Evaluating protected areas' coverage of threats to terrestrial biodiversity.

ABSTRACT: Protected areas (PAs) are vital for biodiversity conservation and have expanded globally. However, increasing pressures on biodiversity make it difficult to achieve conservation goals. Using threat probability maps based on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List and the World Database of Protected Areas, we analyzed the relationship between PA coverage and the major threats to amphibians, birds, mammals, and reptiles-agriculture, hunting, logging, pollution, invasive species, and urbanization. We included data on 33,379 species and 255,848 protected sites. We analyzed the relationship between threat probabilities and PA coverage with generalized additive models. Then, we grouped grid cells into discrete threat-protection categories and examined global spatial patterns.

SUBMITTER: Pulido-Chadid K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12658943 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature