Averting biodiversity collapse in tropical forest protected areas

William F. Laurance, D. Carolina Useche, Julio Rendeiro, Margareta Kalka, Corey J.A. Bradshaw, Sean P. Sloan, Susan G. Laurance, Mason Campbell, Kate Abernethy, Patricia Alvarez, Victor Arroyo-Rodriguez, Peter Ashton, Julieta Benítez-Malvido, Allard Blom, Kadiri S. Bobo, Charles H. Cannon, Min Cao, Richard Carroll, Colin Chapman, Rosamond Coates & 196 others Marina Cords, Finn Danielsen, Bart De Dijn, Eric Dinerstein, Maureen A. Donnelly, David Edwards, Felicity Edwards, Nina Farwig, Peter Fashing, Pierre Michel Forget, Mercedes Foster, George Gale, David Harris, Rhett Harrison, John Hart, Sarah Karpanty, W. John Kress, Jagdish Krishnaswamy, Willis Logsdon, Jon Lovett, William Magnusson, Fiona Maisels, Andrew R. Marshall, Deedra McClearn, Divya Mudappa, Martin R. Nielsen, Richard Pearson, Nigel Pitman, Jan Van Der Ploeg, Andrew Plumptre, John Poulsen, Mauricio Quesada, Hugo Rainey, Douglas Robinson, Christiane Roetgers, Francesco Rovero, Frederick Scatena, Christian Schulze, Douglas Sheil, Thomas Struhsaker, John Terborgh, Duncan Thomas, Robert Timm, J. Nicolas Urbina-Cardona, Karthikeyan Vasudevan, S. Joseph Wright, Juan Carlos Arias-G., Luzmila Arroyo, Mark Ashton, Philippe Auzel, Dennis Babaasa, Fred Babweteera, Patrick Baker, Olaf Banki, Margot Bass, Inogwabini Bila-Isia, Stephen Blake, Warren Brockelman, Nicholas Brokaw, Carsten A. Brühl, Sarayudh Bunyavejchewin, Jung Tai Chao, Jerome Chave, Ravi Chellam, Connie J. Clark, José Clavijo, Robert Congdon, Richard Corlett, H. S. Dattaraja, Chittaranjan Dave, Glyn Davies, Beatriz De Mello Beisiegel, Rosa De Nazaré Paes Da Silva, Anthony Di Fiore, Arvin Diesmos, Rodolfo Dirzo, Diane Doran-Sheehy, Mitchell Eaton, Louise Emmons, Alejandro Estrada, Corneille Ewango, Linda Fedigan, François Feer, Barbara Fruth, Jacalyn Giacalone Willis, Uromi Goodale, Steven Goodman, Juan C. Guix, Paul Guthiga, William Haber, Keith Hamer, Ilka Herbinger, Jane Hill, Zhongliang Huang, I. Fang Sun, Kalan Ickes, Akira Itoh, Natália Ivanauskas, Betsy Jackes, John Janovec, Daniel Janzen, Mo Jiangming, Chen Jin, Trevor Jones, Hermes Justiniano, Elisabeth Kalko, Aventino Kasangaki, Timothy Killeen, Hen Biau King, Erik Klop, Cheryl Knott, Inza Koné, Enoka Kudavidanage, José Lahoz Da Silva Ribeiro, John Lattke, Richard Laval, Robert Lawton, Miguel Leal, Mark Leighton, Miguel Lentino, Cristiane Leonel, Jeremy Lindsell, Lee Ling-Ling, K. Eduard Linsenmair, Elizabeth Losos, Ariel Lugo, Jeremiah Lwanga, Andrew L. MacK, Marlucia Martins, W. Scott McGraw, Roan McNab, Luciano Montag, Jo Myers Thompson, Jacob Nabe-Nielsen, Michiko Nakagawa, Sanjay Nepal, Marilyn Norconk, Vojtech Novotny, Sean O'Donnell, Muse Opiang, Paul Ouboter, Kenneth Parker, N. Parthasarathy, Kátia Pisciotta, Dewi Prawiradilaga, Catherine Pringle, Subaraj Rajathurai, Ulrich Reichard, Gay Reinartz, Katherine Renton, Glen Reynolds, Vernon Reynolds, Erin Riley, Mark Oliver Rödel, Jessica Rothman, Philip Round, Shoko Sakai, Tania Sanaiotti, Tommaso Savini, Gertrud Schaab, John Seidensticker, Alhaji Siaka, Miles R. Silman, Thomas B. Smith, Samuel Soares De Almeida, Navjot Sodhi, Craig Stanford, Kristine Stewart, Emma Stokes, Kathryn E. Stoner, Raman Sukumar, Martin Surbeck, Mathias Tobler, Teja Tscharntke, Andrea Turkalo, Govindaswamy Umapathy, Merlijn Van Weerd, Jorge Vega Rivera, Meena Venkataraman, Linda Venn, Carlos Verea, Carolina Volkmer De Castilho, Matthias Waltert, Benjamin Wang, David Watts, William Weber, Paige West, David Whitacre, Ken Whitney, David Wilkie, Stephen Williams, Debra D. Wright, Patricia Wright, Lu Xiankai, Pralad Yonzon, Franky Zamzani

