an ecosystem's total area that occurs in lands identified in the Protected Areas Database (PAD) v 1.4 as GAP status 1 or 2 [23]. We recalculated analyses of Aycrigg et al (2013) using the latest PAD to map the proportion of total area of each ecosystem occurring in GAP status 1 or 2 areas (Figure 1c). Lands composed of ecosystems that are less well-represented in protected areas are assigned a higher value than lands with ecosystems that are already highly protected.…”

“…" Recent calls have been made to add to the system of protected areas by establishing an ecologically connected network that is more inclusive of ecosystems and species currently underrepresented in protected areas [2,3]. In response to these calls, Belote et al (2017) [4] recently conducted a national assessment of wildland values and priorities for expanding the U.S. protected area system to include the most ecologically intact and wildest lands [5], establish a national connected network [6], and better represent ecosystem diversity [7] and hotspots of range-limited species [8]. Establishing a system of conservation reserves that is more resilient to climate change may require adding intact lands that connect existing protected areas and add ecosystem and species representation to the existing system [9][10][11].…”

Integrating Recent Land Cover Mapping Efforts to Update the National Gap Analysis Program's Species Habitat Map

“…The National Gap Analysis Program seeks to provide the land management and conservation agencies of the United States with information that allows them to effectively manage and conserve the nation's biological resources (Aycrigg et al 2013;Boykin et al 2013). Towards this end GAP produces three main digital data products; an inventory of protected lands, a map of ecological systems and habitat distribution models for the country's terrestrial vertebrate species.…”