Large expansion of oil industry in the Ecuadorian Amazon: biodiversity vulnerability and conservation alternatives.

ABSTRACT: Ecuador will experience a significant expansion of the oil industry in its Amazonian region, one of the most biodiverse areas of the world. In view of the changes that are about to come, we explore the conflicts between oil extraction interests and biodiversity protection and apply systematic conservation planning to identify priority areas that should be protected in different oil exploitation scenarios. First, we quantified the current extent of oil blocks and protected zones and their overlap with two biodiversity indicators: 25 ecosystems and 745 species (whose distributions were estimated via species distribution models). With the new scheme of oil exploitation, oil blocks cover 68% (68,196 km(2)) of the Ecuadorian Amazon; half of it occupied by new blocks open for bids in the souther

SUBMITTER: Lessmann J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4979723 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature