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National Park and Ecosystem Integrity

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Life on Land

Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals ((ENUNSDG))

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Ecological integrity; Ecosystem integrity

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National parks, in a strict sense, are a category of protected areas defined within the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Framework. Classified under Category II, they are designed to protect both native biodiversity and underlying ecosystems characteristic to the local natural area (e.g., structure, processes, and function), and to benefit human beings through the provision of scientific, recreational, educational opportunities. In fact, the term national parks usually has a broader meaning and application, as national parks in name also exist under other protected area categories due to the partial overlap in functions and management objectives.

Generally, ecological integrity refers to the ability of an ecosystem to support native species, abiotic components, and ecological processes and maintains the variation of key ecological attributes (e.g., composition and structure) within the natural or...

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Correspondence to Guangyu Wang .

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Xu, N., Wu, W., Wang, G. (2021). National Park and Ecosystem Integrity. In: Leal Filho, W., Azul, A.M., Brandli, L., Lange Salvia, A., Wall, T. (eds) Life on Land. Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-95981-8_127

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