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review

469 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The rapid disruption of tropical forests probably imperils global biodiversity more than any other contemporary phenomenon. With deforestation advancing quickly, protected areas are increasingly becoming final refuges for threatened species and natural ecosystem processes. However, many protected areas in the tropics are themselves vulnerable to human encroachment and other environmental stresses. As pressures mount, it is vital to know whether existing reserves can sustain their biodiversity. A critical constraint in addressing this question has been that data describing a broad array of biodiversity groups have been unavailable for a sufficiently large and representative sample of reserves. Here we present a uniquely comprehensive data set on changes over the past 20 to 30 years in 31 functional groups of species and 21 potential drivers of environmental change, for 60 protected areas stratified across the worlds major tropical regions. Our analysis reveals great variation in reserve health: about half of all reserves have been effective or performed passably, but the rest are experiencing an erosion of biodiversity that is often alarmingly widespread taxonomically and functionally. Habitat disruption, hunting and forest-product exploitation were the strongest predictors of declining reserve health. Crucially, environmental changes immediately outside reserves seemed nearly as important as those inside in determining their ecological fate, with changes inside reserves strongly mirroring those occurring around them. These findings suggest that tropical protected areas are often intimately linked ecologically to their surrounding habitats, and that a failure to stem broad-scale loss and degradation of such habitats could sharply increase the likelihood of serious biodiversity declines.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)290-293
Number of pages4
JournalNature
Volume489
Issue number7415
DOIs
StatePublished - 13 Sep 2012

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Biodiversity
Ecosystem
Endangered Species
Conservation of Natural Resources
Health
Forests
Pressure

