Review of terrestrial temporarily conserved areas in Canada, the United States, and Mexico

Abstract

The establishment of protected areas is a cornerstone of conservation, but permanent protection could be inefficient or even impossible in some situations. Here we synthesize the literature on temporary conserved areas (TCAs) across North America (Canada, the United States, and Mexico). We used a comprehensive search string to retrieve peer‐reviewed articles published between 2000 and 2021 from the Web of Science. We identified 27 relevant peer‐reviewed articles that examined the potential benefits of TCAs in North America. Our findings reveal that TCA is a relatively new and understudied area of research in the peer‐reviewed literature. Current TCA studies are highly clustered, generally focusing on protecting a single life‐cycle stage of migratory species and preventing human‐driven threats mainly in public lands of coastal areas and of the Great Plains and Mississippi Valley in the central United States. Most studies relate to temporary conservation of breeding or staging habitats for migratory birds. Experimental studies combined with short‐term study periods are the dominant study types. TCAs have the potential to complement permanently protected areas or provide protection when truly permanent protection is difficult. Despite some research into their value, the ecological, social, and economic outcomes of TCAs remain unclear, and more TCA research is needed to understand what role they could play in conservation in North America and around the globe. TCAs may represent an innovative paradigm to track and report temporary area‐based conservation measures. However, a global review and analysis of effectiveness of TCAs will be required if they are to play a formal role in meeting international targets for biodiversity conservation.Article impact statement: Temporary conservation has the potential to complement protected areas and other effective area‐based conservation measures.This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved