PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

New maps highlight habitat corridors in the tropics

Biodiversity co-benefits and climate change mitigation strategies

2014-02-04
(Press-News.org) Contact information: Eunice Youmans
eyoumans@whrc.org
508-444-1509
Woods Hole Research Center
New maps highlight habitat corridors in the tropics Biodiversity co-benefits and climate change mitigation strategies Falmouth, Mass. – A team of Woods Hole Research Center (WHRC) scientists created maps of habitat corridors connecting protected areas in the tropics to incorporate biodiversity co-benefits into climate change mitigation strategies. Drs. Patrick Jantz, Scott Goetz, and Nadine Laporte describe their findings in an article entitled, "Carbon stock corridors to mitigate climate change and promote biodiversity in the tropics," available online in the journal Nature Climate Change on January 26.

Climate change and deforestation are changing tropical ecosystems, isolating organisms in protected areas that will change along with climate, threatening their survival. Nearly every animal and plant species requires travelling some distance for nutrition, reproduction and genetic diversity, but few conservation or climate mitigation strategies take the connections between conserved lands into account. These habitat corridors are essential for longer-term biodiversity conservation, while also providing opportunities for climate change mitigation in the form of carbon sequestration and avoiding emissions from deforestation.

According to lead author Dr. Jantz, "Maintaining connectivity of forest ecosystems provides ecological and societal benefits ensuring long-term species survival and providing room for ecosystems to reorganize in response to climate change and protecting ecosystem services that people depend on." Co-author Dr. Goetz sees corridors as "avenues for migration of flora and fauna" needed for their survival "under the climate change we're already committed to."

The team used a high-resolution data set of vegetation carbon stock (VCS) to map 16,257 corridors through areas of the highest biomass between 5,600 protected areas in the tropics. For Dr. Jantz, "the VCS corridor approach informs global frameworks for land management based climate change mitigation by showing which forests contain significant carbon stocks and are important for tropical biodiversity."

Part of the study focused on the Legal Amazon, where the team used economic and biological information combining species richness and endemism with economic opportunity costs and deforestation threats to prioritize optimal corridors. For Dr. Goetz, "Conserving tropical forests ultimately requires prioritizing the services they provide to people in a local setting. Identifying lands locally valuable for agriculture or other high-value uses, considering biodiversity and the threat of deforestation, our analysis provides both maps and a framework for realistic conservation planning."

Dr. Laporte adds, "Because it is unlikely all remaining tropical forests can be protected, the corridors defined by this study provide a way to prioritize lands in the context of the multiple benefits of tropical forest conservation."

According to Dr. Thomas E. Lovejoy, a Senior Fellow at the United Nations Foundation, "This represents a significant step towards the kind of integrated planning and management essential for sustainable development."

### Full citation for the Nature Climate Change article: Jantz, P., S. Goetz, and N. Laporte. 2014. Carbon stock corridors to mitigate climate change and promote biodiversity in the tropics. Nature Climate Change. doi: 10.1038/NCLIMATE2105

WHRC is an independent research institute where scientists collaborate to examine the drivers and impacts of climate change and identify opportunities for conservation around the globe.


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Local foods offer tangible economic benefits in some regions

2014-02-04
Despite their typically small size and sparse distribution, farms that sell their products locally may boost economic growth in their communities in some regions of the U.S., according to a team of economists. "There ...

Solving a physics mystery: Those 'solitons' are really vortex rings

2014-02-04
The same physics that gives tornadoes their ferocious stability lies at the heart of new University of Washington research, and could lead to a better understanding of nuclear dynamics in studying fission, ...

US should revisit media policy on China in light of growing Chinese digital media industry

2014-02-04
HOUSTON – (Feb. 3, 2014) – Chinese protectionism in the digital media sphere has created a major underdiscussed trade gap between China and the United States, and the U.S. government must ...

Hypertensive patients' specialty use changed with medical home

2014-02-04
SEATTLE—Group Health studied how patients with treated hypertension used outpatient specialty care before, ...

NIH study offers insight into why cancer incidence increases with age

2014-02-04
The accumulation of age-associated changes in a biochemical process that helps control genes may be responsible for some of the increased risk of cancer seen ...

Study challenges claims of single-sex schooling benefits

2014-02-04
MADISON — As many American public school districts adopt single-sex classrooms and even entire schools, a new study finds scant evidence that they offer educational or social benefits. The study was the largest and ...

How a shape-shifting DNA-repair machine fights cancer

2014-02-04
Maybe you've seen the movies or played with toy Transformers, those shape-shifting machines that ...

NIH scientists find mechanism that helps HIV evade antibodies, stabilize key proteins

2014-02-04
WHAT: NIH scientists have discovered a mechanism involved in stabilizing key HIV ...

Data-driven team is key to sustaining positive behavior framework in schools

2014-02-04
EUGENE, Ore. -- A new study finds that a dedicated team that makes decisions based on data ...

High long-term survival of most common pediatric brain tumor, less when radiation was used

2014-02-04
BOSTON (Feb. 3, 2014) ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

New CRISPR test could make tuberculosis screening as simple as a mouth swab

Three-sensor overeating detection could reshape obesity treatment

Study provides first evidence that plastic nanoparticles can accumulate in the edible parts of vegetables

AI predicts complications from surgery better than doctors

New personalized risk score could improve ovarian cancer detection

People on Ozempic who eat to regulate emotions less likely to lose weight

AACR Cancer Progress Report highlights lifesaving impact of federal investments in cancer research

Indra's internet

Lymph nodes found to be key to successful cancer immunotherapy

Room-temperature terahertz device opens door to 6G networks

A hard look at geoengineering reveals global risks

When smoke signals danger: How Australian lizards evolved to escape fire

Beyond the surface: Atopic eczema linked to significantly higher risk of suicidal thoughts, major study finds

After weight loss regular exercise rather than GLP-1 weight-loss drug reduces leading cause of heart attack and strokes

EASD launches its first ever clinical practice guideline – the world’s first to focus on diabetes distress

Semaglutide provides powerful protection against diabetic retinopathy, the leading cause of blindness in working-age adults, Greek study suggests

Orforglipron taken orally once daily leads to significant body weight loss (ATTAIN-1 Study)

U of I researchers trace genetic code’s origins to early protein structures

Disease experts team up with Florida Museum of Natural History to create a forecast for West Nile virus

Researchers: Targeted efforts needed to stem fentanyl crisis

New UMaine research could help lower prescription drug costs

Molecular movie shows how mitochondria read their DNA

Loss of key male fertility gene leads to changes in expression of hundreds of other genes

Water’s density is key to sustainable lithium mining

Pioneering research reveals problem gambling quadruples the risk of suicide among young people four years later

New method improves the accuracy of machine-learned potentials for simulating catalysts

Astronomers discover rare Einstein cross with fifth image, revealing hidden dark matter

UCalgary researchers show brain shunts significantly benefit older adults with hydrocephalus

UCalgary researchers pursue new approach to manage deadly lung scarring

Psychotherapy can be readily integrated into brief “med-check” psychiatry visits

[Press-News.org] New maps highlight habitat corridors in the tropics
Biodiversity co-benefits and climate change mitigation strategies