Systematic Conservation Planning for Conserving Biodiversity in Different Landscape Regions based on the Human Footprint

Abstract

Many species have become extinct because of adverse human-induced environmental changes worldwide. Protected areas (PAs) are recognized as the most effective tool to protect biodiversity. Many countries are associated with the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and set 20 targets. Among them, the 11th and 12th targets aim to secure PAs and save endangered species. However, in South Korea, the effectiveness of PAs is doubtful. Therefore, developing a systematic conservation plan (SCP) is necessary in South Korea. The SCP helps in the objective selection of PAs based on quantitative analysis, which involves collection of data to manage and determine conservation targets for PAs. After the data are prepared, a planning unit and conservation targets need to be established since they remarkably affect the final portfolio. Establishing planning unit size and shape is necessary since it can affect the spatial separation of conservation features. The conservation target refers to how many species or ecosystems need to be protected, which can affect the flexibility of conservation effort. However, most studies identifying these impact factors are conducted on a large scale, or mainly in regions where natural landscape is dominant. Conservation activities might also be needed in areas with human impacts, considering future development activities and movement of species against climate change. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of terrestrial PAs in South Korea and compare the influence of planning unit characteristics and conservation target in forest, agriculture, and urban landscapes. Further, the characteristics of the most suitable planning unit and conservation target were determined. Land cover and vegetation communities were representatives of ecosystems, and amphibians, reptiles, and summer migratory birds were representatives of species. The effectiveness of PAs was confirmed according to representativeness and complementarity, and the influencing factors were compared using the similarity index after deriving the portfolios for each landscape. The different shapes and sizes of planning units (PUs), and conservation targets were applied in 12 and 24 scenarios for each landscape, respectively. The suitability of these factors was determined by evaluating the efficiency and effectiveness of the portfolio results. The terrestrial PAs mainly covered forest ecosystems. Ecosystems such as grasslands, agriculture areas, and wetlands and species inhabiting these ecosystems were largely ignored. In addition, the presence of unprotected species was likely because the complementarity between the PAs was low. When the human footprint (HF) was reflected, the influence of the planning unit shape and size decreased in the urban landscape. Conversely, the impacts were the largest in the agriculture landscape. Considering effectiveness and efficiency, the grid of the smallest planning unit was found to be the most suitable. The influence of the conservation target was larger than that of HF regardless of landscape. The conservation target that had been determined according to the difference of conservation status (variable target) derived a more flexible portfolio than when a uniform target was used. However, there was a trade-off between efficiency and effectiveness, and each landscape had a different relationship. In the urban landscape, certain effectiveness was noted irrespective of the kind of conservation target. On the other hand, forest and agricultural areas showed more effectiveness when a variable target was applied. The findings of the study suggest that ecosystems other than forests should be considered when expanding PAs in the future. To establish PUs and conservation targets, identifying the parts of an ecosystem in a region is necessary. Therefore, when establishing regional conservation plans, setting the initial conditions by considering landscape characteristics, such as HF would be essential.