New Parks to Protect Animals Seen as Feasible

September 1, 2006
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An article in the September 2006 issue of BioScience, the monthly journal of the American Institute of Biological Sciences, provides some rare good news for conservation biologists. Authors L. J. Gorenflo and Katrina Brandon used GIS (geographic information system) technology to study some 4,000 locations around the world that harbor animals vulnerable to extinction, yet lie outside areas protected by conservation regulations. Gorenflo and Brandon concluded that many of these "gap" locations, which tend to occur disproportionately in the tropics, on islands, and in mountains, are feasible candidates for conservation because they include large tracts of conservation–compatible habitat, their human population is sparse, and they are not attractive for agriculture. Most of the gap locations did not feature high levels of threat from humans.

Gorenflo and Brandon's analysis did point to potential difficulties in establishing protected areas in some parts of the world. Human presence seems to be a hindrance to conservation in gap locations situated near coasts, including islands. In other regions, such as parts of the Andes, Mexico, Brazil, and Africa, some gap locations have agricultural potential, which suggests that conservation measures there might be opposed by farming interests. Other factors beyond the scope of Gorenflo and Brandon's analysis—the governance and market conditions of an area, for example—also will affect the prospects for conservation.

Nevertheless, the article's findings suggest that efforts to establish new protected areas may be worthwhile in many parts of the world. The complete list of research articles in the September 2006 issue of BioScience is as follows:

Key Human Dimensions of Gaps in Global Biodiversity Conservation.
L. J. Gorenflo and Katrina Brandon

Limestone Karsts of Southeast Asia: Imperiled Arks of Biodiversity.
Reuben Clements, Navjot S. Sodhi, Menno Schilthuizen, and Peter K. L. Ng

Sustainable Management of Insect Herbivores in Grassland Ecosystems: New Perspectives in Grasshopper Control.
David H. Branson, Anthony Joern, and Gregory A. Sword

A Rough Guide to Interdisciplinarity: Graduate Student Perspectives.
Jessica K. Graybill, Sarah Dooling, Vivek Shandas, John Withey, Adrienne Greve, and Gregory L. Simon

Issues in Species Recovery: An Example Based on the Wyoming Toad.
Victoria J. Drietz

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