Area prioritization for biodiversity conservation in Quebec on the basis of species distributions: a preliminary analysis

Results are presented which prioritize areas for potential protection in Qu ebec on the basis of biodiversity considerations. These results are relevan t to the ongoing public discussion in Quebec about designating new parks an d refuges so that the province may fulfil its obligations to Canada's Endan gered Spaces Campaign. The prioritization algorithm used in this analysis i s based on rarity and complementarity. It attempts to sample biodiversity i n as area-efficient a way as possible. The biodiversity surrogates used her e comprise a subset of 743 species for which data on spatial distributions are publicly available; the analysis begins with 394 species at risk. It is shown that: (i) the existing network of protected areas in Quebec does a p oor job of protecting these biodiversity surrogates; (ii) adding adjacent a reas to this network will not be the optimal way of protecting these biodiv ersity surrogates; (iii) many of the areas that have highest priority are i n southern Quebec, which has a high human population density; (iv) because of (iii), designating parks may not be economically or sociologically feasi ble and more adaptive alternative conservation plans will have to be devise d; (v) coastal areas, riparian habitats, and other wetlands should have hig h priority for protection but are currently very inadequately represented i n the reserve network; (vi) there is some reason for concern about the clea r-cut logging of boreal forests in northern Quebec; and (vii) the islands, Ile d'Anticosti and the Iles-de-la-Madeleine, emerge as being of very signi ficant conservation value and plans for the protection of areas on them sho uld be an immediate goal for biodiversity conservation in Quebec.