Cite this

Laurance, W. F., Carolina Useche, D., Rendeiro, J., Kalka, M., Bradshaw, C. J. A., Sloan, S. P., ... Zamzani, F. (2012). Averting biodiversity collapse in tropical forest protected areas. Nature, 489(7415), 290-293. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature11318
Laurance, William F. ; Carolina Useche, D. ; Rendeiro, Julio ; Kalka, Margareta ; Bradshaw, Corey J.A. ; Sloan, Sean P. ; Laurance, Susan G. ; Campbell, Mason ; Abernethy, Kate ; Alvarez, Patricia ; Arroyo-Rodriguez, Victor ; Ashton, Peter ; Benítez-Malvido, Julieta ; Blom, Allard ; Bobo, Kadiri S. ; Cannon, Charles H. ; Cao, Min ; Carroll, Richard ; Chapman, Colin ; Coates, Rosamond ; Cords, Marina ; Danielsen, Finn ; De Dijn, Bart ; Dinerstein, Eric ; Donnelly, Maureen A. ; Edwards, David ; Edwards, Felicity ; Farwig, Nina ; Fashing, Peter ; Forget, Pierre Michel ; Foster, Mercedes ; Gale, George ; Harris, David ; Harrison, Rhett ; Hart, John ; Karpanty, Sarah ; John Kress, W. ; Krishnaswamy, Jagdish ; Logsdon, Willis ; Lovett, Jon ; Magnusson, William ; Maisels, Fiona ; Marshall, Andrew R. ; McClearn, Deedra ; Mudappa, Divya ; Nielsen, Martin R. ; Pearson, Richard ; Pitman, Nigel ; Van Der Ploeg, Jan ; Plumptre, Andrew ; Poulsen, John ; Quesada, Mauricio ; Rainey, Hugo ; Robinson, Douglas ; Roetgers, Christiane ; Rovero, Francesco ; Scatena, Frederick ; Schulze, Christian ; Sheil, Douglas ; Struhsaker, Thomas ; Terborgh, John ; Thomas, Duncan ; Timm, Robert ; Nicolas Urbina-Cardona, J. ; Vasudevan, Karthikeyan ; Joseph Wright, S. ; Carlos Arias-G., Juan ; Arroyo, Luzmila ; Ashton, Mark ; Auzel, Philippe ; Babaasa, Dennis ; Babweteera, Fred ; Baker, Patrick ; Banki, Olaf ; Bass, Margot ; Bila-Isia, Inogwabini ; Blake, Stephen ; Brockelman, Warren ; Brokaw, Nicholas ; Brühl, Carsten A. ; Bunyavejchewin, Sarayudh ; Chao, Jung Tai ; Chave, Jerome ; Chellam, Ravi ; Clark, Connie J. ; Clavijo, José ; Congdon, Robert ; Corlett, Richard ; Dattaraja, H. S. ; Dave, Chittaranjan ; Davies, Glyn ; De Mello Beisiegel, Beatriz ; De Nazaré Paes Da Silva, Rosa ; Di Fiore, Anthony ; Diesmos, Arvin ; Dirzo, Rodolfo ; Doran-Sheehy, Diane ; Eaton, Mitchell ; Emmons, Louise ; Estrada, Alejandro ; Ewango, Corneille ; Fedigan, Linda ; Feer, François ; Fruth, Barbara ; Giacalone Willis, Jacalyn ; Goodale, Uromi ; Goodman, Steven ; Guix, Juan C. ; Guthiga, Paul ; Haber, William ; Hamer, Keith ; Herbinger, Ilka ; Hill, Jane ; Huang, Zhongliang ; Fang Sun, I. ; Ickes, Kalan ; Itoh, Akira ; Ivanauskas, Natália ; Jackes, Betsy ; Janovec, John ; Janzen, Daniel ; Jiangming, Mo ; Jin, Chen ; Jones, Trevor ; Justiniano, Hermes ; Kalko, Elisabeth ; Kasangaki, Aventino ; Killeen, Timothy ; King, Hen Biau ; Klop, Erik ; Knott, Cheryl ; Koné, Inza ; Kudavidanage, Enoka ; Lahoz Da Silva Ribeiro, José ; Lattke, John ; Laval, Richard ; Lawton, Robert ; Leal, Miguel ; Leighton, Mark ; Lentino, Miguel ; Leonel, Cristiane ; Lindsell, Jeremy ; Ling-Ling, Lee ; Eduard Linsenmair, K. ; Losos, Elizabeth ; Lugo, Ariel ; Lwanga, Jeremiah ; MacK, Andrew L. ; Martins, Marlucia ; Scott McGraw, W. ; McNab, Roan ; Montag, Luciano ; Myers Thompson, Jo ; Nabe-Nielsen, Jacob ; Nakagawa, Michiko ; Nepal, Sanjay ; Norconk, Marilyn ; Novotny, Vojtech ; O'Donnell, Sean ; Opiang, Muse ; Ouboter, Paul ; Parker, Kenneth ; Parthasarathy, N. ; Pisciotta, Kátia ; Prawiradilaga, Dewi ; Pringle, Catherine ; Rajathurai, Subaraj ; Reichard, Ulrich ; Reinartz, Gay ; Renton, Katherine ; Reynolds, Glen ; Reynolds, Vernon ; Riley, Erin ; Rödel, Mark Oliver ; Rothman, Jessica ; Round, Philip ; Sakai, Shoko ; Sanaiotti, Tania ; Savini, Tommaso ; Schaab, Gertrud ; Seidensticker, John ; Siaka, Alhaji ; Silman, Miles R. ; Smith, Thomas B. ; De Almeida, Samuel Soares ; Sodhi, Navjot ; Stanford, Craig ; Stewart, Kristine ; Stokes, Emma ; Stoner, Kathryn E. ; Sukumar, Raman ; Surbeck, Martin ; Tobler, Mathias ; Tscharntke, Teja ; Turkalo, Andrea ; Umapathy, Govindaswamy ; Van Weerd, Merlijn ; Vega Rivera, Jorge ; Venkataraman, Meena ; Venn, Linda ; Verea, Carlos ; Volkmer De Castilho, Carolina ; Waltert, Matthias ; Wang, Benjamin ; Watts, David ; Weber, William ; West, Paige ; Whitacre, David ; Whitney, Ken ; Wilkie, David ; Williams, Stephen ; Wright, Debra D. ; Wright, Patricia ; Xiankai, Lu ; Yonzon, Pralad ; Zamzani, Franky. / Averting biodiversity collapse in tropical forest protected areas. In: Nature. 2012 ; Vol. 489, No. 7415. pp. 290-293.
@article{8af8129714a8425fa8371856a2fbc23c,
title = "Averting biodiversity collapse in tropical forest protected areas",
abstract = "The rapid disruption of tropical forests probably imperils global biodiversity more than any other contemporary phenomenon. With deforestation advancing quickly, protected areas are increasingly becoming final refuges for threatened species and natural ecosystem processes. However, many protected areas in the tropics are themselves vulnerable to human encroachment and other environmental stresses. As pressures mount, it is vital to know whether existing reserves can sustain their biodiversity. A critical constraint in addressing this question has been that data describing a broad array of biodiversity groups have been unavailable for a sufficiently large and representative sample of reserves. Here we present a uniquely comprehensive data set on changes over the past 20 to 30 years in 31 functional groups of species and 21 potential drivers of environmental change, for 60 protected areas stratified across the worlds major tropical