TY - JOUR
T1 - Systematic conservation planning for private working lands
T2 - Identifying agricultural protection areas for climate solutions, biodiversity habitat, and ecosystem services
AU - Halperin, Sarah
AU - Koehn, Carolyn R.
AU - Johnson, Kelsey K.
AU - Brandt, Jodi S.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2024/9
Y1 - 2024/9
N2 - The escalating pace of climate change and biodiversity loss has energized endeavors to expand protected areas. Recent studies find that agricultural land may play a vital role in tackling climate change and promoting biodiversity. However, most agricultural protection areas (APAs) are implemented based solely on agricultural production characteristics, and there are limited strategies that incorporate other conservation goals. We combined Systematic Conservation Planning (SCP) principles, optimization algorithms, and the Ecosystem Service framework to identify potential APAs and explore the trade-offs in promoting the multifunctionality of agricultural land. We conducted our study in the Treasure Valley, Idaho, where we generated four optimization scenarios. 1. Agricultural Productivity 2. Climate Mitigation 3. Wildlife Habitat 4. Combined Ecosystem Services. We compared the four scenarios based on their a) ability to protect cultivated land, b) potential to contribute to climate mitigation, c) protection of important biodiversity habitat, and d) economic cost. We found that the Climate Mitigation, Wildlife Habitat, and Combined Ecosystem Services scenarios protected a more even distribution of ecosystem services without sacrificing the amount of cultivated land protected. We found that the Agricultural Productivity scenario resulted in the lowest total cost; however, the other scenarios protected a larger area at a lower cost per unit area. The inclusion of multiple objectives showed strong potential to help reach global conservation goals. Our work adds to the body of literature on the role of private land in protecting natural resources and is a starting point for future research to guide agricultural land protection.
AB - The escalating pace of climate change and biodiversity loss has energized endeavors to expand protected areas. Recent studies find that agricultural land may play a vital role in tackling climate change and promoting biodiversity. However, most agricultural protection areas (APAs) are implemented based solely on agricultural production characteristics, and there are limited strategies that incorporate other conservation goals. We combined Systematic Conservation Planning (SCP) principles, optimization algorithms, and the Ecosystem Service framework to identify potential APAs and explore the trade-offs in promoting the multifunctionality of agricultural land. We conducted our study in the Treasure Valley, Idaho, where we generated four optimization scenarios. 1. Agricultural Productivity 2. Climate Mitigation 3. Wildlife Habitat 4. Combined Ecosystem Services. We compared the four scenarios based on their a) ability to protect cultivated land, b) potential to contribute to climate mitigation, c) protection of important biodiversity habitat, and d) economic cost. We found that the Climate Mitigation, Wildlife Habitat, and Combined Ecosystem Services scenarios protected a more even distribution of ecosystem services without sacrificing the amount of cultivated land protected. We found that the Agricultural Productivity scenario resulted in the lowest total cost; however, the other scenarios protected a larger area at a lower cost per unit area. The inclusion of multiple objectives showed strong potential to help reach global conservation goals. Our work adds to the body of literature on the role of private land in protecting natural resources and is a starting point for future research to guide agricultural land protection.
KW - Agricultural landscapes
KW - Ecosystem services
KW - Optimization
KW - Private land conservation
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85200045040&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.biocon.2024.110735
DO - 10.1016/j.biocon.2024.110735
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85200045040
SN - 0006-3207
VL - 297
JO - Biological Conservation
JF - Biological Conservation
M1 - 110735
ER -