Designing protected areas configurations to maximise biodiversity is a critical conservation goal. The configuration of protected areas can significantly impact the richness and identity of the species found there; one large patch supports larger populations but can facilitate competitive exclusion. Conversely, many small habitats spreads risk but may exclude predators that typically require large home ranges. Identifying how best to design protected areas is further complicated by monitoring programs failing to detect species. Here we test the consequences of different protected area configurations using multi-trophic level experimental microcosms. We demonstrate that for a given total size, many small patches generate higher species richness, are more likely to contain predators, and have fewer extinctions compared to single large patches. However, the relationship between the size and number of patches and species richness was greatly affected by insufficient monitoring, and could lead to incorrect conservation decisions, especially for higher trophic levels.

中文翻译：

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不完善的检测会改变保护区管理策略的结果。

设计保护区配置以最大化生物多样性是一项重要的保护目标。保护区的配置会严重影响那里发现的物种的丰富性和特性；一个较大的补丁程序可支持更大的人群，但可以促进竞争性排斥。相反，许多小的生境散布了风险，但可能会排除通常需要大范围活动的掠食者。由于监控程序无法检测物种，因此确定最佳设计保护区的方法变得更加复杂。在这里，我们使用多营养水平的实验缩影来测试不同保护区配置的后果。我们证明，对于给定的总大小，与单个大斑块相比，许多小斑块会产生更高的物种丰富度，更可能包含捕食者，并且灭绝更少。