R. Travis Belote
YOU?
Author Swipe
View article: Building an inclusive conservation vision founded upon ecological values and social opportunities
Building an inclusive conservation vision founded upon ecological values and social opportunities Open
We developed a spatially explicit model for the eastern United States to help identify where we work to conserve a network of ecologically important lands with the input of communities often excluded from conservation planning. We built mu…
View article: No general support for functional diversity enhancing resilience across terrestrial plant communities
No general support for functional diversity enhancing resilience across terrestrial plant communities Open
Aim Understanding the mechanisms promoting resilience in plant communities is crucial in times of increasing disturbance and global environmental change. Here, we present the first meta‐analysis evaluating the relationship between function…
View article: Agreeing that maps can disagree: Moving away from map confusion in conservation
Agreeing that maps can disagree: Moving away from map confusion in conservation Open
Deciding where to implement actions for biodiversity conservation remains challenging for many reasons, including the increase in maps aimed at prioritizing locations for conservation efforts. Although a growing numbers of maps can create …
View article: Vulnerability of wilderness areas to day-use visits
Vulnerability of wilderness areas to day-use visits Open
Summary Protected areas worldwide are impacted by human activities within their boundaries. Despite having the highest level of protection in the US, wilderness areas are still vulnerable to ecological impacts. We compiled population, popu…
View article: Mind the <scp>GAP</scp> —But make it better: Improving the U.S. Gap Analysis Project's protected‐area classification system to better reflect biodiversity conservation
Mind the <span>GAP</span> —But make it better: Improving the U.S. Gap Analysis Project's protected‐area classification system to better reflect biodiversity conservation Open
Protected areas are foundational to the conservation of biological diversity, and many scientists have called for increased protections in the face of the current extinction and climate‐change crises. Currently in the United States, the mo…
View article: Classifying, inventorying, and mapping mature and old-growth forests in the United States
Classifying, inventorying, and mapping mature and old-growth forests in the United States Open
Because of its importance to both carbon storage and biodiversity, old forest has regained currency as a focus of forest management and policy. However, absence of a systematic approach to classifying stages of forest development across al…
View article: Examining local and regional ecological connectivity throughout North America
Examining local and regional ecological connectivity throughout North America Open
Context Conservation scientists recommend maintaining and restoring ecological connectivity to sustain biodiversity in the face of land-use and climate change. Alternative connectivity assessments conducted at multiple spatial scales are n…
View article: Examining local and regional ecological connectivity throughout North America
Examining local and regional ecological connectivity throughout North America Open
Output from 12 Omniscape model runs using three resistance surfaces and four moving window sizes (Belote et al. 2022, Landscape Ecology). Resistance surfaces were created through alternative transformations (varying c) of the 2015 estimate…
View article: Examining local and regional ecological connectivity throughout North America
Examining local and regional ecological connectivity throughout North America Open
Output from 12 Omniscape model runs using three resistance surfaces and four moving window sizes (Belote et al. 2022, Landscape Ecology). Resistance surfaces were created through alternative transformations (varying c) of the 2015 estimate…
View article: Examining local and regional ecological connectivity throughout North America
Examining local and regional ecological connectivity throughout North America Open
Output from 12 Omniscape model runs using three resistance surfaces and four moving window sizes (Belote et al. 2022, Landscape Ecology). Resistance surfaces were created through alternative transformations (varying c) of the 2015 estimate…
View article: The Value of Trail Corridors for Bold Conservation Planning
The Value of Trail Corridors for Bold Conservation Planning Open
Conservationists are calling for bold strategies to connect wildlands and halt extinctions. A growing number of scientists recommend that 50% of all land must be held in a protected area network to maintain biodiversity. We assessed lands …
View article: Wildfire severity alters drivers of interaction beta‐diversity in plant–bee networks
Wildfire severity alters drivers of interaction beta‐diversity in plant–bee networks Open
Spatial variation in species interactions (interaction β‐diversity) and its ecological drivers are poorly understood, despite their relevance to community assembly, conservation and ecosystem functioning. We investigated effects of wildfir…
View article: Options for prioritizing sites for biodiversity conservation with implications for “30 by 30”
Options for prioritizing sites for biodiversity conservation with implications for “30 by 30” Open
