scholarly journals The potential of protected areas to halt deforestation in Ecuador

2017 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 124-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
YNTZE VAN DER HOEK

SUMMARYEcuador, a country with nearly unparalleled levels of biodiversity and endemism, has one of the highest deforestation rates of South America. I examined whether governmentally protected areas in Ecuador have been effective at reducing deforestation. After estimating deforestation rates from existing land cover change data for 2000 to 2008, I used a matching approach to compare the rates of forest loss inside and outside protected areas, which corrected for geographic biases in the locations of protected areas. I tested for the effects of protected area age, size and level of protection on the rate of deforestation using generalized linear models. Governmentally protected areas still experienced deforestation – with no apparent effect of age, size and level of protection – of nearly 10,000 ha per year, but deforestation rates were lower inside compared to outside protected areas. Governmental protection led to the avoidance of additional deforestation of 2600–7800 ha of natural forest per year. Actions to mitigate deforestation in Ecuador are of global importance and as such it is promising that protected areas can help diminish deforestation, although the effectiveness of Ecuador's protected areas can still be improved upon.

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 361-368
Author(s):  
Kelly Marianne Guimarães Pereira ◽  
Natielle Gomes Cordeiro ◽  
Marcela de Castro Nunes Santos Terra ◽  
Marcela Venelli Pyles ◽  
Christian Dias Cabacinha ◽  
...  

Abstract Aims Natural vegetation plays an important role in global carbon cycling and storage. Thus, the Cerrado (Brazilian savannah) is considered a carbon sink because of its intrinsic characteristics. Our aim was to evaluate how the aboveground biomass and biodiversity relationship change between three Cerrado remnants with different protection status: a ‘control area’ (Legal Reserve area), a protected area (PA) and a non-protected area (Non-PA). Methods All three studied fragments are situated in northern Minas Gerais state, Brazil. We estimated the aboveground carbon stocks based on the forest inventory. We also measured three dimensions of biodiversity metrics for each plot: functional trait dominance, taxonomic diversity and functional diversity. The following functional traits were evaluated for the species: wood density, maximum diameter and seed size. We carried out generalized linear models seeking to evaluate how carbon stocks, community-weighted mean (CWM) trait values, species richness and diversity, and functional diversity indices differ among the remnants. Important Findings The Cerrado areas without protection status had lower carbon stocks, species richness, species diversity, functional richness and functional dispersion, whereas both PA and Non-PA had lower CWM maximum diameter and seed size compared with the Legal Reserve control area. Generalized linear models showed that carbon stocks, species and functional richness metrics were correlated within and across sites, and thus, species richness could serve as a good proxy for functional richness and carbon stocks. The carbon stocks were positively driven by species richness and CWM maximum diameter, while they were negatively driven by functional dispersion. Functional richness, species diversity and CWM seed size appeared in the set of best models, but with no significant direct effect on carbon stocks. Thus, we concluded that absence of protection in the Cerrado areas decreases both species richness and carbon stocks.


Oryx ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 352-357 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jörn P. W. Scharlemann ◽  
Valerie Kapos ◽  
Alison Campbell ◽  
Igor Lysenko ◽  
Neil D. Burgess ◽  
...  

AbstractForest loss and degradation in the tropics contribute 6–17% of all greenhouse gas emissions. Protected areas cover 217.2 million ha (19.6%) of the world’s humid tropical forests and contain c. 70.3 petagrams of carbon (Pg C) in biomass and soil to 1 m depth. Between 2000 and 2005, we estimate that 1.75 million ha of forest were lost from protected areas in humid tropical forests, causing the emission of 0.25–0.33 Pg C. Protected areas lost about half as much carbon as the same area of unprotected forest. We estimate that the reduction of these carbon emissions from ongoing deforestation in protected sites in humid tropical forests could be valued at USD 6,200–7,400 million depending on the land use after clearance. This is > 1.5 times the estimated spending on protected area management in these regions. Improving management of protected areas to retain forest cover better may be an important, although certainly not sufficient, component of an overall strategy for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD).


