PCE - 12 Flashcards
when is it better to have a single large reserve rather than split into lots of small reserves?
when all the small reserves support the same species - larger site is better for biodiversity and adding more sites add no new species
when is it best to have more small reserves instead of one large reserve?
when the small reserves differ in community composition - communities at each site are complementary
- several small reserves protect more species if there is turnover between sites
what were the key findings of a study about optimal choice (complementary of sites)?
optimal choice required much less land to represent all species once than any of the others
how much of global land surface is protected areas?
11.5%
where are protected areas typically found?
most have been set up opportunistically - often on land nobody else wanted e.g. areas of high elevation or poor soil
how should you choose protected sites?
instead of choosing sites based on local species richness you need to focus on the importance of community dissimilarity - pick set of sites that would protect complementary sets of species
what type of diversity measures how different the samples are across the sites or the turnover of species?
B diversity
what type of site if best regarding edge impacts?
single large is better for minimising negative impacts of edge effects and protect as much core habitat as possible
what type of site is best regarding persistence of populations?
single large reserve supports larger populations and allows longer term persistence
when designing a network of several small reserves what is the ideal locations?
- far enough apart that disturbances like fires impact each site independently and there is less probability this would occur often in each site
- close enough together to allow dispersal and recolonisation
- population can persist longer
