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https://theconversation.com/leakage-or-spillover-conservation-parks-boost-biodiversity-outside-them-but-theres-a-catch-new-study-shows-212014>
"It’s easy to assume protected areas such as national parks conserve wildlife –
that seems obvious. But what is the proof? And how does park success vary
across different ecosystems – in deserts versus tropical rainforests, or
wetlands versus oceans?
While we can use satellite imagery to measure the effect of protected areas in
reducing human impacts such as logging, you can’t see the animals from space.
In particularly dense tropical rainforests, it was nearly impossible to
accurately monitor wildlife, until remotely triggered camera traps became
available in the past decade.
There is a longstanding conservation debate on the benefits that protected
areas such as national parks have for biodiversity.
Some scientists have argued that conservation success inside park boundaries
may come at the expense of neighbouring unprotected habitats. Essentially, they
suggest parks displace impacts such as hunting and logging to other nearby
areas. The technical term for this is leakage.
On the other hand, marine parks have often reported higher biodiversity nearby.
Fish reproduce successfully inside park boundaries and their offspring
disperse, benefiting surrounding habitats in a “spillover” effect.
We set out to see which of those effects actually prevails in protected land
areas and their surrounds. Our new study, published today in
Nature, shows
parks do enhance bird diversity inside their borders. Large parks also support
higher diversity of both birds and mammals in nearby unprotected areas."
Cheres,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