International and national initiatives aim to conserve at least 30% of lands and waters by 2030. To safeguard biodiversity, conservation actions must be distributed in places that represent ecosystem and species diversity. Various methods …
View article: Wilderness areas in a changing landscape: changes in land use, land cover, and climate
Wilderness areas in a changing landscape: changes in land use, land cover, and climate Open
Wilderness areas are not immune to changes in land use, land cover, and/or climate. Future changes will intensify the balancing act of maintaining ecological conditions and untrammeled character within wilderness areas. We assessed the qua…
View article: Salvage logging management affects species' roles in connecting plant–pollinator interaction networks across post‐wildfire landscapes
Salvage logging management affects species' roles in connecting plant–pollinator interaction networks across post‐wildfire landscapes Open
This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: [Salvage logging management affects species' roles in connecting plant–pollinator interaction networks across post‐wildfire landscapes. Journal of Applied Ecology 58, 8 p1790-1801…
View article: Management Foundations for Navigating Ecological Transformation by Resisting, Accepting, or Directing Social–Ecological Change
Management Foundations for Navigating Ecological Transformation by Resisting, Accepting, or Directing Social–Ecological Change Open
Despite striking global change, management to ensure healthy landscapes and sustained natural resources has tended to set objectives on the basis of the historical range of variability in stationary ecosystems. Many social–ecological syste…
View article: Modeling an aspirational connected network of protected areas across North America
Modeling an aspirational connected network of protected areas across North America Open
Connecting protected areas remains an important global conservation strategy in the face of ongoing and future threats to biodiversity. Amid our growing understanding of how species’ distributions will respond to climate change, conservati…
View article: Where Might We Find Ecologically Intact Communities?
Where Might We Find Ecologically Intact Communities? Open
Conservation efforts should target the few remaining areas of the world that represent outstanding examples of ecological integrity and aim to restore ecological integrity to a much broader area of the world with intact habitat and minimal…
View article: Beyond priority pixels: Delineating and evaluating landscapes for conservation in the contiguous United States
Beyond priority pixels: Delineating and evaluating landscapes for conservation in the contiguous United States Open
Sustaining biodiversity depends on conservation actions coordinated at spatial extents large enough to maintain ecological processes. Numerous conservation prioritizations have been conducted resulting in gridded maps of pixels representin…
View article: Conservation value of national forest roadless areas
Conservation value of national forest roadless areas Open
Conservation scientists call for establishing additional protected areas amidst ongoing threats of expanding human development. Nevertheless, some existing protected areas are being downsized and demoted of their existing conservation prot…
View article: Mammal species composition reveals new insights into Earth's remaining wilderness
Mammal species composition reveals new insights into Earth's remaining wilderness Open
Maps of the human footprint allow ecologists to identify the wildest lands on the planet, track their decline, and prioritize wildland conservation efforts. Other research efforts have mapped biological intactness and identified conservati…
View article: Delineating greater ecosystems around protected areas to guide conservation
Delineating greater ecosystems around protected areas to guide conservation Open
Protected areas represent a key strategy to conserve biodiversity. However, human land use and other impacts outside protected areas boundaries significantly influence species and ecosystems within protected areas. Therefore, identifying a…
View article: The American West as a social-ecological region: drivers, dynamics and implications for nested social-ecological systems
The American West as a social-ecological region: drivers, dynamics and implications for nested social-ecological systems Open
The American West exists in the popular imagination as a distinct region, and policies and politics often suggest that both the challenges and the opportunities for land management and human well-being across the region are relatively homo…
View article: Global change effects on plant communities are magnified by time and the number of global change factors imposed
Global change effects on plant communities are magnified by time and the number of global change factors imposed Open
Significance Accurate prediction of community responses to global change drivers (GCDs) is critical given the effects of biodiversity on ecosystem services. There is consensus that human activities are driving species extinctions at the gl…
View article: Climate, Environment, and Disturbance History Govern Resilience of Western North American Forests
Climate, Environment, and Disturbance History Govern Resilience of Western North American Forests Open
Before the advent of intensive forest management and fire suppression, western North American forests exhibited a naturally occurring resistance and resilience to wildfires and other disturbances. Resilience, which encompasses resistance, …