More affordable and effective conservation of species

Date:  November 5, 2018

Source:  Stanford University

No one had reported seeing the strange creature -- a cross between a bear and a monkey -- since before the Great Depression. Then, this past summer, an amateur biologist stumbled upon the presumed-extinct Wondiwoi tree kangaroo while trekking through Papua New Guinea. The revelation underscored how little we still know about the natural world -- a major obstacle to conservation.

A new Stanford-led study supports one approach to protecting all species in an area -- the ones we know about and the ones, like the tree kangaroo, scientists don't even know need protection. That conservation scheme focuses broadly on what are known as ecoregions. These are geographically unique regions, such as deserts and rainforests, that contain distinct communities of plants and animals.

Scientists have long debated how well ecoregion borders separate species communities. If the borders are strong, protecting an ecoregion, like a rainforest, would effectively protect all of the species within. If not, each species would need to be managed separately -- a much more uncertain undertaking, especially when we don't even know some species are there.

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