To identify existing gaps in biodiversity conservation across Alaska’s network of protected areas, we examined the distribution of land management and assessed how well protected areas captured terrestrial biodiversity at a statewide scale.
AKGAP stewardship layer was completed by The Nature Conservancy (TNC) of Alaska in 2006 and updated by AKNHP in 2013.
TNC looked at different land management types in Alaska, using the framework of the USGS Gap Analysis Program, and developed conservation management status categories based on the level of human use and development. They then re-examined an earlier study on how well protected areas represented vegetation classes, a surrogate for terrestrial biodiversity, and added analyses for representation across ecoregions and elevation.
