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Distribution and Classification of the Protected Areas and the 2000 Simplified a T L a N T I C O C E a N 1

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Distribution and Classification of the Protected Areas and the 2000 Simplified a T L a N T I C O C E a N 1 United States p Forest Department a Service DRNA of Agriculture g K E E P I N G C O M M ON S P E C I E S C O M M O N Spatial Analysis of Puerto Rico's Terrestrial Protected Areas PRGAP ANALYSIS PROJECT 1 1 2 3 IITF GIS and Remote Sensing Lab Maya Quiñones , William A. Gould , Jessica Castro-Prieto , and Sebastián Martinuzzi A center for tropical landscape analysis 1 U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, International Institute of Tropical Forestry. 2 University of Puerto Rico-Río Piedras Campus, Department of Environmental Sciences. 3 University of Wisconsin-Madison, Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology. o 67°30'0"W 67°20'0"W 67°10'0"W 67°0'0"W 66°50'0"W 66°40'0"W 66°30'0"W 66°20'0"W 66°10'0"W 66°0'0"W 65°50'0"W 65°40'0"W 65°30'0"W 65°20'0"W c n 2010, almost 13 percent of the Earth’s surface was designated as i R o t protected areas—areas legally reserved for the conservation of their natural r e u P resources and biodiversity (WDPA 2011). For developed countries, this United , States 9 Distribution and classification of the protected areas and the 2000 simplified A t l a n t i c O c e a n 1 ratio was 11.6 percent, and for Latin America and the Caribbean 20.3 1 1 - I 6 percent (WccDccPcAc c2011). Puerto Rico, with a total extent of 893 000 ha, is part of the 2 9 land cover of Puerto Rico The Bahamas 0 0 Greater Antilles in the Caribbean region. The country includes one main island, R P three smaller islands, and numerous cays characterized by great geologic and , s a r topographic complexity. The extraordinary variety of ecosystems found in the islands 29 d Cuba e i P contribute to its rich biodiversity, which includes over 26,000 species of plants, 22 o Haiti Puerto Rico í R 49 fungi, and vertebrate and invertebrate animals, many of them endemic to the country A t l a n t i c O c e a n , a Jamaica b i or to the Caribbean (Joglar 2005). As of May 2011, 8 percent of Puerto Rico’s land Dominican e C Republic C a r i b b e a n S e a e l was designated for conservation within 95 terrestrial protected areas (Gould et al. l a N N " C " 0 ' 0 ' 2011), ranging from less than 1 ha to 11 429 ha, and totaling over 72 000 ha. About 1 0 0 0 3 3 ° 2 ° 8 1 8 56 percent of this territory was managed by the Puerto Rico Department of Natural 1 1 , 28 r 40 u and Environmental Resources, 16 percent by the U.S. Forest Service, 13 percent by S o c the Conservation Trust of Puerto Rico, and 15 percent by other governmental and i 21 n 16 á t nongovernmental entities (Gould et al. 2011). Understanding the natural resources 48 108 82 o B n and distribution of this network is essential for identifying gaps in conservation and 64 í d r 15 a 81 J assisting with management decisions and planning. Furthermore, protecting a wide 96 11 , y r 55 t range of ecosystems that represent Puerto Rico’s diverse landscape is important to 11 67 s e 53 71 113 r ensure the conservation of the country’s biodiversity and ecosystem services. 41 o F 31 l 97 102 Icacos Cay a c 11 i 97 95 112 77 p o This research map describes Puerto Rico’s terrestrial protected areas based on natural 36 r Desecheo 39 T 60 78 33 La Cordillera Reef f o and anthropogenic elements of the landscape. We used geospatial data, i.e., land 63 e 101 t u t cover (Gould et al. 2007); urban, suburban, and rural settlements (Martinuzzi et al. i 32 38 t 97 s n 103 I 2008); and physiography to illustrate landscape elements and analyze what and how N l N Palominos " " 56 98 a 0 0 ' ' 61 30 n 12 0 0 38 o much is protected in Puerto Rico. Pie and bar charts convey statistics about each 2 2 i 110 ° ° t 8 8 a 99 1 1 landscape element’s distribution and level of protection. We also analyzed the n 45 r 24 e 46 t n landscape context of the protected areas by classifying each one as coastal, forested, 19 I e c herbaceous, or urban based on the dominant land cover that surrounds each area in a 68 i v r e 37 S 1 km buffer and tabulated the land cover within and other statistics for each t 75 s e classification. Additionally, we mapped the linear distance from the protected areas Culebra r o F providing a visual reference of the distribution and connectivity between the A D protected areas and charted how the land cover distribution changes from within the S 14 13 72 U protected areas across distance groups. 