Avoiding Biodiversity Collapse in Tropical Protected Areas

Featuring William F. Laurance, Ph.D., Distinguished Research Professor & Australian Laureate, Prince Bernhard Chair in International Nature Conservation, Centre for Tropical Environmental and Sustainability Science (TESS) and School of Marine & Tropical Biology, James Cook University, Cairns, Australia

Tuesday, April 24, 2012
12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
2320 Life Sciences Building

Many of the world’s leading tropical protected areas are now fragments or man-made islands surrounded by drastically modified landscapes. Even some of the historically most-remote sites suffer from hunting and other forms of human encroachment. Will these protected areas function as arks to help conserve tropical biodiversity, or are the arks sinking? Moreover, does each protected area face a unique suite of threats, or do they suffer from similar drivers of change? Using data from 262 expert interviews, I assess long-term shifts in biodiversity and ecosystem processes and identify their potential drivers within 60 key protected areas stratified across the American, Asia-Pacific, and African tropics. Many reserves are suffering, whereas others are faring better. I identify key differences between failing and successful reserves and highlight strategies for avoiding a collapse of biodiversity in tropical protected areas.

Open to all interested faculty, graduate students, and undergraduates.

To view the event flyer click here.

Photos courtesy of William Laurance, www.laurancelab.org.