Prioritizing individual conservation features in multi-objective conservation planning: a study case in Gansu...

Area of Science:

• Conservation Biology
• Ecological Planning
• Biodiversity Management

Background:

• Maximizing overall conservation benefits can compromise specific feature protection, reducing conservation effectiveness.
• Conservation planning needs to balance multiple biodiversity levels: species, ecosystems, and landscapes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess conservation effectiveness and identify synergies/trade-offs across species, ecosystem, and landscape levels in Gansu Province.
• To evaluate different Zonation-based prioritization scenarios for multi-objective conservation planning.

Main Methods:

• Treated each conservation feature as an independent unit for planning.
• Conducted Zonation-based prioritization across species, ecosystem, and landscape levels.
• Assessed conservation effectiveness, synergies, and trade-offs among biodiversity levels.

Main Results:

• Species, ecosystem, and landscape levels showed overall synergistic relationships with spatial heterogeneity.
• Synergies were pronounced in forest/grassland regions (Qilian Mountains); trade-offs were evident in desert/farmland areas (Hexi Corridor).
• The species priority scenario yielded the highest effectiveness, ensuring significant coverage for key species, desert species, ecosystems, and landscapes.

Conclusions:

• Using protected species as a proxy is effective for multi-objective conservation planning in ecologically heterogeneous regions.
• This approach supports achieving Target 3 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
• Findings provide scientific backing for conservation strategies in Gansu Province and similar areas.