Protecting biodiversity when money matters: maximizing return on investment.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Conventional wisdom identifies biodiversity hotspots as priorities for conservation investment because they capture dense concentrations of species. However, density of species does not necessarily imply conservation 'efficiency'. Here we explicitly consider conservation efficiency in terms of species protected per dollar invested.

Methodology/principal findings

We apply a dynamic return on investment approach to a global biome and compare it with three alternate priority setting approaches and a random allocation of funding. After twenty years of acquiring habitat, the return on investment approach protects between 32% and 69% more species compared to the other priority setting approaches. To correct for potential inefficiencies of protecting the same species mul

SUBMITTER: Underwood EC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2212107 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature