Abstract

Crucial to the successful conservation of endangered species is the overlap of their ranges with protected areas. We analyzed protected areas in the continental USA to assess the extent to which they covered the ranges of endangered tetrapods. We show that in 80% of ecoregions, protected areas offer equal (25%) or worse (55%) protection for species than if their locations were chosen at random. Additionally, we demonstrate that it is possible to achieve sufficient protection for 100% of the USA’s endangered tetrapods through targeted protection of undeveloped public and private lands. Our results highlight that the USA is likely to fall short of its commitments to halting biodiversity loss unless more considerable investments in both public and private land conservation are made.

Details

Title
Protecting endangered species in the USA requires both public and private land conservation
Author
Clancy, Niall G 1 ; Draper, John P 2 ; Marshall, Wolf J 2 ; Abdulwahab, Umarfarooq A 2 ; Pendleton, Maya C 2 ; Brothers Soren 2 ; Brahney Janice 2 ; Weathered, Jennifer 2 ; Hammill Edd 2 ; Atwood, Trisha B 2 

 Utah State University, Department of Watershed Sciences and the Ecology Center, Logan, USA (GRID:grid.53857.3c) (ISNI:0000 0001 2185 8768); Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, Kalispell, USA (GRID:grid.53857.3c) 
 Utah State University, Department of Watershed Sciences and the Ecology Center, Logan, USA (GRID:grid.53857.3c) (ISNI:0000 0001 2185 8768) 
Publication year
2020
Publication date
2020
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
e-ISSN
20452322
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2424565984
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2020. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.