Forests are critically viable habitats high in biodiversity, while providing many ecosystem services. The forest industry is very important to western North America therefore, adequate protection of forest resources at the population and species level is imperative to sustaining its high biodiversity as well as its great economic value (Hamann et al., 2005). This research will assess the current and future protected status of 58 native North American forest tree species at the species and population level by jurisdiction through geospatial methods, using ArcGIS 10.1 (ESRI, 2012) to prepare files and using R for Statistical Computing Version 3.0.1 (R Core Team, 2013) to analyse the data.
Through these methods we are able to assess how much land each jurisdiction in the study area is protecting, and how much of that land is considered to be forested. In addition to this we are then able to conduct a gap analysis using mapped (for current) and predicted species distribution models (for 2020s, 2050s and 2080s) to determine if the species are adequately protected in the current protected area network. We are then able to see where the biggest conservation gaps exist by species , population and jurisdiction. Identifying where the gaps exist is the first step towards improving effective conservation efforts.
The results from this analysis show that the majority of jurisdictions in the study are protecting between 5 and 20% of their landbase, apart from Alaska which is protecting 50% if its landbase. The majority of jurisdictions are protecting between 10 and 20% of their forested land with some exceptions such as, Alaska protecting 40% and Yukon Territory protecting only 5% of its forested land. When we look at population protection by jurisdiction we find that those with smaller numbers of populations such as Northwest Territories are protecting their populations well, while those with large numbers of populations such as Washington and British Columbia still have a fair number of populations requiring protection. At the species level we see that those species with large ranges such as Trembling aspen and Black spruce are well protected, while those with smaller and sparse ranges such as Bristlecone and Western white pine still require greater protection.
The aim of this research is to provide the necessary information to those involved in conservation management, forest resource management, park management, etc., to make informed decisions for more successful conservation and management of western North America's forest tree species and populations under current and future conditions. These decisions and actions are imperative to ensure the continuity and biodiversity of western North America's forests.
Through these methods we are able to assess how much land each jurisdiction in the study area is protecting, and how much of that land is considered to be forested. In addition to this we are then able to conduct a gap analysis using mapped (for current) and predicted species distribution models (for 2020s, 2050s and 2080s) to determine if the species are adequately protected in the current protected area network. We are then able to see where the biggest conservation gaps exist by species , population and jurisdiction. Identifying where the gaps exist is the first step towards improving effective conservation efforts.
The results from this analysis show that the majority of jurisdictions in the study are protecting between 5 and 20% of their landbase, apart from Alaska which is protecting 50% if its landbase. The majority of jurisdictions are protecting between 10 and 20% of their forested land with some exceptions such as, Alaska protecting 40% and Yukon Territory protecting only 5% of its forested land. When we look at population protection by jurisdiction we find that those with smaller numbers of populations such as Northwest Territories are protecting their populations well, while those with large numbers of populations such as Washington and British Columbia still have a fair number of populations requiring protection. At the species level we see that those species with large ranges such as Trembling aspen and Black spruce are well protected, while those with smaller and sparse ranges such as Bristlecone and Western white pine still require greater protection.
The aim of this research is to provide the necessary information to those involved in conservation management, forest resource management, park management, etc., to make informed decisions for more successful conservation and management of western North America's forest tree species and populations under current and future conditions. These decisions and actions are imperative to ensure the continuity and biodiversity of western North America's forests.