Prioritizing reducing impacts on species to minimize residual reserves.

Incorporating cumulative impacts on species into spatial prioritization improves biodiversity protection and reduces residual reserves.

• Why it matters: Conservation efforts often expand protected areas without considering impacts on species, leading to residual reserves where species already face minimal threats. Addressing this gap is crucial for effective biodiversity conservation and resource allocation.
• What they did: The study used a trait-based vulnerability framework and anthropogenic stressor maps to quantify impacts from four human activities and integrated these into spatial prioritizations for protected area siting.
• The result: Including cumulative impacts in prioritization more efficiently protects biodiversity, balances socioeconomic goals, and avoids establishing residual reserves where impacts are already minimal.