Conservation Priorities in Terrestrial Protected Areas for Latin America and the Caribbean Based on an Ecoregional Analysis of Woody Vegetation Change, 2001–2010

Matthew L. Clark, Jorge Ruiz, Maria C. Fandino and David López-Carr
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Matthew L. Clark: Center for Interdisciplinary Geospatial Analysis, Department of Geography, Environment and Planning, Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park, CA 94928, USA
Jorge Ruiz: Comité Científico, Revista, Perspectiva Geográfica, Grupo de Investigación Caldas, Programa de Estudios de Posgrado en Geografía, Facultad de Ciencias de la Educación, Escuela de Ciencias Sociales, Universidad Pedagógica y Tecnológica de Colombia, Bogotá 111321, Colombia
Maria C. Fandino: Fondo Patrimonio Natural para la Biodiversidad y Áreas Protegidas, Bogotá 110221, Colombia
David López-Carr: Department of Geography, Human-Environment Dynamics Laboratory, University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA

Land, 2021, vol. 10, issue 10, 1-21

Abstract: We determined protected area coverage and woody vegetation change in Latin America and the Caribbean at biome and ecoregion scales, for the years 2001 to 2010. For each ecoregion’s terrestrial protected area (TPA) and unprotected area, a linear regression of woody vegetation area against time (10 years) was used to estimate 2001 and 2010 woody vegetation, respectively. We calculated a conversion-to-protection index, termed the Woody Conservation Risk Index, and identified trends in relation to existing conservation priorities. As a whole, the region lost 2.2% of its woody cover. High woody cover loss was observed for the Moist Forests (3.4% decrease) and the Flooded Grasslands/Savannas (11.2% decrease) biomes, while Mediterranean Forests exhibited a 5.8% increase. The Dry Forest Biome, the most threatened biome worldwide, experienced a 2% regional gain, which was surprising as we expected the opposite given a net regional loss for all biomes. Woody cover was more stable in TPAs in comparison to areas with no protection. Deforestation inside and surrounding TPAs remains high in humid ecoregions. High overall ecoregion deforestation, with stable TPAs, characterized some Amazonian ecoregions, the Dry Chaco, and moist forests on the eastern Andean foothills of Ecuador and Peru. Woody regrowth inside and outside of TPAs was observed in the Sonoran-Sinaloan transition subtropical dry forests and the Sierra Madre Occidental pine-oak forests in Mexico.

Keywords: biomes; ecoregions; land-use and land cover change; Latin America and Caribbean; terrestrial protected areas (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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