The untapped potential of food webs in systematic conservation planning

21342 7 112936 2 341191 document 112936 Conservation Letters - 2026 - O'Connor - The Untapped Potential of Food Webs in Systematic Conservation Planning.pdf application/pdf bd5b86d17ab021a417e8c18b11c43237 MD5 1385977 2026-02-23 08:41:04 https://pure.iiasa.ac.at/id/eprint/21342/1/Conservation%20Letters%20-%202026%20-%20O%27Connor%20-%20The%20Untapped%20Potential%20of%20Food%20Webs%20in%20Systematic%20Conservation%20Planning.pdf 21342 1 1 application/pdf text en public cc_by_4

Conservation Letters - 2026 - O'Connor - The Untapped Potential of Food Webs in Systematic Conservation Planning.pdf

published 112937 1 341202 document 112937 indexcodes.txt text/plain f5e814bead3f88d7cf96691dea8852d9 MD5 19180 2026-02-23 08:51:02 https://pure.iiasa.ac.at/id/eprint/21342/2/indexcodes.txt 21342 2 2 text/plain other Generate index codes conversion from text to indexcodes en public

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http://eprints.org/relation/isVersionOf https://pure.iiasa.ac.at/id/document/112936 http://eprints.org/relation/isVolatileVersionOf https://pure.iiasa.ac.at/id/document/112936 http://eprints.org/relation/issmallThumbnailVersionOf https://pure.iiasa.ac.at/id/document/112936 archive 353 disk0/00/02/13/42 2026-02-23 08:44:35 2026-02-23 08:44:35 2026-02-23 08:44:35 article show O'Connor L. 2383 Thuiller W. Brose U. Chenevois É. Freund C. 2534 Gauzens B. Gaüzere P. Graham C. Harfoot M. Hirt M.R. Lavergne S. Maiorano L. Moilanen A. Verburg P.H. Visconti P. 2230 0000-0001-6823-2826 Pollock L.J. The untapped potential of food webs in systematic conservation planning pub BNR BEC conservation planning ; food webs ; keystone species ; protected areas ; trophic cascade ; spatial prioritization International conservation policy includes the dual aims of protecting biodiversity and nature's contributions to people (NCP). Achieving these goals requires protecting not only species and habitats but also the networks of biotic interactions that sustain them. Food webs, which represent predator-prey interactions between species, are increasingly recognised as a link between ecosystem structure, function, and resilience, which are concepts that are frequently cited in conservation policy. Yet, conservation planning and policy typically focus on individual species and habitats and overlook the interactions that support their persistence. We review the literature at the intersection of food web ecology and conservation, and highlight how food webs can inform three conservation goals: preventing species extinctions, maintaining ecosystem functions and NCP, and fostering ecosystem resilience. Food web data and metrics, such as interaction diversity, trophic diversity, connectance, or modularity, can be used to prioritize species that are key to ecosystem structure and functioning, and to guide spatial prioritization to protect functionally diverse and resilient communities. Given the growing availability of food web data, incorporating food webs in conservation planning can lead to more effective and resilient conservation outcomes that sustain biodiversity and ecosystem functions in the long term. 2026-02 published Wiley 10.1111/con4.70002Digital Object Identifier (DOI) 3554 3837 3114 public Conservation Letters 19 1 e70002 TRUE 1755263X NaturaConnect - Designing a resilient and coherent Trans-European Network for Nature and People (NaturaConnect, HE 101060429) yes info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/HE/101060429/EU//NaturaConnect info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess