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:

Pink skies

Monkeys are world’s best yodellers - new research

Key differences between visual- and memory-led Alzheimer’s discovered

% weight loss targets in obesity management – is this the wrong objective?

An app can change how you see yourself at work

NYC speed cameras take six months to change driver behavior, effects vary by neighborhood, new study reveals

New research shows that propaganda is on the rise in China

Even the richest Americans face shorter lifespans than their European counterparts, study finds

Novel genes linked to rare childhood diarrhea

New computer model reveals how Bronze Age Scandinavians could have crossed the sea

Novel point-of-care technology delivers accurate HIV results in minutes

Researchers reveal key brain differences to explain why Ritalin helps improve focus in some more than others

Study finds nearly five-fold increase in hospitalizations for common cause of stroke

Study reveals how alcohol abuse damages cognition

Medicinal cannabis is linked to long-term benefits in health-related quality of life

Microplastics detected in cat placentas and fetuses during early pregnancy

Ancient amphibians as big as alligators died in mass mortality event in Triassic Wyoming

Scientists uncover the first clear evidence of air sacs in the fossilized bones of alvarezsaurian dinosaurs: the "hollow bones" which help modern day birds to fly

Alcohol makes male flies sexy

TB patients globally often incur "catastrophic costs" of up to $11,329 USD, despite many countries offering free treatment, with predominant drivers of cost being hospitalization and loss of income

Study links teen girls’ screen time to sleep disruptions and depression

Scientists unveil starfish-inspired wearable tech for heart monitoring

Footprints reveal prehistoric Scottish lagoons were stomping grounds for giant Jurassic dinosaurs

AI effectively predicts dementia risk in American Indian/Alaska Native elders

First guideline on newborn screening for cystic fibrosis calls for changes in practice to improve outcomes

Existing international law can help secure peace and security in outer space, study shows

Pinning down the process of West Nile virus transmission

UTA-backed research tackles health challenges across ages

In pancreatic cancer, a race against time

Targeting FGFR2 may prevent or delay some KRAS-mutated pancreatic cancers

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