title: Local biodiversity is higher inside than outside terrestrial protected areas worldwide.
abstract: Protected areas are widely considered essential for biodiversity conservation. However, few global studies have demonstrated that protection benefits a broad range of species. Here, using a new global biodiversity database with unprecedented geographic and taxonomic coverage, we compare four biodiversity measures at sites sampled in multiple land uses inside and outside protected areas. Globally, species richness is 10.6% higher and abundance 14.5% higher in samples taken inside protected areas compared with samples taken outside, but neither rarefaction-based richness nor endemicity differ significantly. Importantly, we show that the positive effects of protection are mostly attributable to differences in land use between protected and unprotected sites. Nonetheless, even within some human-dominated land uses, species richness and abundance are higher in protected sites. Our results reinforce the global importance of protected areas but suggest that protection does not consistently benefit species with small ranges or increase the variety of ecological niches.
authors.affiliation: School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton BN1 9QG, UK.
authors.forename: Claudia L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Gray
authors.affiliation: United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre, 219 Huntingdon Road, Cambridge CB3 0DL, UK.|Department of Life Sciences, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK.
authors.forename: Samantha L L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Hill
authors.affiliation: United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre, 219 Huntingdon Road, Cambridge CB3 0DL, UK.
authors.forename: Tim
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-7361-0051
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Newbold
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Sciences, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK.
authors.forename: Lawrence N
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-4072-7469
authors.initials: LN
authors.lastname: Hudson
authors.affiliation: Department of Biosciences, College of Science, Swansea University, Singleton Park, Swansea SA2 8PP, UK.
authors.forename: Luca
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Börger
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Sciences, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK.
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Contu
authors.affiliation: CSIRO Land and Water, Canberra Australian Capital Territory 2601, Australia.
authors.forename: Andrew J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Hoskins
authors.affiliation: CSIRO Land and Water, Canberra Australian Capital Territory 2601, Australia.
authors.forename: Simon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ferrier
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Sciences, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK.|Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College, London, Silwood Park, London SL5 7PY, UK.
authors.forename: Andy
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-8609-6204
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Purvis
authors.affiliation: School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton BN1 9QG, UK.|United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre, 219 Huntingdon Road, Cambridge CB3 0DL, UK.
authors.forename: Jörn P W
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Scharlemann
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D044822:Biodiversity; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources