Considering multiecosystem trade-offs is critical when leveraging systematic conservation planning for restoration
Restoration guided by systematic conservation planning can unintentionally create ecological trade‑offs. This study emphasizes applying the Conservation Interactions Principle to fully evaluate current ecosystem benefits, improve data and modeling and guide restoration decisions that support biodiversity across changing landscapes.
Subject Tags
- Biodiversity
- Climate impacts
- Conservation Planning
Abstract
Conservationists are increasingly leveraging systematic conservation planning (SCP) to inform restoration actions that enhance biodiversity. However, restoration frequently drives ecological transformations at local scales, potentially resulting in trade-offs among wildlife species and communities. The Conservation Interactions Principle (CIP), coined more than 15 years ago, cautions SCP practitioners regarding the importance of jointly and fully evaluating conservation outcomes across the landscape over long timeframes. However, SCP efforts that guide landscape restoration have inadequately addressed the CIP by failing to tabulate the full value of the current ecological state. The increased application of SCP to inform restoration, reliance on increasingly small areas to sustain at-risk species and ecological communities, ineffective considerations for the changing climate and increasing numbers of at-risk species, are collectively intensifying the need to consider unintended consequences when prioritizing sites for restoration. Improper incorporation of the CIP in SCP may result in inefficient use of conservation resources through opportunity costs and/or conservation actions that counteract one another. We suggest SCP practitioners can avoid these consequences through a more detailed accounting of the current ecological benefits to better address the CIP when conducting restoration planning. Specifically, forming interdisciplinary teams with expertise in the current and desired ecosystem states at candidate conservation sites; improving data availability; modeling and computational advancements; and applying structured decision-making approaches can all improve the integration of the CIP in SCP efforts. Improved trade-off assessment, spanning multiple ecosystems or states, can facilitate efficient, proactive and coordinated SCP applications across space and time. In doing so, SCP can effectively guide the siting of restoration actions capable of promoting the full suite of biodiversity in a region.
Citation
Van Lanen, N. J., Duchardt, C. J., Pejchar, L., Shyvers, J. E., & Aldridge, C. L. (2025). Considering Multiecosystem Trade‐Offs Is Critical When Leveraging Systematic Conservation Planning for Restoration. Global Change Biology, 31(1), e70020. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.70020
TNC Authors
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Jessica E. Shyvers
Senior Spatial Planning Science Advisor
The Nature Conservancy
Email: jess.shyvers@tnc.org