Document Type

Dissertation - University Access Only

Award Date

2012

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department / School

Geography and Geospatial Sciences

First Advisor

Mark A. Cochrane

Abstract

The preservation of natural biological diversity and ecosystem services has become a priority for human society in recent decades, and the creation of protected areas to shield areas of high biodiversity and ecological value from human development is a primary tool towards achieving those goals. Over 12% of the Earth's surface is included in some form of protected area representing a broad range of terrestrial and marine ecosystems. These areas require assessments to ensure that they are effectively contributing towards attaining the desired conservation goals. There are many methods available to assess the design of protected area networks and whether the plans in place for their management are effective. However, there is a shortage of methods and studies which assess the influence protected status has on actual outcomes of conservation efforts - such as the efficacy of protected areas to reduce loss of natural habitat. Many existing studies that do address this question are in conflict with each other. Global and regional studies often indicate high efficacy towards preserving natural systems when using coarse-scale infrequent observations. However, studies that focus on individual protected areas often report failures of conservation efforts when using frequent fine-scale observations. The moist, tropical forests of the Brazilian Amazon are one of the most biodiversity rich areas on Earth, and are also subjected to some of the highest rates of land conversion to human land uses. With 45% of this region under some form of protected status, the Amazon becomes an ideal region to test a framework for assessing the efficacy of protected areas by measuring their ability to preserve elements of biodiversity in light of the pressures upon, and risks to, those elements. I implement such a framework for 474 individual protected areas using multiple observations of fine-scale data to assess overall efficacy, performance against a primary driver of deforestation, and assess the integrity of remaining protected forests. Assessments and techniques demonstrated here will be critical in advancing conservation-related science towards a point where it has relevance to management and policy regarding protected areas in a timely manner. Such advancements will be necessary to ensure long-term viability of the forests in the Brazilian Amazon.

Library of Congress Subject Headings

Conservation of natural resources -- Amazon River Region -- Evaluation 
Conservation of natural resources -- Brazil -- Evaluation Protected areas -- Amazon River Region 
Protected areas -- Brazil 
Forest degradation -- Amazon River Region 
Forest degradation -- Brazil

Publisher

South Dakota State University

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Rights Statement

In Copyright