104 2 The protected areas in this publication were last updated in May 2011 using available 111 72 data obtained from local and federal government agencies and nongovernmental 80 83 organizations. The amount and distribution of protected land is very dynamic, 69 1 107 N N " changing as new areas are set aside or as designations and management change. For " 0 0 ' ' 0 0 65 23 1 1 ° the purpose of this analysis, we excluded marine protected areas as well as the marine ° 8 8 1 1 100 portion of some coastal protected areas. Additional lands may be protected by laws 107 84 and zoning regulations, e.g., steep slopes, wetlands, riparian zones, or the coastal 70 57 76 25 116 zone, but were not included in this study. 109 54 76 52 114 94 34 105 62 76 17 47 66 116 Vieques 4 20 27 Findings 5 106 34 Land cover: 89 35 The protected natural areas network of Puerto Rico mainly shelters forest 17 ecosystems (60 percent) with patches of woodland and shrubland (14 88 26 95 79 percent), grasslands (8 percent), forested (7 percent) and herbaceous 67°55'0"W 67°50'0"W 8 50 115 N N " " wetlands (6 percent), inland water (4 percent), and natural barrens (1 0 0 ' ' 0 0 Mona and Monito ° ° 8 8 18 1 percent). 1 N 58 N " A t l a n t i c O c e a n " 92 0 ' 0 ' 0 0 86 1 1 ° ° 8 42 The most protected land cover type is forested wetlands (primarily 8 1 Monito Island 9 1 42 mangroves) with 60 percent found inside protected areas, and followed by 6 93 87 42 51 inland water bodies (33 percent), natural barrens (i.e., salt/mud flats, rocky 90 74 85 3 cliffs, and beaches; 32 percent), herbaceous wetlands (15 percent), forest (13 43 44 percent); woodland and shrublands (8 percent), and grasslands (2 percent). 42 91 N N " " 0 s ' 0 Based on the landscape context classification, where we identified the ' 5 5 ° s ° 8 8 1 1 0 2 4 8 12 16 20 dominant land cover in a buffer zone of 1 km around each protected area, we 73 a 10 P 59 found that the areas predominantly bordered by forest enclose mostly forest 7 Miles Mona Island a (93 percent), while areas surrounded by coastal ecosystems, grasslands, or n 0 4 8 16 24 32 40 M o Kilometers C a r i b b e a n S e a N N urban protect a wider range of land cover types. " " 0 0 ' ' 0 0 5 5 ° ° SCALE: 1:240,000 7 7 67°55'0"W 67°50'0"W 1 Nine terrestrial protected areas were classified as urban—areas mainly 1 Lambert Comformal Conic Projection bordered by built-up surface. Although these amount to 9.5 percent of the 95 North American Datum of 1983 (NAD 83) protected areas analyzed here, their average size is significantly smaller than those found outside urban spaces. Hence, urban protected areas constitute Administrative Hydrography only 1 percent of Puerto Rico’s protected land. boundaries Protected Areas (black) and Marine Reserves (blue) 1 Adjuntas People's Forest 15 Caño Martín Peña Natural Reserve 28 Cueva del Indio Natural Reserve 42 Guánica State Forest 56 La Cordillera Reef Natural Reserve 69 Maricao River Natural Protected Area 82 Pterocarpus Forest Natural Protected Area (Dorado) 95 Recently aquired land in Manatí and Guayama 104 Shapiro property Municipalities Lakes and reservoirs Protected areas (classification Distance from protected areas: 2 Aguas Buenas Caverns and Cave Systems Natural Reserve 16 Caño Tiburones Natural Reserve 29 Cueva del Indio Natural Reserve Marine Extent 43 Guánica State Forest Marine Extent 57 La Olimpia Forest 70 Maricao State Forest 83 Pterocarpus Forest Nature Reserve by the International Institute of Tropical Forestry 105 Sun Bay National Park based on landscape context) The distribution of the protected areas across the main island of Puerto Rico Marine reserves Rivers and streams 3 Aguirre State Forest 17 Carite State Forest 30 Culebra National Wildlife Refuge 44 Guayama Reef Natural Reserve 58 La Parguera Natural Reserve 71 Mata de Plátano Field Station Natural Reserve 84 Pterocarpus Swamp Forest and Mandry and 96 Recently aquired land in Piñones by the Puerto 106 Susúa State Forest 4 Belvedere Natural Reserve 18 Cartagena Lagoon National Wildlife Refuge 31 Desecheo Island Coastal Waters Natural Marine Reserve 45 Guaynabo River Natural Protected Area 59 La Parguera Natural Reserve Marine Extent 72 Medio Mundo y Daguao Natural Protected Area Santa Teresa Lakes Natural Reserve Rico Department of Natural and Environmental 107 Toro Negro State Forest shows that there are three large regions with no protected areas in a radius of Bathymetry (km below sea surface) Coastal Herbaceous 5 Belvedere Natural Reserve Marine Extent 19 Ceiba State Forest 32 Desecheo National Wildlife Refuge 46 Guillermeti property 60 Lago Guajataca Wildlife Refuge 73 Mona Island and Monito Natural Reserve 85 Punta Ballenas Natural Reserve Resources (DNER) 108 Tortuguero Lagoon Natural Reserve at least 5 km.
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