AkiraSMori/BiodProd-ProtectArea: Analyses for "Biodiversity protection and its future benefits to society are intertwined with climate change action"

Abstract

Biodiversity loss and climate change are incontrovertibly intertwined, yet the nuanced interplay between these global challenges is often understated in policy dialogues. Here, we illustrate that conservation through protected areas can effectively preserve primary productivity and carbon capture in forests worldwide, which directly depend on tree diversity. However, we also discover that failing to mitigate future climate change has the potential to diminish the effectiveness of terrestrial protected areas in conserving tree diversity-dependent forest productivity, especially in warmer biomes. This holds true even under the most optimized selection of protected areas designed to meet the global biodiversity target of 30% protection by 2030. Thus, climate change mitigation is critical for the success of many conservation actions aimed at achieving global targets; otherwise, existing and future efforts to conserve biodiversity and their benefits to society could be in vain. Addressing anthropogenic climate change will sustain the many biodiversity-derived ecosystem benefits to society.