2017 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-57 ◽  
Author(s):  
ALISON E. BERESFORD ◽  
GRAEME M. BUCHANAN ◽  
BEN PHALAN ◽  
GEORGE W. ESHIAMWATA ◽  
ANDREW BALMFORD ◽  
...  

SUMMARYThe loss of natural habitats is a major threat to biodiversity, and protected area designation is one of the standard responses to this threat. However, greater understanding of the drivers of habitat loss and of the circumstances under which protected areas succeed or fail is still needed. We use visual assessment of satellite images to quantify land-cover change over periods of up to 30 years in and around a matched sample of protected and unprotected Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBAs) in Africa. We modelled the annual survival of forests and other natural land covers as a function of a range of environmental and anthropic predictors of plausible drivers. The best-supported model indicated that survival rates of natural land cover were highest in steeper areas, at higher altitudes, in areas with lower human population densities and in areas where the cover of natural habitats was already higher at the start of the period. Survival rates of natural land cover in protected areas were, on average, around twice those in unprotected areas, but the differences between them varied along different environmental gradients. The overall survival rates of both protected and unprotected forests were significantly lower than those of other natural land-cover types, but the net benefit of protection, in terms of the absolute difference in rates of loss between protected and unprotected sites, was higher in forests. Interaction terms indicated that as slope and altitude increased, the natural protection offered by topography increasingly nullified the additional benefits of legislative protection. Furthermore, protected area designation offered reduced additional benefits to the survival of natural land cover in areas where rates of conversion were higher at the start of the observation period. Variation in the impacts of protected area status along different environmental gradients indicates that targets to improve the world's protected area network, such as Aichi Target 11 of the Convention on Biological Diversity, need to look beyond simple area-based metrics. Our methods and results contribute to the development of a protocol for prioritizing places where protection is likely to have the greatest effect.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Denis Savranschii ◽  
◽  
Vladimir Todiraş ◽  
Tatiana Tretiacova ◽  
Anatolie Gusan ◽  
...  

Tuta absoluta comes from South America. In Europe it was reported for the first time in Spain in 2006. In Republic of Moldova, according to the literary sources, the tomato moth was reported for the first time in 2013 (in Chișinău). In the absence of some efficient prevention and combating measures of the Tuta absoluta pest it spread more and more, and became a pest of major concern for all the Moldavians farmers which deals with the cultivation of tomato crops in the protected areas. Following the phyto sanitary controls the most cases was found the central region of the country. For the monitoring of the tomato moth pest, in the protected area, was used the water universal trap, the ultraviolet light, the colored adhesive plates and sexual pheromones. As a chemical method of the tomato moth pest combating was used: the insecticide Afirm WG dose of 1. 50 kg/ha.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
John D. Lloyd ◽  
Yolanda M. León

AbstractWe used Landsat-based estimates of tree cover change to document the loss and gain of forest in the Dominican Republic between 2000 and 2016. Overall, 2,795 km2 of forest were lost, with forest gain occurring on only 393 km2, yielding a net loss of 2,402 km2 of forest, a decline of 11.1% or 0.7% per year. Deforestation occurred in all of the major forest types in the country, and ranged from a 13% decline in the area of semi-moist broadleaf forest to a 5.9% loss of cloud forest, mostly attributed to agriculture. Fire was a significant driver of forest loss only in Hispaniolan pine (Pinus occidentalis) forests and, to a lesser extent, in adjacent cloud forest. Deforestation rates were lower within protected areas, especially in dry and semi-moist broadleaf forests at lower elevations. Protected areas had a smaller, and generally negligible, effect on rates of forest loss in pine forest and cloud forest, largely due to the effects of several large wildfires. Overall, rates of deforestation in the Dominican Republic were higher than regional averages from across the Neotropics and appeared to have accelerated during the later years of our study period. Stemming deforestation will likely require enforcement of prohibitions on large-scale agricultural production within protected areas and development of alternatives to short-cycle, shifting agriculture.


