Skip to main content

On population growth near protected areas.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Joppa, LN; Loarie, SR; Pimm, SL
Published in: PloS one
January 2009

Protected areas are the first, and often only, line of defense in efforts to conserve biodiversity. They might be detrimental or beneficial to rural communities depending on how they alter economic opportunities and access to natural resources. As such, protected areas may attract or repel human settlement. Disproportionate increases in population growth near protected area boundaries may threaten their ability to conserve biodiversity.Using decadal population datasets, we analyze population growth across 45 countries and 304 protected areas. We find no evidence for population growth near protected areas to be greater than growth of rural areas in the same country. Furthermore, we argue that what growth does occur near protected areas likely results from a general expansion of nearby population centers.Our results contradict those from a recent study by Wittemyer et al., who claim overwhelming evidence for increased human population growth near protected areas. To understand the disagreement, we re-analyzed the protected areas in Wittemyer et al.'s paper. Their results are simply artifacts of mixing two incompatible datasets. Protected areas may experience unusual population pressures near their edges; indeed, individual case studies provide examples. There is no evidence, however, of a general pattern of disproportionate population growth near protected areas.

Duke Scholars

Altmetric Attention Stats
Dimensions Citation Stats

Published In

PloS one

DOI

EISSN

1932-6203

ISSN

1932-6203

Publication Date

January 2009

Volume

4

Issue

1

Start / End Page

e4279

Related Subject Headings

  • Zambia
  • Population Growth
  • Population Dynamics
  • Population Density
  • Population
  • Models, Theoretical
  • Humans
  • Geography
  • General Science & Technology
  • Ecosystem
 

Citation

APA
Chicago
ICMJE
MLA
NLM
Joppa, L. N., Loarie, S. R., & Pimm, S. L. (2009). On population growth near protected areas. PloS One, 4(1), e4279. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0004279
Joppa, Lucas N., Scott R. Loarie, and Stuart L. Pimm. “On population growth near protected areas.PloS One 4, no. 1 (January 2009): e4279. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0004279.
Joppa LN, Loarie SR, Pimm SL. On population growth near protected areas. PloS one. 2009 Jan;4(1):e4279.
Joppa, Lucas N., et al. “On population growth near protected areas.PloS One, vol. 4, no. 1, Jan. 2009, p. e4279. Epmc, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0004279.
Joppa LN, Loarie SR, Pimm SL. On population growth near protected areas. PloS one. 2009 Jan;4(1):e4279.

Published In

PloS one

DOI

EISSN

1932-6203

ISSN

1932-6203

Publication Date

January 2009

Volume

4

Issue

1

Start / End Page

e4279

Related Subject Headings

  • Zambia
  • Population Growth
  • Population Dynamics
  • Population Density
  • Population
  • Models, Theoretical
  • Humans
  • Geography
  • General Science & Technology
  • Ecosystem