Can nature parks save biodiversity?

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http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-08/vt-cnp080712.php

[font face=Serif]Public release date: 7-Aug-2012

Contact: Helen Thompson
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540-231-6157
Virginia Tech

[font size=5]Can nature parks save biodiversity?[/font]

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As human activities put increasing pressures on natural systems and wildlife to survive, 200 scientists around the world carved up pieces of the puzzle to present a clearer picture of reality and find ways to mitigate the destructive forces at work.

Titled "Averting biodiversity collapse in tropical forest protected areas," the paper was coordinated by William F. Laurance of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and James Cook University's Centre for Tropical Environmental and Sustainability Science and School of Marine and Tropical Biology. Nature is the prestigious international weekly journal of science that focuses on the natural environment.

The study, which looked at more than 30 different categories of species, from butterflies to large predators, within protected areas across the tropical regions of the Americas, Africa, and Asia, concludes that many of the world's tropical protected areas are struggling to sustain their biodiversity.

"But some of the arks are in danger of sinking, even though they are our best hope to sustain tropical forests and their amazing biodiversity in perpetuity," Laurance said.

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http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature11318

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