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A preliminary assessment of the contribution of nature reserves to biodiversity conservation in Great Britain

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 January 2001

Paul Hopkinson
Affiliation:
NERC Centre for Population Biology, Imperial College at Silwood Park, Ascot, Berkshire, SL5 7PY, UK Biological Records Centre, NERC Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Monks Wood, Abbots Ripton, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, PE28 2LS, UK
Justin M. J. Travis
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, Imperial College at Silwood Park, Ascot, Berkshire, SL5 7PY, UK Climate Impacts Group, Plant Ecology, Lund University, SE-223 62 LUND, Sweden
John R. Prendergast
Affiliation:
NERC Centre for Population Biology, Imperial College at Silwood Park, Ascot, Berkshire, SL5 7PY, UK
Julianne Evans
Affiliation:
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, The Lodge, Sandy, Bedfordshire, SG19 2DL, UK
Richard D. Gregory
Affiliation:
British Trust for Ornithology, The Nunnery, Thetford, Norfolk, IP24 2PU, UK RSPB, The Lodge, Sandy, Bedfordshire, SG19 2DL, UK.
Mark G. Telfer
Affiliation:
Biological Records Centre, NERC Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Monks Wood, Abbots Ripton, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, PE28 2LS, UK
Paul H. Williams
Affiliation:
Biogeography and Conservation Laboratory, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD, UK
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Abstract

As a signatory of the Convention on Biological Diversity, the United Kingdom (UK) Government is obliged to conserve and enhance biodiversity. One step towards addressing this goal is to determine the level of biodiversity conservation already achieved within the current array of protected areas. We used national distribution data for ten taxonomic groups, and location information for three reserve networks, to assess the contribution of nature reserves to biodiversity conservation in Great Britain at the 10 km square (=100 km2) resolution. For several taxonomic groups, 10 km squares containing nature reserves had a significantly greater overlap than random networks with both hotspots (areas of high species richness) and complementary areas (sets of sites within which all species are represented). In addition, more than 94% of species from each taxonomic group have been recorded within the 10 km squares of the three reserve networks. These results provide some encouragement in terms of the UK meeting its commitment to conserve biodiversity.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 2000 The Zoological Society of London

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