Key Biodiversity Areas as Site Conservation Targets

Site conservation is among the most effective means to reduce global biodiversity loss. Therefore, it is critical to identify those sites where unique biodiversity must be conserved immediately. To this end, the concept of key biodiversity areas (KBAs) has been developed, seeking to identify and, ul...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inBioscience Vol. 54; no. 12; pp. 1110 - 1118
Main Authors EKEN, GÜVEN, BENNUN, LEON, BROOKS, THOMAS M, DARWALL, WILL, FISHPOOL, LINCOLN D. C, FOSTER, MATT, KNOX, DAVID, LANGHAMMER, PENNY, MATIKU, PAUL, RADFORD, ELIZABETH, SALAMAN, PAUL, SECHREST, WES, SMITH, MICHAEL L, SPECTOR, SACHA, TORDOFF, ANDREW
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Circulation, AIBS, 1313 Dolley Madison Blvd., Suite 402, McLean, VA 22101. USA American Institute of Biological Sciences 01.12.2004
Oxford University Press
Subjects
Analysis
Aquatic environment
Biodiversity
biodiversity conservation
Biodiversity hot spots
Biodiversity loss
Conservation
Conservation (Concept)
Conservation (Environment)
Directories
Endangered & extinct species
gap analysis
Holistic Approach
irreplaceability
Networks
OVERVIEW ARTICLES
Protected areas
Protected species
Site Selection
Threatened species
Wilderness areas
irreplaceability
biodiversity conservation
protected areas
gap analysis
threatened species
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Summary:Site conservation is among the most effective means to reduce global biodiversity loss. Therefore, it is critical to identify those sites where unique biodiversity must be conserved immediately. To this end, the concept of key biodiversity areas (KBAs) has been developed, seeking to identify and, ultimately, ensure that networks of globally important sites are safeguarded. This methodology builds up from the identification of species conservation targets (through the IUCN Red List) and nests within larger-scale conservation approaches. Sites are selected using standardized, globally applicable, threshold-based criteria, driven by the distribution and population of species that require site-level conservation. The criteria address the two key issues for setting site conservation priorities: vulnerability and irreplaceability. We also propose quantitative thresholds for the identification of KBAs meeting each criterion, based on a review of existing approaches and ecological theory to date. However, these thresholds require extensive testing, especially in aquatic systems.
ISSN:0006-3568
1525-3244
DOI:10.1641/0006-3568(2004)054[1110:KBAASC]2.0.CO;2