regions. Our analysis reveals great variation in reserve health: about half of all reserves have been effective or performed passably, but the rest are experiencing an erosion of biodiversity that is often alarmingly widespread taxonomically and functionally. Habitat disruption, hunting and forest-product exploitation were the strongest predictors of declining reserve health. Crucially, environmental changes immediately outside reserves seemed nearly as important as those inside in determining their ecological fate, with changes inside reserves strongly mirroring those occurring around them. These findings suggest that tropical protected areas are often intimately linked ecologically to their surrounding habitats, and that a failure to stem broad-scale loss and degradation of such habitats could sharply increase the likelihood of serious biodiversity declines.",
author = "Laurance, {William F.} and {Carolina Useche}, D. and Julio Rendeiro and Margareta Kalka and Bradshaw, {Corey J.A.} and Sloan, {Sean P.} and Laurance, {Susan G.} and Mason Campbell and Kate Abernethy and Patricia Alvarez and Victor Arroyo-Rodriguez and Peter Ashton and Julieta Ben{\'i}tez-Malvido and Allard Blom and Bobo, {Kadiri S.} and Cannon, {Charles H.} and Min Cao and Richard Carroll and Colin Chapman and Rosamond Coates and Marina Cords and Finn Danielsen and {De Dijn}, Bart and Eric Dinerstein and Donnelly, {Maureen A.} and David Edwards and Felicity Edwards and Nina Farwig and Peter Fashing and Forget, {Pierre Michel} and Mercedes Foster and George Gale and David Harris and Rhett Harrison and John Hart and Sarah Karpanty and {John Kress}, W. and Jagdish Krishnaswamy and Willis Logsdon and Jon Lovett and William Magnusson and Fiona Maisels and Marshall, {Andrew R.} and Deedra McClearn and Divya Mudappa and Nielsen, {Martin R.} and Richard Pearson and Nigel Pitman and {Van Der Ploeg}, Jan and Andrew Plumptre and John Poulsen and Mauricio Quesada and Hugo Rainey and Douglas Robinson and Christiane Roetgers and Francesco Rovero and Frederick Scatena and Christian Schulze and Douglas Sheil and Thomas Struhsaker and John Terborgh and Duncan Thomas and Robert Timm and {Nicolas Urbina-Cardona}, J. and Karthikeyan Vasudevan and {Joseph Wright}, S. and {Carlos Arias-G.}, Juan and Luzmila Arroyo and Mark Ashton and Philippe Auzel and Dennis Babaasa and Fred Babweteera and Patrick Baker and Olaf Banki and Margot Bass and Inogwabini Bila-Isia and Stephen Blake and Warren Brockelman and Nicholas Brokaw and Br{\"u}hl, {Carsten A.} and Sarayudh Bunyavejchewin and Chao, {Jung Tai} and Jerome Chave and Ravi Chellam and Clark, {Connie J.} and Jos{\'e} Clavijo and Robert Congdon and Richard Corlett and Dattaraja, {H. S.} and Chittaranjan Dave and Glyn Davies and {De Mello Beisiegel}, Beatriz and {De Nazar{\'e} Paes Da Silva}, Rosa and {Di Fiore}, Anthony and Arvin Diesmos and Rodolfo Dirzo and Diane Doran-Sheehy and Mitchell Eaton and Louise Emmons and Alejandro Estrada and Corneille Ewango and Linda Fedigan and Fran{\cc}ois Feer and Barbara Fruth and {Giacalone Willis}, Jacalyn and Uromi Goodale and Steven Goodman and Guix, {Juan C.} and Paul Guthiga and William Haber and Keith Hamer and Ilka Herbinger and Jane Hill and Zhongliang Huang and {Fang Sun}, I. and Kalan Ickes and Akira Itoh and Nat{\'a}lia Ivanauskas and Betsy Jackes and John Janovec and Daniel Janzen and Mo Jiangming and Chen Jin and Trevor Jones and Hermes Justiniano and Elisabeth Kalko and Aventino Kasangaki and Timothy Killeen and King, {Hen Biau} and Erik Klop and Cheryl Knott and Inza Kon{\'e} and Enoka Kudavidanage and {Lahoz Da Silva Ribeiro}, Jos{\'e} and John Lattke and Richard Laval and Robert Lawton and Miguel Leal and Mark Leighton and Miguel Lentino and Cristiane Leonel and Jeremy Lindsell and Lee Ling-Ling and {Eduard Linsenmair}, K. and Elizabeth Losos and Ariel Lugo and Jeremiah Lwanga and MacK, {Andrew L.} and Marlucia Martins and {Scott McGraw}, W. and Roan McNab and Luciano Montag and {Myers Thompson}, Jo and Jacob Nabe-Nielsen and Michiko Nakagawa and Sanjay Nepal and Marilyn Norconk and Vojtech Novotny and Sean O'Donnell and Muse Opiang and Paul Ouboter and Kenneth Parker and N. Parthasarathy and K{\'a}tia Pisciotta and Dewi Prawiradilaga and Catherine Pringle and Subaraj Rajathurai and Ulrich Reichard and Gay Reinartz and Katherine Renton and Glen Reynolds and Vernon Reynolds and Erin Riley and R{\"o}del, {Mark Oliver} and Jessica Rothman and Philip Round and Shoko Sakai and Tania Sanaiotti and Tommaso Savini and Gertrud Schaab and John Seidensticker and Alhaji Siaka and Silman, {Miles R.} and Smith, {Thomas B.} and {De Almeida}, {Samuel Soares} and Navjot Sodhi and Craig Stanford and Kristine Stewart and Emma Stokes and Stoner, {Kathryn E.} and Raman Sukumar and Martin Surbeck and Mathias Tobler and Teja Tscharntke and Andrea Turkalo and Govindaswamy Umapathy and {Van Weerd}, Merlijn and {Vega Rivera}, Jorge and Meena Venkataraman and Linda Venn and Carlos Verea and {Volkmer De Castilho}, Carolina and Matthias Waltert and Benjamin Wang and David Watts and William Weber and Paige West and David Whitacre and Ken Whitney and David Wilkie and Stephen Williams and Wright, {Debra D.} and Patricia Wright and Lu Xiankai and Pralad Yonzon and Franky Zamzani",
year = "2012",
month = "9",
day = "13",
doi = "10.1038/nature11318",
language = "English",
volume = "489",
pages = "290--293",
journal = "Nature",
issn = "0028-0836",
publisher = "Nature Publishing Group",
number = "7415",

