Soil carbon is a useful surrogate for conservation planning in developing nations

Defining the optimal placement of areas for biodiversity conservation in developing nations remains a significant challenge. Our best methods for spatially targeting potential locations for biodiversity conservation rely heavily on extensive georeferenced species observation data which is often inco...

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Main Authors: Peri, Pablo Luis, Lasagno, R.G., Martínez Pastur, G., Atkinson, R., Thomas, E., Ladd, Brenton
Format: Journal Article
Language:Inglés
Published: Springer 2019
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/100322
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author Peri, Pablo Luis
Lasagno, R.G.
Martínez Pastur, G.
Atkinson, R.
Thomas, E.
Ladd, Brenton
author_browse Atkinson, R.
Ladd, Brenton
Lasagno, R.G.
Martínez Pastur, G.
Peri, Pablo Luis
Thomas, E.
author_facet Peri, Pablo Luis
Lasagno, R.G.
Martínez Pastur, G.
Atkinson, R.
Thomas, E.
Ladd, Brenton
author_sort Peri, Pablo Luis
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Defining the optimal placement of areas for biodiversity conservation in developing nations remains a significant challenge. Our best methods for spatially targeting potential locations for biodiversity conservation rely heavily on extensive georeferenced species observation data which is often incomplete or lacking in developing nations. One possible solution is the use of surrogates that enable site assessments of potential biodiversity values which use either indicator taxa or abiotic variables, or both. Among the plethora of abiotic variables, soil carbon has previously been identified as a potentially powerful predictor for threatened biodiversity, but this has not yet been confirmed with direct observational data. Here we assess the potential value of soil carbon for spatial prediction of threatened species using direct measurements as well as a wide range of GIS derived abiotic values as surrogates for threatened plant species in the PEBANPA network of permanent plots in Southern Patagonia. We find that soil carbon significantly improves the performance of a biodiversity surrogate elaborated using abiotic variables to predict the presence of threatened species. Soil carbon could thus help to prioritize sites in conservation planning. Further, the results suggest that soil carbon on its own can be a much better surrogate than other abiotic variables when prioritization of sites for conservation are calibrated on increasingly small sets of observation plots. We call for the inclusion of soil carbon data in the elaboration of surrogates used to optimize conservation investments in the developing world.
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spelling CGSpace1003222025-11-12T05:46:06Z Soil carbon is a useful surrogate for conservation planning in developing nations Peri, Pablo Luis Lasagno, R.G. Martínez Pastur, G. Atkinson, R. Thomas, E. Ladd, Brenton biodiversity conservation agriculture developing countries Defining the optimal placement of areas for biodiversity conservation in developing nations remains a significant challenge. Our best methods for spatially targeting potential locations for biodiversity conservation rely heavily on extensive georeferenced species observation data which is often incomplete or lacking in developing nations. One possible solution is the use of surrogates that enable site assessments of potential biodiversity values which use either indicator taxa or abiotic variables, or both. Among the plethora of abiotic variables, soil carbon has previously been identified as a potentially powerful predictor for threatened biodiversity, but this has not yet been confirmed with direct observational data. Here we assess the potential value of soil carbon for spatial prediction of threatened species using direct measurements as well as a wide range of GIS derived abiotic values as surrogates for threatened plant species in the PEBANPA network of permanent plots in Southern Patagonia. We find that soil carbon significantly improves the performance of a biodiversity surrogate elaborated using abiotic variables to predict the presence of threatened species. Soil carbon could thus help to prioritize sites in conservation planning. Further, the results suggest that soil carbon on its own can be a much better surrogate than other abiotic variables when prioritization of sites for conservation are calibrated on increasingly small sets of observation plots. We call for the inclusion of soil carbon data in the elaboration of surrogates used to optimize conservation investments in the developing world. 2019 2019-03-15T10:03:08Z 2019-03-15T10:03:08Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/100322 en Open Access application/pdf Springer Peri, P.L.; Lasagno, R.G.; Martínez Pastur, G.; Atkinson, R.; Thomas, E.; Ladd, B. (2019) Soil carbon is a useful surrogate for conservation planning in developing nations. Scientific Reports 9: 3905. ISSN: 2045-2322
spellingShingle biodiversity
conservation agriculture
developing countries
Peri, Pablo Luis
Lasagno, R.G.
Martínez Pastur, G.
Atkinson, R.
Thomas, E.
Ladd, Brenton
Soil carbon is a useful surrogate for conservation planning in developing nations
title Soil carbon is a useful surrogate for conservation planning in developing nations
title_full Soil carbon is a useful surrogate for conservation planning in developing nations
title_fullStr Soil carbon is a useful surrogate for conservation planning in developing nations
title_full_unstemmed Soil carbon is a useful surrogate for conservation planning in developing nations
title_short Soil carbon is a useful surrogate for conservation planning in developing nations
title_sort soil carbon is a useful surrogate for conservation planning in developing nations
topic biodiversity
conservation agriculture
developing countries
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/100322
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AT atkinsonr soilcarbonisausefulsurrogateforconservationplanningindevelopingnations
AT thomase soilcarbonisausefulsurrogateforconservationplanningindevelopingnations
AT laddbrenton soilcarbonisausefulsurrogateforconservationplanningindevelopingnations