Data from: Valuable habitat and low deforestation can reduce biodiversity gains from development rights markets

1. Illegal private land deforestation threatens global biodiversity, even in areas with native habitat requirements stipulated by law. Compliance can be improved by allowing landholders to meet legal reserve requirements by buying and selling the rights to have deforested land through a Tradeable Development Rights system (TDR). While this policy mechanism may prevent native habitat area loss, the spatial pattern of reserved areas will shift, creating novel landscape patterns. The resulting altered fragmentation and connectivity of habitat will impact biodiversity. TDR may also allow landholders to earn rent on land they never intended on converting, resulting in additional deforestation elsewhere and net habitat loss.
2. We construct a simulation model to explore the potential implications for biodiversity when development rights can be traded, compared with the landscape resulting from enforced individual compliance with deforestation laws.
3. We find that where future deforestation is very likely, a TDR market can provide better outcomes for both biodiversity and agriculture, resulting in more connected habitat networks with larger fragments and fewer edge effects. However, the TDR market can be harmful if future deforestation is unlikely, or if one habitat type is tightly spatially correlated with high economic returns from agriculture.
4. Policy implications. Allowing landholders to buy and sell the rights to keep more cleared land than legally stipulated will result in transformed multi-use landscapes. Losses of native habitat in some areas will be offset in others. We conclude that trading forest development rights has the potential to improve habitat configurations, but that careful consideration should be given to current species distributions and likely future deforestation scenarios.

1. 非法私有林地砍伐正威胁着全球生物多样性，即便在法律明确规定原生栖息地保护要求的区域亦未能幸免。可通过可交易开发权系统（Tradeable Development Rights system，TDR）允许土地所有者通过买卖已砍伐林地的相关权利，以满足法定的保护区储备要求，从而提升合规性。尽管这一政策机制可避免原生栖息地面积损失，但保护区的空间格局将发生改变，形成全新的景观格局。由此引发的生境破碎化与连通性变化将对生物多样性产生影响。此外，该制度还可能让土地所有者从原本无意转化的土地上获取租金，进而导致其他区域出现额外砍伐，最终造成生境净损失。
2. 我们构建了一套模拟模型，旨在探讨开发权可交易时对生物多样性的潜在影响，并与强制要求土地所有者个体遵守砍伐法规所形成的景观格局进行对比。
3. 研究结果显示，在未来砍伐风险极高的场景下，可交易开发权市场能够为生物多样性与农业发展带来更优的结果，形成连通性更强的生境网络，拥有更大的生境斑块且边缘效应更少。但如果未来砍伐发生概率较低，或者某类生境类型与农业高收益的空间分布高度相关，那么可交易开发权市场反而可能产生不利影响。
4. 政策启示：允许土地所有者通过买卖权利，保有超出法定要求的已砍伐土地份额，将催生转型后的多用途景观格局。部分区域的原生栖息地损失将在其他区域得到补偿。我们认为，森林开发权交易有望优化生境配置，但需审慎考量当前物种分布与未来可能发生的砍伐场景。