Abstract A growing number of conservationists argue that effective management of human modified ecosystems is preferable to protecting undisturbed forest ecosystems. Hence, this study evaluated the efficiency of the two alternatives for the conservation of vulnerable tree species by comparing the distinctiveness of species composition, species richness, and evenness of local assemblages. The study was conducted in Mafhela and Thathe Vondo Forest Reserves, South Africa. The result showed that all land-use regimes in Mafhela became distinct from each other, lost species, became uneven, and tree species were replaced by shrubs along the land-use gradient compared with State-protected indigenous forest. In contrast to Mafhela, the State-protected indigenous forest in Thathe Vondo was not exceptionally distinct from the other land-use regimes. The contrast reflects the difference in the condition of the forest landscape complexity of the two Forest Reserves that moderate the resilience and stability of the ecological process in a continuously changing environment. Our study implies allocating the limited resources to reinforce State-protected indigenous forest in Mafhela, accompanied by restoration of the whole landscape, and would be a preferred conservation strategy. In contrast, in Thathe Vondo, investing the limited resources in the whole landscape's sustainable management would be preferable. In conclusion, our study posits that the approach of “one size fits all” conservation measure, without considering the influence of forest landscape condition in the resilience of local assemblage, misguides the efficient allocation of limited global conservation resources to avert local extinction of vulnerable tree species of primary forests.

中文翻译：

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严格保护区是否比人类土地利用更好地保护当地脆弱的树种？将保护价值与生物多样性价值分开

摘要 越来越多的保护主义者认为，有效管理人类改造的生态系统比保护未受干扰的森林生态系统更可取。因此，本研究通过比较物种组成的独特性、物种丰富度和当地组合的均匀度，评估了保护脆弱树种的两种替代方案的效率。该研究在南非的 Mafhela 和 Thatthe Vondo 森林保护区进行。结果表明，与国家保护的原始森林相比，Mafhela 的所有土地利用制度变得彼此不同，物种消失，变得不均匀，沿土地利用梯度的树种被灌木所取代。与 Mafhela 相比，Thathe Vondo 受国家保护的土著森林与其他土地使用制度并没有特别的区别。这种对比反映了两个森林保护区的森林景观复杂性条件的差异，这在不断变化的环境中调节了生态过程的弹性和稳定性。我们的研究意味着分配有限的资源来加强 Mafhela 受国家保护的土著森林，同时恢复整个景观，这将是一种首选的保护策略。相比之下，在 Thatthe Vondo，将有限的资源投资于整个景观的可持续管理会更可取。总之，我们的研究假设“一刀切”保护措施的方法，没有考虑森林景观条件对当地组合恢复力的影响，