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Laurance, WF, Carolina Useche, D, Rendeiro, J, Kalka, M, Bradshaw, CJA, Sloan, SP, Laurance, SG, Campbell, M, Abernethy, K, Alvarez, P, Arroyo-Rodriguez, V, Ashton, P, Benítez-Malvido, J, Blom, A, Bobo, KS, Cannon, CH, Cao, M, Carroll, R, Chapman, C, Coates, R, Cords, M, Danielsen, F, De Dijn, B, Dinerstein, E, Donnelly, MA, Edwards, D, Edwards, F, Farwig, N, Fashing, P, Forget, PM, Foster, M, Gale, G, Harris, D, Harrison, R, Hart, J, Karpanty, S, John Kress, W, Krishnaswamy, J, Logsdon, W, Lovett, J, Magnusson, W, Maisels, F, Marshall, AR, McClearn, D, Mudappa, D, Nielsen, MR, Pearson, R, Pitman, N, Van Der Ploeg, J, Plumptre, A, Poulsen, J, Quesada, M, Rainey, H, Robinson, D, Roetgers, C, Rovero, F, Scatena, F, Schulze, C, Sheil, D, Struhsaker, T, Terborgh, J, Thomas, D, Timm, R, Nicolas Urbina-Cardona, J, Vasudevan, K, Joseph Wright, S, Carlos Arias-G., J, Arroyo, L, Ashton, M, Auzel, P, Babaasa, D, Babweteera, F, Baker, P, Banki, O, Bass, M, Bila-Isia, I, Blake, S, Brockelman, W, Brokaw, N, Brühl, CA, Bunyavejchewin, S, Chao, JT, Chave, J, Chellam, R, Clark, CJ, Clavijo, J, Congdon, R, Corlett, R, Dattaraja, HS, Dave, C, Davies, G, De Mello Beisiegel, B, De Nazaré Paes Da Silva, R, Di Fiore, A, Diesmos, A, Dirzo, R, Doran-Sheehy, D, Eaton, M, Emmons, L, Estrada, A, Ewango, C, Fedigan, L, Feer, F, Fruth, B, Giacalone Willis, J, Goodale, U, Goodman, S, Guix, JC, Guthiga, P, Haber, W, Hamer, K, Herbinger, I, Hill, J, Huang, Z, Fang Sun, I, Ickes, K, Itoh, A, Ivanauskas, N, Jackes, B, Janovec, J, Janzen, D, Jiangming, M, Jin, C, Jones, T, Justiniano, H, Kalko, E, Kasangaki, A, Killeen, T, King, HB, Klop, E, Knott, C, Koné, I, Kudavidanage, E, Lahoz Da Silva Ribeiro, J, Lattke, J, Laval, R, Lawton, R, Leal, M, Leighton, M, Lentino, M, Leonel, C, Lindsell, J, Ling-Ling, L, Eduard Linsenmair, K, Losos, E, Lugo, A, Lwanga, J, MacK, AL, Martins, M, Scott McGraw, W, McNab, R, Montag, L, Myers Thompson, J, Nabe-Nielsen, J, Nakagawa, M, Nepal, S, Norconk, M, Novotny, V, O'Donnell, S, Opiang, M, Ouboter, P, Parker, K, Parthasarathy, N, Pisciotta, K, Prawiradilaga, D, Pringle, C, Rajathurai, S, Reichard, U, Reinartz, G, Renton, K, Reynolds, G, Reynolds, V, Riley, E, Rödel, MO, Rothman, J, Round, P, Sakai, S, Sanaiotti, T, Savini, T, Schaab, G, Seidensticker, J, Siaka, A, Silman, MR, Smith, TB, De Almeida, SS, Sodhi, N, Stanford, C, Stewart, K, Stokes, E, Stoner, KE, Sukumar, R, Surbeck, M, Tobler, M, Tscharntke, T, Turkalo, A, Umapathy, G, Van Weerd, M, Vega Rivera, J, Venkataraman, M, Venn, L, Verea, C, Volkmer De Castilho, C, Waltert, M, Wang, B, Watts, D, Weber, W, West, P, Whitacre, D, Whitney, K, Wilkie, D, Williams, S, Wright, DD, Wright, P, Xiankai, L, Yonzon, P & Zamzani, F 2012, 'Averting biodiversity collapse in tropical forest protected areas', Nature, vol. 489, no. 7415, pp. 290-293. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature11318

