Digital conservation in biosphere reserves: Earth observations, social media, and nature's cultural contributions to people. Issue 3 (10th January 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Vaz, Ana Sofia; Moreno‐Llorca, Ricardo A.; Gonçalves, João F.; Vicente, Joana R.; Méndez, Pablo F.; Revilla, Eloy; Santamaria, Luis; Bonet‐García, Francisco J.; Honrado, João P.; Alcaraz‐Segura, Domingo
• Is Part Of: Conservation letters. Volume 13:Issue 3(2020)
• Page Start: n/a
• Page End: n/a
• Publication Date: 2020-01-10
• Subjects: big data -- crowdsourced photos -- cultural values -- Doñana -- ecosystem services -- multimodel inference -- protected areas -- participatory sensing -- remote sensing -- Sierra Nevada; Biodiversity conservation -- Periodicals; Biodiversity -- Monitoring -- Periodicals; 333.9516
• DOI: 10.1111/conl.12704
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1755-263X

Abstract

Abstract: In the "digital conservation" age, big data from Earth observations and from social media have been increasingly used to tackle conservation challenges. Here, we combined information from those two digital sources in a multimodel inference framework to identify, map, and predict the potential for nature's cultural contributions to people in two contrasting UNESCO biosphere reserves: Doñana and Sierra Nevada (Spain). The content analysis of Flickr pictures revealed different cultural contributions, according to the natural and cultural values of the two reserves. Those contributions relied upon landscape variables computed from Earth observation data: the variety of colors and vegetation functioning that characterize Doñana landscapes, and the leisure facilities, accessibility features, and heterogeneous landscapes that shape Sierra Nevada. Our findings suggest that social media and Earth observations can aid in the cost‐efficient monitoring of nature's contributions to people, which underlie many Sustainable Development Goals and conservation targets in protected areas worldwide.