How to protect half of Earth to ensure it protects sufficient biodiversity.

ABSTRACT: It is theoretically possible to protect large fractions of species in relatively small regions. For plants, 85% of species occur entirely within just over a third of the Earth's land surface, carefully optimized to maximize the species captured. Well-known vertebrate taxa show similar patterns. Protecting half of Earth might not be necessary, but would it be sufficient given the current trends of protection? The predilection of national governments is to protect areas that are "wild," that is, typically remote, cold, or arid. Unfortunately, those areas often hold relatively few species. Wild places likely afford the easier opportunities for the future expansion of protected areas, with the expansion into human-dominated landscapes the greater challenge. We identify regions that are not cur

SUBMITTER: Pimm SL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6114985 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature