Regional Landscape Conservation Planning, livre ebook

The history, science, and influence of an innovative land acquisition program that has protected Florida’s natural ecosystems and inspired global efforts

This book traces the growth of landscape conservation planning in Florida, which has developed one of the most ambitious conservation land acquisition programs in North America. As a climate-vulnerable biodiversity hotspot facing rapid growth and development pressures, Florida offers a unique case study in adapting conservation strategies under challenging circumstances. By chronicling the state’s successes, the book offers insights into effective planning for the preservation of ecosystems and the wildlife they support.

The Florida Model combines UNESCO’s biosphere reserve framework—core protected areas with surrounding multiuse buffer zones—with the concept of wildlife corridors. Informed by decades of research in conservation biology, landscape ecology, and restoration ecology, along with island biogeography and metapopulation theory, Florida’s practitioners developed robust tools for evaluating and prioritizing land acquisitions. This work led to the creation of the Florida Ecological Greenways Network and its flagship Florida Wildlife Corridor, cemented by landmark legislation in 2021, and has inspired similar regional conservation initiatives around the world.

List of Figures

List of Tables

Introduction

Reed F. Noss and Thomas S. Hoctor

1. Conservation Planning in a Biodiversity Hotspot

Reed F. Noss and Thomas S. Hoctor

2. The Influences, Precursors, and Early History of Regional Landscape Conservation Planning

Reed F. Noss and Thomas S. Hoctor

3. Prioritization Methods for Ambitious Land Conservation under Preservation 2000, Florida Forever, and the Rural and Family Lands Protection Program

Jon Oetting, Amy Knight, and Thomas S. Hoctor

4. Statewide Land-Use Planning and Growth Modeling

Margaret (Peggy) Carr, Richard Doty, Daniel Farrah, Jason Teisinger, Liz Thompson, Michael Volk, and Paul Zwick

5. Identifying and Protecting Climate Refugia at Multiple Spatial Scales

Eve Bohnett, Reed F. Noss, Alan Flint, Lorraine Flint, Michael O’Brien, Paul Donsky, Isabella Guttuso Browne, Derya Yesilkusak, and Thomas S. Hoctor

6. Applying a Landscape Approach to Aquatic and Coastal Conservation

Aaron Adams, JoEllen Wilson, Philip Stevens, and Emily Taylor

7. The Florida Ecological Greenways Network and Florida Wildlife Corridor: Protecting Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services

Thomas S. Hoctor, Michael O’Brien, Carlton Ward Jr., Mallory Dimmitt, Joseph M. Guthrie, Eve Bohnett, Sarah Lockhart, Asena Goren, Reed F. Noss, Jason Lauritsen, Marly Fuller, Kailyn Lawson, and Derya Yesilkusak

8. Road Ecology Planning and Practice

Daniel J. Smith

9. How Land Trusts Implement Landscape Conservation

Susan Carr, Reed F. Noss, Sarah Lockhart, Ramesh Buch, Shane Wellendorf, Debi Osborne, Ken Grudens, Lauren Day, Kimberly Tillman, and Tom Kay

10. Florida’s Paradoxical Influence on Wildlands Protection and Restoration

John Davis, Jodi Hilty, Harvey Locke, Ron Sutherland, Charles Chester, Sonam Wangdi, and Katie Shepard

Acknowledgments

List of Contributors

Index