Mapping ecological corridors in the Upper Paraguay River Basin, Brazil: Applications for sustainability, public policy and decision‐making
Abstract The Upper Paraguay Basin (BAP) is one of the largest river basins in South America, covering three countries: Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay. In Brazil, one of the main risks to BAP conservation is the loss of native vegetation. In the floodplain region of the BAP, more than 13% of native veg...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2025-07-01
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| Series: | Conservation Science and Practice |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.13267 |
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| author | Maxwell daRosa Oliveira Adriana Maria Espinoza Fernando André Restel Camilo Guellity Marcel Fonseca Pereira Thaishi Leonardo daSilva Walfrido Moraes Tomas |
| author_facet | Maxwell daRosa Oliveira Adriana Maria Espinoza Fernando André Restel Camilo Guellity Marcel Fonseca Pereira Thaishi Leonardo daSilva Walfrido Moraes Tomas |
| author_sort | Maxwell daRosa Oliveira |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract The Upper Paraguay Basin (BAP) is one of the largest river basins in South America, covering three countries: Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay. In Brazil, one of the main risks to BAP conservation is the loss of native vegetation. In the floodplain region of the BAP, more than 13% of native vegetation was converted, while in the surrounding highlands the loss of native vegetation reached over 61% of the area. These values tend to increase, highlighting the importance of territorial planning for sustainable development in the region. In this sense, we mapped the ecological corridors in the Upper Paraguay Basin, in Brazil, to support conservation strategies focused on maintaining connectivity on a regional scale. To achieve this, we use the Least Cost Path and Circuitscape methods, based on a multispecies approach. As a result, we identified 303 fragments of native vegetation or conservation units that can be considered nodes and 859 ecological corridors. Of all the ecological corridors identified, around 288 were lost in just 3 years, due to the conversion of native vegetation. In general, our results were an extensive network of corridors, which can be applied in UPRB territorial planning, aiming to reduce the impacts of loss of connectivity in the region. Our results highlight the importance of territorial planning and quick and effective decision‐making to mitigate the effects of native vegetation loss for biodiversity conservation in the UPRB. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-4d57e4c7dd464dac9cd4de777e3a7df9 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2578-4854 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Conservation Science and Practice |
| spelling | doaj-art-4d57e4c7dd464dac9cd4de777e3a7df92025-08-20T02:40:33ZengWileyConservation Science and Practice2578-48542025-07-0177n/an/a10.1111/csp2.13267Mapping ecological corridors in the Upper Paraguay River Basin, Brazil: Applications for sustainability, public policy and decision‐makingMaxwell daRosa Oliveira0Adriana Maria Espinoza Fernando1André Restel Camilo2Guellity Marcel Fonseca Pereira3Thaishi Leonardo daSilva4Walfrido Moraes Tomas5Programa de Pós Graduação em Biologia Vegetal Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais Campo Grande BrazilPrograma de Pós Graduação em Ecologia e Conservação Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul Campo Grande BrazilSmithsonian Conservation Biology Institute Front Royal Virginia USAEcosev BrazilWWF Asa Sul BrazilEmbrapa Pantanal Corumba BrazilAbstract The Upper Paraguay Basin (BAP) is one of the largest river basins in South America, covering three countries: Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay. In Brazil, one of the main risks to BAP conservation is the loss of native vegetation. In the floodplain region of the BAP, more than 13% of native vegetation was converted, while in the surrounding highlands the loss of native vegetation reached over 61% of the area. These values tend to increase, highlighting the importance of territorial planning for sustainable development in the region. In this sense, we mapped the ecological corridors in the Upper Paraguay Basin, in Brazil, to support conservation strategies focused on maintaining connectivity on a regional scale. To achieve this, we use the Least Cost Path and Circuitscape methods, based on a multispecies approach. As a result, we identified 303 fragments of native vegetation or conservation units that can be considered nodes and 859 ecological corridors. Of all the ecological corridors identified, around 288 were lost in just 3 years, due to the conversion of native vegetation. In general, our results were an extensive network of corridors, which can be applied in UPRB territorial planning, aiming to reduce the impacts of loss of connectivity in the region. Our results highlight the importance of territorial planning and quick and effective decision‐making to mitigate the effects of native vegetation loss for biodiversity conservation in the UPRB.https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.13267circuitscapeconnectivityenvironmental corridorsleast cost pathnatural corridorspantanal |
| spellingShingle | Maxwell daRosa Oliveira Adriana Maria Espinoza Fernando André Restel Camilo Guellity Marcel Fonseca Pereira Thaishi Leonardo daSilva Walfrido Moraes Tomas Mapping ecological corridors in the Upper Paraguay River Basin, Brazil: Applications for sustainability, public policy and decision‐making Conservation Science and Practice circuitscape connectivity environmental corridors least cost path natural corridors pantanal |
| title | Mapping ecological corridors in the Upper Paraguay River Basin, Brazil: Applications for sustainability, public policy and decision‐making |
| title_full | Mapping ecological corridors in the Upper Paraguay River Basin, Brazil: Applications for sustainability, public policy and decision‐making |
| title_fullStr | Mapping ecological corridors in the Upper Paraguay River Basin, Brazil: Applications for sustainability, public policy and decision‐making |
| title_full_unstemmed | Mapping ecological corridors in the Upper Paraguay River Basin, Brazil: Applications for sustainability, public policy and decision‐making |
| title_short | Mapping ecological corridors in the Upper Paraguay River Basin, Brazil: Applications for sustainability, public policy and decision‐making |
| title_sort | mapping ecological corridors in the upper paraguay river basin brazil applications for sustainability public policy and decision making |
| topic | circuitscape connectivity environmental corridors least cost path natural corridors pantanal |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.13267 |
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