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Biased data reduce efficiency and effectiveness of conservation reserve networks
Joanna Grand1, Michael P Cummings, Tony G Rebelo
1Department of Plant Science and Landscape Architecture, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA. jgrand@umd.edu
Ecology Letters
|May 15, 2007
Summary
Conservation planning using biased species data results in larger reserve networks that protect fewer species. Biased sampling for biodiversity databases performs worse than random sampling, impacting conservation effectiveness.
Area of Science:
- Conservation Biology
- Biodiversity Informatics
- Spatial Planning
Background:
- Complementarity-based reserve selection algorithms are crucial for biodiversity conservation.
- These algorithms require extensive, accurate species distribution data, which is often unavailable.
- Existing biodiversity databases frequently contain incomplete and biased information.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the consequences of using incomplete and biased data in conservation planning.
- To compare reserve networks designed with complete, biased, and randomly sampled data.
- To assess the impact of sampling biases on conservation outcomes and reserve network efficiency.
Main Methods:
- Utilized occurrence records of the plant family Proteaceae in South Africa as a high-quality 'complete' dataset.
- Introduced realistic sampling biases: detectability bias and two forms of roads bias.
- Compared reserve networks generated from complete, biased, and randomly sampled data.
Main Results:
- Biased sampling significantly underperformed compared to complete data and random sampling.
- Biased sampling failed to detect 1-5% of species and increased reserve network size by 9-17%.
- Low spatial congruence and irreplaceability score correlation between biased and complete data networks were observed.
Conclusions:
- Conservation planning based on biased biodiversity data leads to less efficient reserve networks.
- Biased data necessitates larger areas to conserve fewer species and identifies suboptimal conservation sites.
- Accurate data is essential for effective biodiversity conservation planning and reserve selection.
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