Averting biodiversity collapse in tropical forest protected areas. / Laurance, William F.; Carolina Useche, D.; Rendeiro, Julio; Kalka, Margareta; Bradshaw, Corey J.A.; Sloan, Sean P.; Laurance, Susan G.; Campbell, Mason; Abernethy, Kate; Alvarez, Patricia; Arroyo-Rodriguez, Victor; Ashton, Peter; Benítez-Malvido, Julieta; Blom, Allard; Bobo, Kadiri S.; Cannon, Charles H.; Cao, Min; Carroll, Richard; Chapman, Colin; Coates, Rosamond; Cords, Marina; Danielsen, Finn; De Dijn, Bart; Dinerstein, Eric; Donnelly, Maureen A.; Edwards, David; Edwards, Felicity; Farwig, Nina; Fashing, Peter; Forget, Pierre Michel; Foster, Mercedes; Gale, George; Harris, David; Harrison, Rhett; Hart, John; Karpanty, Sarah; John Kress, W.; Krishnaswamy, Jagdish; Logsdon, Willis; Lovett, Jon; Magnusson, William; Maisels, Fiona; Marshall, Andrew R.; McClearn, Deedra; Mudappa, Divya; Nielsen, Martin R.; Pearson, Richard; Pitman, Nigel; Van Der Ploeg, Jan; Plumptre, Andrew; Poulsen, John; Quesada, Mauricio; Rainey, Hugo; Robinson, Douglas; Roetgers, Christiane; Rovero, Francesco; Scatena, Frederick; Schulze, Christian; Sheil, Douglas; Struhsaker, Thomas; Terborgh, John; Thomas, Duncan; Timm, Robert; Nicolas Urbina-Cardona, J.; Vasudevan, Karthikeyan; Joseph Wright, S.; Carlos Arias-G., Juan; Arroyo, Luzmila; Ashton, Mark; Auzel, Philippe; Babaasa, Dennis; Babweteera, Fred; Baker, Patrick; Banki, Olaf; Bass, Margot; Bila-Isia, Inogwabini; Blake, Stephen; Brockelman, Warren; Brokaw, Nicholas; Brühl, Carsten A.; Bunyavejchewin, Sarayudh; Chao, Jung Tai; Chave, Jerome; Chellam, Ravi; Clark, Connie J.; Clavijo, José; Congdon, Robert; Corlett, Richard; Dattaraja, H. S.; Dave, Chittaranjan; Davies, Glyn; De Mello Beisiegel, Beatriz; De Nazaré Paes Da Silva, Rosa; Di Fiore, Anthony; Diesmos, Arvin; Dirzo, Rodolfo; Doran-Sheehy, Diane; Eaton, Mitchell; Emmons, Louise; Estrada, Alejandro; Ewango, Corneille; Fedigan, Linda; Feer, François; Fruth, Barbara; Giacalone Willis, Jacalyn; Goodale, Uromi; Goodman, Steven; Guix, Juan C.; Guthiga, Paul; Haber, William; Hamer, Keith; Herbinger, Ilka; Hill, Jane; Huang, Zhongliang; Fang Sun, I.; Ickes, Kalan; Itoh, Akira; Ivanauskas, Natália; Jackes, Betsy; Janovec, John; Janzen, Daniel; Jiangming, Mo; Jin, Chen; Jones, Trevor; Justiniano, Hermes; Kalko, Elisabeth; Kasangaki, Aventino; Killeen, Timothy; King, Hen Biau; Klop, Erik; Knott, Cheryl; Koné, Inza; Kudavidanage, Enoka; Lahoz Da Silva Ribeiro, José; Lattke, John; Laval, Richard; Lawton, Robert; Leal, Miguel; Leighton, Mark; Lentino, Miguel; Leonel, Cristiane; Lindsell, Jeremy; Ling-Ling, Lee; Eduard Linsenmair, K.; Losos, Elizabeth; Lugo, Ariel; Lwanga, Jeremiah; MacK, Andrew L.; Martins, Marlucia; Scott McGraw, W.; McNab, Roan; Montag, Luciano; Myers Thompson, Jo; Nabe-Nielsen, Jacob; Nakagawa, Michiko; Nepal, Sanjay; Norconk, Marilyn; Novotny, Vojtech; O'Donnell, Sean; Opiang, Muse; Ouboter, Paul; Parker, Kenneth; Parthasarathy, N.; Pisciotta, Kátia; Prawiradilaga, Dewi; Pringle, Catherine; Rajathurai, Subaraj; Reichard, Ulrich; Reinartz, Gay; Renton, Katherine; Reynolds, Glen; Reynolds, Vernon; Riley, Erin; Rödel, Mark Oliver; Rothman, Jessica; Round, Philip; Sakai, Shoko; Sanaiotti, Tania; Savini, Tommaso; Schaab, Gertrud; Seidensticker, John; Siaka, Alhaji; Silman, Miles R.; Smith, Thomas B.; De Almeida, Samuel Soares; Sodhi, Navjot; Stanford, Craig; Stewart, Kristine; Stokes, Emma; Stoner, Kathryn E.; Sukumar, Raman; Surbeck, Martin; Tobler, Mathias; Tscharntke, Teja; Turkalo, Andrea; Umapathy, Govindaswamy; Van Weerd, Merlijn; Vega Rivera, Jorge; Venkataraman, Meena; Venn, Linda; Verea, Carlos; Volkmer De Castilho, Carolina; Waltert, Matthias; Wang, Benjamin; Watts, David; Weber, William; West, Paige; Whitacre, David; Whitney, Ken; Wilkie, David; Williams, Stephen; Wright, Debra D.; Wright, Patricia; Xiankai, Lu; Yonzon, Pralad; Zamzani, Franky.

