Ecosystem service gradients at protected area borders reveal multiple patterns and prevalent management conflicts
Abstract
Protected areas cannot halt biodiversity loss in isolation; integrating them with surrounding human‐dominated landscapes is critical. However, this integration is challenged by substantial landscape heterogeneity at protected area borders, making it difficult to determine cross‐border changes in ecosystem service provision. To address this knowledge gap, we developed a novel framework for characterizing these dynamics by analyzing ecosystem service gradients along protected area borders. For 16 protected areas in the French Alps, we used a mix of established biophysical models and novel connectivity‐based models for mobile species to assess 12 ecosystem services. These services were aggregated into three stakeholder‐driven domains reflecting rural, cultural, and urban management priorities. Automated polynomial regression analysis classified borders into five gradient types. The most common types were decreasing gradients, representing a decline in ecosystem services outside the protected area, and increasing gradients with the opposite pattern. Our analysis revealed that these patterns are driven by specific landscape configurations and uncovered frequent trade‐offs between the three management priorities; for example, landscapes supporting rural priorities often degrade cultural and urban ones. We also identified key opportunities for synergies by identifying areas where ecosystem services for all three priority domains increased simultaneously outside the protected area. This spatially explicit typology provides a powerful diagnostic tool for designing targeted interventions, such as prioritizing habitat restoration where ecosystem services decline or managing agricultural landscapes to mitigate conflicts across management priorities, supporting a more effective integration of protected areas into the wider landscape.
Related
- Response of ecosystem productivity and stability to flash droughts across moisture gradients in China
- Contribution of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) towards ecosystem services and fisheries: An experts’ perspective from Mediterranean MPAs
- Predicaments in the collaborative management of farmland ecosystem services amid land circulation
- Ecosystem-based harvest strategies in regional fisheries management
- Visitors’ perceptions and demand preferences for cultural ecosystem services in urban parks for sustainable tourism management
BibTeX
@article{gonzalezgarcia2026ecosystem,
title = {{Ecosystem service gradients at protected area borders reveal multiple patterns and prevalent management conflicts}},
author = {Alberto González-García and Margot Neyret and Adrián López-Tejedor and Marie Caroline Prima and Sara Si-Moussi and Julien Renaud and Maya Gueguen and Sandra Lavorel},
journal = {Conservation Biology},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1111/cobi.70402},
url = {https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-05825929v1},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Ecosystem service gradients at protected area borders reveal multiple patterns and prevalent management conflicts
AU - Alberto González-García
AU - Margot Neyret
AU - Adrián López-Tejedor
AU - Marie Caroline Prima
AU - Sara Si-Moussi
AU - Julien Renaud
AU - Maya Gueguen
AU - Sandra Lavorel
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/14
JO - Conservation Biology
DO - 10.1111/cobi.70402
UR - https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-05825929v1
AB - Protected areas cannot halt biodiversity loss in isolation; integrating them with surrounding human‐dominated landscapes is critical. However, this integration is challenged by substantial landscape heterogeneity at protected area borders, making it difficult to determine cross‐border changes in ecosystem service provision. To address this knowledge gap, we developed a novel framework for characterizing these dynamics by analyzing ecosystem service gradients along protected area borders. For 16 protected areas in the French Alps, we used a mix of established biophysical models and novel connectivity‐based models for mobile species to assess 12 ecosystem services. These services were aggregated into three stakeholder‐driven domains reflecting rural, cultural, and urban management priorities. Automated polynomial regression analysis classified borders into five gradient types. The most common types were decreasing gradients, representing a decline in ecosystem services outside the protected area, and increasing gradients with the opposite pattern. Our analysis revealed that these patterns are driven by specific landscape configurations and uncovered frequent trade‐offs between the three management priorities; for example, landscapes supporting rural priorities often degrade cultural and urban ones. We also identified key opportunities for synergies by identifying areas where ecosystem services for all three priority domains increased simultaneously outside the protected area. This spatially explicit typology provides a powerful diagnostic tool for designing targeted interventions, such as prioritizing habitat restoration where ecosystem services decline or managing agricultural landscapes to mitigate conflicts across management priorities, supporting a more effective integration of protected areas into the wider landscape.
SN - 0888-8892
SN - 1523-1739
ER -