Identifying Marine Key Biodiversity Areas in the Greater Caribbean Region
type: CreativeWork
description: Anthropocene biodiversity extinction rates are increasing, suggesting a possible sixth global mass extinction event. Biological conservation planners are consequently seeking ways to more effectively protect species at national, regional and global scales. In 2010, the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) issued a number of conservation goals (Aichi Targets), including the establishment of protected areas (PA) in terrestrial, freshwater and marine areas of eminent conservation concern by 2020 to reduce and eventually eliminate species’ extinctions, as well as preserve hotspots of biodiversity and dynamic ecosystems. While well-established, adequately enforced PAs increase the likelihood of preserving species and habitats most at risk of extirpation, traditional methods of choosing where to place PAs are frequently inadequate in targeting biodiversity most in need of conservation. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), therefore, formulated a set of criteria and thresholds using quantitative and transparent selection methods to iteratively identify sites where species and habitats are most urgently in need of protection. The identification of these Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) utilizes species-specific spatial occurrence and population data and species’ threat statuses, to locate areas where site-specific protection measures can effectively slow or halt the extinction of species. This study uses species-specific data provided on IUCN’s Red List website and other online data repositories to identify marine KBAs in the Greater Caribbean region using the newly refined, 2016 IUCN KBA criteria and thresholds in order to address the question of if these criteria are effective for marine environments and to understand how this process may improve PA site selection in the greater Caribbean region. Even though previous analyses have identified marine KBAs for threatened species, this study is one of the first attempts to identify KBAs for geographical…
abstract: Anthropocene biodiversity extinction rates are increasing, suggesting a possible sixth global mass extinction event. Biological conservation planners are consequently seeking ways to more effectively protect species at national, regional and global scales. In 2010, the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) issued a number of conservation goals (Aichi Targets), including the establishment of protected areas (PA) in terrestrial, freshwater and marine areas of eminent conservation concern by 2020 to reduce and eventually eliminate species’ extinctions, as well as preserve hotspots of biodiversity and dynamic ecosystems. While well-established, adequately enforced PAs increase the likelihood of preserving species and habitats most at risk of extirpation, traditional methods of choosing where to place PAs are frequently inadequate in targeting biodiversity most in need of conservation. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), therefore, formulated a set of criteria and thresholds using quantitative and transparent selection methods to iteratively identify sites where species and habitats are most urgently in need of protection. The identification of these Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) utilizes species-specific spatial occurrence and population data and species’ threat statuses, to locate areas where site-specific protection measures can effectively slow or halt the extinction of species. This study uses species-specific data provided on IUCN’s Red List website and other online data repositories to identify marine KBAs in the Greater Caribbean region using the newly refined, 2016 IUCN KBA criteria and thresholds in order to address the question of if these criteria are effective for marine environments and to understand how this process may improve PA site selection in the greater Caribbean region. Even though previous analyses have identified marine KBAs for threatened species, this study is one of the first attempts to identify KBAs for geographical…
author: Harvey, Michael S.
keywords: Biodiversity, Carribbean, IUCN, Key biodiversity areas, Marine conservation, Protected areas, Biology, Natural Resources and Conservation
date published: 2018-07-01T07:00:00Z
date modified: 2026-07-24T03:34:11Z
provider: Old Dominion University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Old Dominion University