Effectiveness of protected areas in the Western Caucasus before and after the transition to post-socialism.
Effectiveness of protected areas in the Western Caucasus before and after the transition to post-socialism.
复制标题
DOI：
10.1016/j.biocon.2015.02.013
复制
发表时间：
2015-04
影响因子：
5.9
通讯作者：
Eugenia V. Bragina;V. Radeloff;Matthias Baumann;K. Wendland;T. Kuemmerle;A. Pidgeon
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Eugenia V. Bragina;V. Radeloff;Matthias Baumann;K. Wendland;T. Kuemmerle;A. Pidgeon
经济和社会转型期可能对环境和野生动植物产生严重的负面影响。1991年苏联解体是社会动荡和向新社会过渡的一个突出例子。然而，目前尚不清楚人类在崩溃过程中如何影响环境，以及旨在保护环境的机构是否继续履行其预期的角色。我们的目标是评估苏联解体对保护区森林冠层移除率的影响，以及这些比率如何随保护区状态和时间而变化。我们使用1985-2010年西高加索地区Landsat卫星图像的时间序列监测了保护区内外的森林冠层移除。平均而言，我们发现令人惊讶的低年森林冠层去除率仅为0.03%。所有类型保护区内的冠层移除最高发生在2000年之后。在保护区中，我们发现索契国家公园内的树冠移除率最高，这是由于奥运会的建设，尽管公园的保护地位。总体而言，令人鼓舞的是，西高加索保护区的森林树冠砍伐率远远低于俄罗斯其他地区。由于在高加索地区发现了许多当地特有的植物和动物物种，禁止一律砍伐，这项规定似乎是有效的。然而，奥运会等重大社会和政治事件造成的保护区内森林树冠砍伐令人担忧。
Economic and social transition periods can have strong negative effects for the environment and for wildlife. The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 provides a striking example of social turmoil and transition to a new society. It is unclear, however, how humans affected the environment in the course of the collapse, and if institutions designed to safeguard the environment continued to fulfill their intended role. Our goal was to assess the impact of the collapse of the Soviet Union on forest canopy removal rates in protected areas, and how these rates varied by protected area status and over time. We monitored forest canopy removal within and outside of protected areas using a 1985–2010 time series of Landsat satellite images from the Western Caucasus. On average, we found surprisingly low annual forest canopy removal rates of only 0.03%. The highest canopy removal inside of protected areas of all types occurred after 2000. Among the protected areas, we found the highest canopy removal rates within Sochi National Park, attributable to construction for the Olympic Games and in spite of the Park’s protected status. Overall, it is encouraging that forest canopy removal rates in protected areas in the Western Caucasus are far lower than in other Russian regions. Because many local endemic plant and animal species are found in the Caucasus region, clear cuts are prohibited, and this regulation appears to be effective. However, forest canopy removal within protected areas caused by major social and political events such as the Olympic Games is of concern.