2020 ◽  
Vol 642 ◽  
pp. 227-240
Author(s):  
L Lodi ◽  
R Tardin ◽  
G Maricato

Most studies of cetacean habitat use do not consider the influence of anthropogenic activities. We investigated the influence of environmental and anthropogenic variables on habitat use by humpback Megaptera novaeangliae and Bryde’s whales Balaenoptera brydei off the coast of the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro. Although there are 2 marine protected areas (MPAs) in this area, few data are available on cetacean habitat use or on the overlap of different cetacean species within these MPAs. Our aim was to evaluate the effectiveness of the MPAs and propose a buffer zone to better protect the biodiversity of the study area. We conducted systematic surveys and developed spatial eigenvector generalized linear models to characterize habitat use by the species in the study area. Habitat use by humpback whales was influenced only by depth, whereas for Bryde’s whales there was the additional influence of anthropogenic variables. For Bryde’s whales, which use the area for feeding, sea surface temperature and the distance to anchorages had a major influence on habitat use. We also showed that neither of the MPAs in the study area adequately protects the hotspots of either whale species. Most of the humpback whale grid cells with high sighting predictions were located within 2 km of the MPAs, while areas of high sighting prediction of Bryde’s whales were located up to 5 km from the MPAs, closer to beaches. Our findings provide important insights for the delimitation of protected areas and zoning of the MPAs.


2018 ◽  
Vol 52 (1) ◽  
pp. 101-121 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. M. Kotkova

The paper provides the data on aphyllophoroid fungi of the State Nature Reserve «Kurgalsky» situated in the Kingisepp District of the Leningrad Region. The list includes 285 species annotated by data on their habitats, substrates and frequency. In total 25 species protected in the Leningrad Region and 3 species protected in Russian Federation were found in the protected area. Chaetodermella luna, Phlebia subochracea and Trechispora stevensonii are published for the first time for the Leningrad Region. The specimens of selected species are kept in the Mycological Herbarium of the Komarov Botanical Institute RAS (LE).


2020 ◽  
Vol 02 ◽  
Author(s):  
RM Garcia ◽  
WF Vieira-Junior ◽  
JD Theobaldo ◽  
NIP Pini ◽  
GM Ambrosano ◽  
...  

Objective: To evaluate color and roughness of bovine enamel exposed to dentifrices, dental bleaching with 35% hydrogen peroxide (HP), and erosion/staining by red wine. Methods: Bovine enamel blocks were exposed to: artificial saliva (control), Oral-B Pro-Health (stannous fluoride with sodium fluoride, SF), Sensodyne Repair & Protect (bioactive glass, BG), Colgate Pro-Relief (arginine and calcium carbonate, AR), or Chitodent (chitosan, CHI). After toothpaste exposure, half (n=12) of the samples were bleached (35% HP), and the other half were not (n=12). The color (CIE L*a* b*, ΔE), surface roughness (Ra), and scanning electron microscopy were evaluated. Color and roughness were assessed at baseline, post-dentifrice and/or -dental bleaching, and after red wine. The data were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) (ΔE) for repeated measures (Ra), followed by Tukey ́s test. The L*, a*, and b* values were analyzed by generalized linear models (a=0.05). Results: The HP promoted an increase in Ra values; however, the SF, BG, and AR did not enable this alteration. After red wine, all groups apart from SF (unbleached) showed increases in Ra values; SF and AR promoted decreases in L* values; AR demonstrated higher ΔE values, differing from the control; and CHI decreased the L* variation in the unbleached group. Conclusion: Dentifrices did not interfere with bleaching efficacy of 35% HP. However, dentifrices acted as a preventive agent against surface alteration from dental bleaching (BG, SF, and AR) or red wine (SF). Dentifrices can decrease (CHI) or increase (AR and SF) staining by red wine.


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