See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/302993291 Spatial analysis of Puerto Rico's terrestrial protected areas [1:240000]. USDA, US Forest Service-IITF Research map. Technical Report · January 2013 CITATION READS 1 52 4 authors, including: William A. Gould Jessica Castro-Prieto US Forest Service University of Puerto Rico at Rio Piedras 113 PUBLICATIONS 4,355 CITATIONS 15 PUBLICATIONS 15 CITATIONS SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects: Southern Yungas, Argentina View project Puerto Rico Breeding Bird Atlas View project All content following this page was uploaded by Jessica Castro-Prieto on 12 May 2016. The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file. United States Forest Department Service DRNA of Agriculture gap Spatial Analysis of Puerto Rico's Terrestrial Protected Areas KEEPING COMMON SPECIES COMMON PRGAP ANALYSIS PROJECT IITF GIS and Remote Sensing Lab Maya Quiñones1, William A. Gould1, Jessica Castro-Prieto2, and Sebastián Martinuzzi3 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. 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 n 2010, almost 13 percent of the Earth’s surface was designated as protected areas—areas legally reserved for the conservation of their natural resources and biodiversity (WDPA 2011). For developed countries, this United Distribution and classification of the protected areas and the 2000 simplified States I ratio was 11.6 percent, and for Latin America and the Caribbean 20.3 Atlantic Ocean percent (WDPAccccccc 2011). Puerto Rico, with a total extent of 893 000 ha, is part of the land cover of Puerto Rico The Bahamas Greater Antilles in the Caribbean region. The country includes one main island, three smaller islands, and numerous cays characterized by great geologic and topographic complexity. The extraordinary variety of ecosystems found in the islands 29 22 Cuba contribute to its rich biodiversity, which includes over 26,000 species of plants, Puerto Rico 49 Haiti fungi, and vertebrate and invertebrate animals, many of them endemic to the country Atlantic Ocean Jamaica a, RíoPiedras, PR00926-1119, Puerto Rico. or to the Caribbean (Joglar 2005). As of May 2011, 8 percent of Puerto Rico’s land Dominican Republic was designated for conservation within 95 terrestrial protected areas (Gould et al. Caribbean Sea 2011), ranging from less than 1 ha to 11 429 ha, and totaling over 72 000 ha. About 56 percent of this territory was managed by the Puerto Rico Department of Natural 18°30'0"N 18°30'0"N 28 40 and Environmental Resources, 16 percent by the U.S. Forest Service, 13 percent by the Conservation Trust of Puerto Rico, and 15 percent by other governmental and 16 21 48 nongovernmental entities (Gould et al. 2011). Understanding the natural resources 108 82 64 and distribution of this network is essential for identifying gaps in conservation and 15 assisting with management decisions and planning. Furthermore, protecting a wide 11 81 96 11 55 range of ecosystems that represent Puerto Rico’s diverse landscape is important to 53 71 67 41 113 ensure the conservation of the country’s biodiversity and ecosystem services. 31 97 102 Icacos Cay 11 icalForestry, JardínBotánico Sur,1201 CalleCeib 97 36 95 112 77 This research map describes Puerto Rico’s terrestrial protected areas based on natural Desecheo 60 78 33 39 63 La Cordillera Reef and anthropogenic elements of the landscape. We used geospatial data, i.e., land 101 cover (Gould et al. 2007); urban, suburban, and rural settlements (Martinuzzi et al. 32 38 97 103 2008); and physiography to illustrate landscape elements and analyze what and how 61 98 Palominos 56 30 110 12 38 much is protected in Puerto Rico. Pie and bar charts convey statistics about each 99 18°20'0"N 18°20'0"N 45 landscape element’s distribution and level of protection. We also analyzed the 46 24 landscape context of the protected areas by classifying each one as coastal, forested, 19 herbaceous, or urban based on the dominant land cover that surrounds each area in a 68 37 1 km buffer and tabulated the land cover within and other statistics for each 75 classification. Additionally, we mapped the linear distance from the protected areas Culebra providing a visual reference of the distribution and connectivity between the protected areas and charted how the land cover distribution changes from within the 14 13 72 USDA ForestService InternationalInstitute of Trop 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 83 69 80 organizations. The amount and distribution of protected land is very dynamic, 1 107 changing as new areas are set aside or as designations and management change. For 65 23 the purpose of this analysis, we excluded marine protected areas as well as the marine 18°10'0"N 18°10'0"N 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 17 The protected natural areas network of Puerto Rico mainly shelters forest 88 26 79 ecosystems (60 percent) with patches of woodland and shrubland (14 95 percent), grasslands (8 percent), forested (7 percent) and herbaceous 67°55'0"W 67°50'0"W 8 50 115 wetlands (6 percent), inland water (4 percent), and natural barrens (1 Mona and Monito 18 18°0'0"N percent). 18°0'0"N Atlantic Ocean 58 92 86 9 42 The most protected land cover type is forested wetlands (primarily 18°10'0"N Monito Island 18°10'0"N 42 6 93 mangroves) with 60 percent found inside protected areas, and followed by 87 42 51 90 inland water bodies (33 percent), natural barrens (i.e., salt/mud flats, rocky 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 Based on the landscape context classification, where we identified the s s 18°5'0"N 10 18°5'0"N 02 4 8 12 16 20 dominant land cover in a buffer zone of 1 km around each protected area, we 73 a P 59 7 Miles found that the areas predominantly bordered by forest enclose mostly forest a Mona Island n 04 8 16 24 32 40 (93 percent), while areas surrounded by coastal ecosystems, grasslands, or M o urban protect a wider range of land cover types. Caribbean Sea Kilometers 67°55'0"W 67°50'0"W SCALE: 1:240,000 17°50'0"N Nine terrestrial protected areas were classified as urban—areas mainly 17°50'0"N 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) Municipalities Lakes and reservoirs 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 Distance from protected areas: Protected areas (classification 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 Marine reserves Rivers and streams based on landscape context) The distribution of the protected areas across the main island of Puerto Rico 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 Bathymetry (km below sea surface) Coastal Herbaceous shows that there are three large regions with no protected areas in a radius of 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.