The Extraordinary Value of Wilderness Areas in the Anthropocene

Humans have altered the majority of Earth’s terrestrial surface, yet some places still remain relatively undisturbed by modern society. These wilderness areas contain the most intact ecosystems on Earth. In this article, we review the emerging evidence that wilderness areas are exceptionally important relative to more degraded ecosystems for biodiversity conservation (e.g., halving species extinction risk), Earth system functioning (e.g., supporting continental scale hydrological cycles), and for supporting the cultural integrity of many indigenous communities worldwide. We then describe the current state of wilderness conservation and mapping. Despite their immense value, wilderness areas are being rapidly lost, are under protected, and are almost completely overlooked in global environmental policy. Our window of opportunity to safeguard Earth’s last wilderness areas and their unique values is closing fast, but through a combination of smart policy changes and immediate large-scale conservation efforts, we can still secure them for future generations

Bird species distributions across woodland canopy structure gradients

The tree canopy characteristics of two broadleaved woods in southern England were quantified in terms of two independent measures of structure, canopy height (calculated using heights ≥ 1 m) and percentage canopy cover (derived using heights 0.90, p < 0.001), there was a positive correlation across bird species between the mean values of canopy height and canopy cover associated with the mapped locations of each species. We suggest that canopy height acts as an effective surrogate of woodland structure and can be applied as a predictor of bird community composition and distribution, at least in lowland British conditions. Species associated with young growth had narrower niche breadths, as measured by differences in canopy height and canopy cover between the two woods, than did species associated with taller canopies. Remote sensing of canopy height potentially offers a simple, effective way of assessing habitat availability for many species, at both woodland and landscape scales. This may be especially relevant for species dependent on highly transient vegetation structures associated with the early pre-canopy closure stages of forest growth