Incorporating Existing Conservation Networks into Freshwater Conservation Planning

Conservation networks have been established worldwide to help preserve biodiversity, and are important tools for the conservation of freshwater ecosystems.  We developed a measure of biodiversity value, using Zonation conservation planning software, to prioritize stream segments with high biological value within and complementary to Missouri’s existing conservation networks.  Biodiversity value was calculated based on species representation weighted by vulnerability, while incorporating species specific upstream integrity requirements.  We also evaluated the influence of different implementations such as emphasizing richness vs representation, using different methods for weighting, and including species-specific upstream integrity requirements.  We assessed how predicted representation within high priority areas differed between locations selected using our approach versus an approach using habitat integrity as a surrogate.  Our findings indicated that between 70 and 73% of species had higher levels of representation when prioritized using our approach compared to the approach based on habitat integrity.  We believe the framework we developed for Missouri can be used in other states, regions, or countries to develop conservation plans which are constructed with consideration of existing conservation networks.  Our assessment of the use of conservation planning surrogates highlighted the value of using a systematic, representation based approach to conservation planning.