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Protected Area Safeguard Tree and Shrub Communities from Degradation and Invasion: A Case Study in Eastern Madagascar

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Abstract

Despite their prevalence in both developed and developing countries, there have been surprisingly few field assessments of the ecological effectiveness of protected areas. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of a key protected area in eastern Madagascar, Ranomafana National Park (RNP). We established paired 100 × 4-m vegetation transects (400 m2) within RNP and in remnant forests in the park’s peripheral zone. In each 400-m2 plot, all woody stems >1.5 cm in diameter at breast height were measured and identified to species. All species were also identified as native or non-native. We identified utilitarian species within all transects and they were sorted into use category. We calculated plot-level taxonomic biodiversity and functional diversity of utilitarian species; the latter was calculated by clustering the multivariate distances between species based on their utilitarian traits, and all metrics were tested using paired t-tests. Our results showed that there was significantly higher biodiversity inside RNP than in remnant forests and this pattern was consistent across all diversity metrics examined. Forests not located within the park’s boundary had significantly higher non-native species than within RNP. There was no statistically significant difference in functional diversity of utilitarian species inside RNP vs. remnant forests; however, the overall trend was toward higher diversity inside park boundaries. These findings suggested that RNP has been effective at maintaining taxonomic diversity relative to surrounding unprotected areas and restricting the spread of non-native plants. The results also suggested that low functional redundancy of forests outside of RNP might be of concern, because residents in surrounding villages may have few other substitutes for the services provided by species that are of critical importance to their livelihoods. This study highlights the challenges of trying to reconcile biodiversity conservation with human use of natural resources in economically poor, remote areas.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Dr. P. Wright for guidance and support with this project. We thank the Association Nationale pour la Gestion des Aires Protegees (ANGAP), Madagascar Institute pour la Conservation des Environnements Tropicaux (MICET), and Institute for the Conservation of Tropical Environments (ICTE) for valuable logical support. Special thanks go to our Malagasy research assistants, without whom this work would not have been completed: Paul Rasabo, Francois Ratalata, and Auguste Pela. This project was funded by the National Geographic Conservation Trust, Grant C81-05, and the Columbia University Science Fellowship. We thank three reviewers for their constructive comments.

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Author notes

  1. Kerry A. Brown

    Present address: Division of Science and Mathematics, University of the Virgin Islands, St. Thomas, USVI, 00802, USA

  2. J. Carter Ingram

    Present address: Wildlife Conservation Society, 2300 Southern Boulevard, Bronx, New York, 10460-1099, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Biology, Columbia University, 1200 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, NY, 10027, USA

    Kerry A. Brown & Dan F. B. Flynn

  2. Earth Institute at Columbia University, Columbia University, 1200 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, NY, 10027, USA

    J. Carter Ingram

  3. Department of Plant Biology and Ecology, University of Antananarivo, Faculty of Sciences, Antananarivo, BP 906, Madagascar

    Rova Razafindrazaka & Vololoniaina Jeannoda

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  1. Kerry A. Brown
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Correspondence to Kerry A. Brown.

Appendix

Appendix

Table 1 List of utilitarian species identified in plots surveyed in Ranomafana National Park
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Brown, K.A., Carter Ingram, J., Flynn, D.F.B. et al. Protected Area Safeguard Tree and Shrub Communities from Degradation and Invasion: A Case Study in Eastern Madagascar. Environmental Management 44, 136–148 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-008-9257-5

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