In: Nature, Vol. 489, No. 7415, 13.09.2012, p. 290-293.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review

TY - JOUR

T1 - Averting biodiversity collapse in tropical forest protected areas

AU - Laurance, William F.

AU - Carolina Useche, D.

AU - Rendeiro, Julio

AU - Kalka, Margareta

AU - Bradshaw, Corey J.A.

AU - Sloan, Sean P.

AU - Laurance, Susan G.

AU - Campbell, Mason

AU - Abernethy, Kate

AU - Alvarez, Patricia

AU - Arroyo-Rodriguez, Victor

AU - Ashton, Peter

AU - Benítez-Malvido, Julieta

AU - Blom, Allard

AU - Bobo, Kadiri S.

AU - Cannon, Charles H.

AU - Cao, Min

AU - Carroll, Richard

AU - Chapman, Colin

AU - Coates, Rosamond

AU - Cords, Marina

AU - Danielsen, Finn

AU - De Dijn, Bart

AU - Dinerstein, Eric

AU - Donnelly, Maureen A.

AU - Edwards, David

AU - Edwards, Felicity

AU - Farwig, Nina

AU - Fashing, Peter

AU - Forget, Pierre Michel

AU - Foster, Mercedes

AU - Gale, George

AU - Harris, David

AU - Harrison, Rhett

AU - Hart, John

AU - Karpanty, Sarah

AU - John Kress, W.

AU - Krishnaswamy, Jagdish

AU - Logsdon, Willis

AU - Lovett, Jon

AU - Magnusson, William

AU - Maisels, Fiona

AU - Marshall, Andrew R.

AU - McClearn, Deedra

AU - Mudappa, Divya

AU - Nielsen, Martin R.

AU - Pearson, Richard

AU - Pitman, Nigel

AU - Van Der Ploeg, Jan

AU - Plumptre, Andrew

AU - Poulsen, John

AU - Quesada, Mauricio

AU - Rainey, Hugo

AU - Robinson, Douglas

AU - Roetgers, Christiane

AU - Rovero, Francesco

AU - Scatena, Frederick

AU - Schulze, Christian

AU - Sheil, Douglas

AU - Struhsaker, Thomas

AU - Terborgh, John

AU - Thomas, Duncan

AU - Timm, Robert

AU - Nicolas Urbina-Cardona, J.

AU - Vasudevan, Karthikeyan

AU - Joseph Wright, S.

AU - Carlos Arias-G., Juan

AU - Arroyo, Luzmila

AU - Ashton, Mark

AU - Auzel, Philippe

AU - Babaasa, Dennis

AU - Babweteera, Fred

AU - Baker, Patrick

AU - Banki, Olaf

AU - Bass, Margot

AU - Bila-Isia, Inogwabini

AU - Blake, Stephen

AU - Brockelman, Warren

AU - Brokaw, Nicholas

AU - Brühl, Carsten A.

AU - Bunyavejchewin, Sarayudh

AU - Chao, Jung Tai

AU - Chave, Jerome

AU - Chellam, Ravi

AU - Clark, Connie J.

AU - Clavijo, José

AU - Congdon, Robert

AU - Corlett, Richard

AU - Dattaraja, H. S.

AU - Dave, Chittaranjan

AU - Davies, Glyn

AU - De Mello Beisiegel, Beatriz

AU - De Nazaré Paes Da Silva, Rosa

AU - Di Fiore, Anthony

AU - Diesmos, Arvin

AU - Dirzo, Rodolfo

AU - Doran-Sheehy, Diane

AU - Eaton, Mitchell

AU - Emmons, Louise

AU - Estrada, Alejandro

AU - Ewango, Corneille

AU - Fedigan, Linda

AU - Feer, François

AU - Fruth, Barbara

AU - Giacalone Willis, Jacalyn

AU - Goodale, Uromi

AU - Goodman, Steven

AU - Guix, Juan C.

AU - Guthiga, Paul

AU - Haber, William

AU - Hamer, Keith

AU - Herbinger, Ilka

AU - Hill, Jane

AU - Huang, Zhongliang

AU - Fang Sun, I.

AU - Ickes, Kalan

AU - Itoh, Akira

AU - Ivanauskas, Natália

AU - Jackes, Betsy

AU - Janovec, John

AU - Janzen, Daniel

AU - Jiangming, Mo

AU - Jin, Chen

AU - Jones, Trevor

AU - Justiniano, Hermes

AU - Kalko, Elisabeth

AU - Kasangaki, Aventino

AU - Killeen, Timothy

AU - King, Hen Biau

AU - Klop, Erik

AU - Knott, Cheryl

AU - Koné, Inza

AU - Kudavidanage, Enoka

AU - Lahoz Da Silva Ribeiro, José

AU - Lattke, John

AU - Laval, Richard

AU - Lawton, Robert

AU - Leal, Miguel

AU - Leighton, Mark

AU - Lentino, Miguel

AU - Leonel, Cristiane

AU - Lindsell, Jeremy

AU - Ling-Ling, Lee

AU - Eduard Linsenmair, K.

AU - Losos, Elizabeth

AU - Lugo, Ariel

AU - Lwanga, Jeremiah

AU - MacK, Andrew L.

AU - Martins, Marlucia

AU - Scott McGraw, W.

AU - McNab, Roan

AU - Montag, Luciano

AU - Myers Thompson, Jo

AU - Nabe-Nielsen, Jacob

AU - Nakagawa, Michiko

AU - Nepal, Sanjay

AU - Norconk, Marilyn

AU - Novotny, Vojtech

AU - O'Donnell, Sean

AU - Opiang, Muse

AU - Ouboter, Paul

AU - Parker, Kenneth

AU - Parthasarathy, N.

