Carbon-focused conservation may fail to protect the most biodiverse tropical forests

Introduction

The authors examine the relationship between carbon and biodiversity at the landscape-level across four gradients of disturbances and offer insight on optimizing carbon conservation projects with biodiversity conservation.

Method

The study samples species of plants, birds, and dung beetles across 234 forest sites with varying levels of human-induced disturbance in the Brazilian state of Pará. For each site, species richness (number of species) and its structural similarity to undisturbed forests are used to measure site biodiversity.
Differences in species diversity under two scenarios, when either carbon or biodiversity is maximised in conservation projects, are estimated using optimisation models.

Conclusion

The study demonstrates that carbon maximizing projects do not always yield high biodiversity returns. The positive correlation between carbon and biodiversity in degraded landscapes yields higher biodiversity returns from carbon enhancement projects. In contrast, the conservation of carbon-rich undisturbed forests does not translate to proportional biodiversity returns, but could be improved with small carbon penalties.

These findings have significant implications for integrating carbon and biodiversity conservation of forests, and strategizing policies and finance mechanisms that ensure optimum carbon storage and biodiversity conservation.