Ecological Performance of Protected Areas

• Published in: Annual review of ecology, evolution, and systematics evolution, and systematics, 2008-01, Vol.39 (1), p.93-113
• Main Authors: Gaston, Kevin J, Jackson, Sarah F, Cantu-Salazar, Lisette, Cruz-Pinon, Gabriela
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animal and plant ecology; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Applied ecology; Biodiversity; Biodiversity conservation; Biological and medical sciences; case studies; Conservation; conservation areas; Conservation, protection and management of environment and wildlife; Ecology; Forest conservation; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; General aspects; Habitat conservation; Habitat loss; Habitats; literature reviews; Mammals; Protected areas; Species; Threatened species; Wildlife conservation
• ISSN: 1543-592X; 1545-2069
• DOI: 10.1146/annurev.ecolsys.39.110707.173529

Protected areas are a cornerstone of local, regional, and global strategies for the conservation of biodiversity. However, the ecological performance of these areas, both in terms of the representation and the maintenance of key biodiversity features, remains poorly understood. A large and rapidly expanding literature bears on these issues, but it is highly fragmented, principally comprises particular case studies, and employs a diverse array of approaches. Here we provide a synthetic review of this work, discriminating between issues of performance of inventory and condition at the scale of individual protected areas, portfolios, and networks of protected areas. We emphasize the insights that follow and the links between the different issues, as well as highlight the major problems that remain unresolved.