Department of Environmental Science & Policy, One Shields Avenue, University of California, Davis, CA, 95616, U.S.A..
Conserv Biol. 2014 Feb;28(1):13-21. doi: 10.1111/cobi.12204. Epub 2013 Dec 26.
As habitat loss and fragmentation threaten biodiversity on large geographic scales, creating and maintaining connectivity of wildlife populations is an increasingly common conservation objective. To assess the progress and success of large-scale connectivity planning, conservation researchers need a set of plans that cover large geographic areas and can be analyzed as a single data set. The state wildlife action plans (SWAPs) fulfill these requirements. We examined 50 SWAPs to determine the extent to which wildlife connectivity planning, via linkages, is emphasized nationally. We defined linkage as connective land that enables wildlife movement. For our content analysis, we identified and quantified 6 keywords and 7 content criteria that ranged in specificity and were related to linkages for wide-ranging terrestrial vertebrates and examined relations between content criteria and statewide data on focal wide-ranging species, spending, revenue, and conserved land. Our results reflect nationwide disparities in linkage conservation priorities and highlight the continued need for wildlife linkage planning. Only 30% or less of the 50 SWAPs fulfilled highly specific content criteria (e.g., identifying geographic areas for linkage placement or management). We found positive correlations between our content criteria and statewide data on percent conserved land, total focal species, and spending on parks and recreation. We supplemented our content analysis with interviews with 17 conservation professionals to gain specific information about state-specific context and future directions of linkage conservation. Based on our results, relevant literature, and interview responses, we suggest the following best practices for wildlife linkage conservation plans: collect ecologically meaningful background data; be specific; establish community-wide partnerships; and incorporate sociopolitical and socioeconomic information.
随着栖息地的丧失和破碎化对大地理尺度的生物多样性构成威胁，建立和维护野生动物种群的连通性成为日益普遍的保护目标。为了评估大规模连通性规划的进展和成效，保护研究人员需要一套涵盖大地理区域的规划，并能作为一个单一数据集进行分析。州野生动物行动计划（SWAP）满足了这些要求。我们研究了 50 个 SWAP，以确定通过联系来强调全国范围内野生动物连通性规划的程度。我们将联系定义为能够使野生动物移动的连接土地。在我们的内容分析中，我们确定并量化了 6 个关键词和 7 个与广泛分布的陆生脊椎动物的联系相关的具体内容标准，并研究了内容标准与全州范围内重点广泛分布物种、支出、收入和保护土地之间的关系。我们的研究结果反映了全国范围内在联系保护重点方面的差异，并强调了继续进行野生动物联系规划的必要性。只有 30%或更少的 50 个 SWAP 满足高度具体的内容标准（例如，确定联系点的地理位置或管理）。我们发现，我们的内容标准与全州范围内关于保护土地百分比、总重点物种和公园和娱乐支出的数据之间存在正相关关系。我们对 17 位保护专业人员进行了访谈，以获取有关州特定背景和联系保护未来方向的具体信息，对内容分析进行了补充。根据我们的研究结果、相关文献和访谈回复，我们建议野生动物联系保护规划采用以下最佳实践：收集具有生态意义的背景数据；具体明确；建立全社区范围的合作伙伴关系；并纳入社会政治和社会经济信息。
