Local biodiversity is higher inside than outside
terrestrial protected areas worldwide

Local biodiversity is higher inside than outside
terrestrial protected areas worldwide

Protected areas are widely considered essential for biodiversity conservation. However, few
global studies have demonstrated that protection benefits a broad range of species. Here,
using a new global biodiversity database with unprecedented geographic and taxonomic
coverage, we compare four biodiversity measures at sites sampled in multiple land uses
inside and outside protected areas. Globally, species richness is 10.6% higher and abundance
14.5% higher in samples taken inside protected areas compared with samples taken outside,
but neither rarefaction-based richness nor endemicity differ significantly. Importantly, we
show that the positive effects of protection are mostly attributable to differences in land use
between protected and unprotected sites. Nonetheless, even within some human-dominated
land uses, species richness and abundance are higher in protected sites. Our results reinforce
the global importance of protected areas but suggest that protection does not co

Gray C.L, Hill, S.L.L, Hudson L.N, Borger L, Contu S, Hoskins A.J, Ferrier S, Purvis A, Scharlemann J.P.W

Nature Communications

2016

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