Urban forests and the conservation of threatened plant species
Volume 12, Issue 2, July–December 2014, Pages 170–173
Urban forests and the conservation of threatened plant species: the case of the Tijuca National Park, Brazil
- a Centro Nacional de Conservação da Flora – CNCFlora, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
- b Instituto de Pesquisas Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
- Received 30 August 2014, Accepted 16 September 2014, Available online 8 November 2014
- Open Access funded by Associação Brasileira de Ciência Ecológica e Conservação
- Under a Creative Commons license
Increased human pressure on the planet’s resources has lead to extensive loss and degradation of natural habitats increasing overall species’ extinction risk. This has led to the consensus that protected areas are an essential strategy for maintaining biodiversity and the ecological services it provides (Chape et al., 2005, Gaston et al., 2008 and Pimm et al., 2014). During the twentieth century, protected areas were created under several different categories of protection in almost all countries around the world (Phillips, 2004). Currently, the World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA) acknowledges the existence of more than 160,000 protected areas worldwide, covering more than 13% of the Earth’s land surface (WDPA, 2012). Brazil holds an outstanding position with fourth largest network of protected areas in the world (Gurgel et al., 2009), encompassing 12.4% of the national land area (WDPA, 2012). Read more.