AU - Pisciotta, Kátia

AU - Prawiradilaga, Dewi

AU - Pringle, Catherine

AU - Rajathurai, Subaraj

AU - Reichard, Ulrich

AU - Reinartz, Gay

AU - Renton, Katherine

AU - Reynolds, Glen

AU - Reynolds, Vernon

AU - Riley, Erin

AU - Rödel, Mark Oliver

AU - Rothman, Jessica

AU - Round, Philip

AU - Sakai, Shoko

AU - Sanaiotti, Tania

AU - Savini, Tommaso

AU - Schaab, Gertrud

AU - Seidensticker, John

AU - Siaka, Alhaji

AU - Silman, Miles R.

AU - Smith, Thomas B.

AU - De Almeida, Samuel Soares

AU - Sodhi, Navjot

AU - Stanford, Craig

AU - Stewart, Kristine

AU - Stokes, Emma

AU - Stoner, Kathryn E.

AU - Sukumar, Raman

AU - Surbeck, Martin

AU - Tobler, Mathias

AU - Tscharntke, Teja

AU - Turkalo, Andrea

AU - Umapathy, Govindaswamy

AU - Van Weerd, Merlijn

AU - Vega Rivera, Jorge

AU - Venkataraman, Meena

AU - Venn, Linda

AU - Verea, Carlos

AU - Volkmer De Castilho, Carolina

AU - Waltert, Matthias

AU - Wang, Benjamin

AU - Watts, David

AU - Weber, William

AU - West, Paige

AU - Whitacre, David

AU - Whitney, Ken

AU - Wilkie, David

AU - Williams, Stephen

AU - Wright, Debra D.

AU - Wright, Patricia

AU - Xiankai, Lu

AU - Yonzon, Pralad

AU - Zamzani, Franky

PY - 2012/9/13

Y1 - 2012/9/13

N2 - The rapid disruption of tropical forests probably imperils global biodiversity more than any other contemporary phenomenon. With deforestation advancing quickly, protected areas are increasingly becoming final refuges for threatened species and natural ecosystem processes. However, many protected areas in the tropics are themselves vulnerable to human encroachment and other environmental stresses. As pressures mount, it is vital to know whether existing reserves can sustain their biodiversity. A critical constraint in addressing this question has been that data describing a broad array of biodiversity groups have been unavailable for a sufficiently large and representative sample of reserves. Here we present a uniquely comprehensive data set on changes over the past 20 to 30 years in 31 functional groups of species and 21 potential drivers of environmental change, for 60 protected areas stratified across the worlds major tropical regions. Our analysis reveals great variation in reserve health: about half of all reserves have been effective or performed passably, but the rest are experiencing an erosion of biodiversity that is often alarmingly widespread taxonomically and functionally. Habitat disruption, hunting and forest-product exploitation were the strongest predictors of declining reserve health. Crucially, environmental changes immediately outside reserves seemed nearly as important as those inside in determining their ecological fate, with changes inside reserves strongly mirroring those occurring around them. These findings suggest that tropical protected areas are often intimately linked ecologically to their surrounding habitats, and that a failure to stem broad-scale loss and degradation of such habitats could sharply increase the likelihood of serious biodiversity declines.

AB - The rapid disruption of tropical forests probably imperils global biodiversity more than any other contemporary phenomenon. With deforestation advancing quickly, protected areas are increasingly becoming final refuges for threatened species and natural ecosystem processes. However, many protected areas in the tropics are themselves vulnerable to human encroachment and other environmental stresses. As pressures mount, it is vital to know whether existing reserves can sustain their biodiversity. A critical constraint in addressing this question has been that data describing a broad array of biodiversity groups have been unavailable for a sufficiently large and representative sample of reserves. Here we present a uniquely comprehensive data set on changes over the past 20 to 30 years in 31 functional groups of species and 21 potential drivers of environmental change, for 60 protected areas stratified across the worlds major tropical regions. Our analysis reveals great variation in reserve health: about half of all reserves have been effective or performed passably, but the rest are experiencing an erosion of biodiversity that is often alarmingly widespread taxonomically and functionally. Habitat disruption, hunting and forest-product exploitation were the strongest predictors of declining reserve health. Crucially, environmental changes immediately outside reserves seemed nearly as important as those inside in determining their ecological fate, with changes inside reserves strongly mirroring those occurring around them. These findings suggest that tropical protected areas are often intimately linked ecologically to their surrounding habitats, and that a failure to stem broad-scale loss and degradation of such habitats could sharply increase the likelihood of serious biodiversity declines.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84866154510&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1038/nature11318

DO - 10.1038/nature11318

M3 - Article

VL - 489

SP - 290

EP - 293

JO - Nature

JF - Nature

SN - 0028-0836

IS - 7415

ER -

Laurance WF, Carolina Useche D, Rendeiro J, Kalka M, Bradshaw CJA, Sloan SP et al. Averting biodiversity collapse in tropical forest protected areas. Nature. 2012 Sep 13;489(7415):290-293. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature11318

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