Study Finds Human Impact on Wildlife Even in Protected Areas

By 2030, if the 30 by 30 initiative supported by more than 100 countries is successful, 30% of our land and ocean ecosystems will be designated protected areas meant to safeguard biodiversity and help limit the impacts of climate change.  However, a study by Rice University ecologist Lydia Beaudrot and collaborators reports for the first time that tropical mammals living inside protected areas are not spared the effects of human activity even when it occurs outside of the protected boundaries.

Based on the largest long-term camera-trap wildlife survey of its kind to date, the research sheds light on how anthropogenic stressors such as human population density and habitat fragmentation impact 159 mammal species in 16 protected areas across three biogeographic regions. The study, published in Nature Ecology and Evolution, could inform biodiversity policymaking decisions by 30 by 30 participants. Read More: Rice University

Source: ENN