Habitat loss from unrelenting human pressure is causing an unprecedented decline in global biodiversity. Protected areas (PAs) are meant to counteract loss and fragmentation of ecosystems and today PAs form the backbone of conservation strategies worldwide. However, anthropogenic climate change can severely reduce the effectiveness of PAs. Conservation professionals are in need of concrete spatial information on climatic changes within PAs in order to put forward practicable strategies to safeguard PA effectiveness in the face of climate change. In this study, we take advantage of openly accessible data on the disappearing climate index (DCI) to examine which PA characteristics are linked to climate change resilience on a global scale. DCI provides a measure of the relative area (percent of total area) within a PA that exhibits certain climatic conditions that will either disappear entirely or move outside the boundaries of the PA by the year 2070. Our results show that topographic diversity is highly correlated with reduced climate change impacts in PAs worldwide. We analyzed three different PA characteristics representing topographic diversity: PA area, maximal elevational difference (MED) and median terrain ruggedness (TR). All three characteristics are highly correlated with a decrease in the disappearing climate index (DCI). These results hold true across localities and even PA management practices. IUCN management category IV (habitat/species management area) and V (protected landscape/seascape) exhibit on average the highest DCI values. As an indicator for PA resilience under climate change, topographic diversity can be assessed easily through publicly available data and remote sensing products. This ease-of-use leaves topographic diversity standing in marked contrast to overall environmental diversity as an actionable conservation metric. Of course, topographic diversity alone is not a sufficient criterion on which to base conservation decisions. However, neither should the potential usefulness of topographic diversity be underestimated. As an actionable and complementary metric in combination with biological information topographic diversity can be an exceptional tool for decision making by PA managers, conservation practitioners and politicians.

持续不断的人为压力造成的生境丧失正在造成全球生物多样性的空前下降。保护区（PA）旨在抵消生态系统的丧失和碎片化，如今，PA已成为全球保护战略的骨干。但是，人为的气候变化会严重降低保护区的效力。养护专业人员需要关于保护区内气候变化的具体空间信息，以便提出切实可行的策略来保护保护区在面对气候变化时的有效性。在这项研究中，我们利用关于气候消失指数（DCI）的公开数据来研究哪些PA的特征与全球范围内的气候变化适应力有关。DCI提供了对PA内相对面积（占总面积的百分比）的度量，该相对面积表现出某些气候条件，到2070年，这些气候条件将完全消失或移出PA的边界。我们的结果表明，地形多样性与减少了气候变化对全球PA的影响。我们分析了代表地形多样性的三种不同的PA特性：PA面积，最大高程差（MED）和中值地形粗糙度（TR）。这三个特征都与消失的气候指数（DCI）的降低高度相关。这些结果在各地甚至PA管理实践中均适用。IUCN管理类别IV（栖息地/物种管理区域）和V（受保护的景观/海洋景观）平均表现出最高的DCI值。作为气候变化下PA复原力的指标，可以通过公开获得的数据和遥感产品轻松评估地形多样性。这种易用性使地形多样性与整体环境多样性形成鲜明对比，成为可行的保护指标。当然，仅靠地形多样性还不足以作为保护决定的依据。但是，也不应该低估地形多样性的潜在用途。作为一种可行的补充指标，结合生物信息，地形多样性可以成为保护区管理人员，保护从业人员和政治家决策的出色工具。这种易用性使地形多样性与整体环境多样性形成鲜明对比，成为可行的保护指标。当然，仅靠地形多样性还不足以作为保护决定的依据。但是，也不应该低估地形多样性的潜在用途。作为一种可行的补充指标，结合生物信息，地形多样性可以成为保护区管理人员，保护从业人员和政治家决策的出色工具。这种易用性使地形多样性与整体环境多样性形成鲜明对比，成为可行的保护指标。当然，仅靠地形多样性还不足以作为保护决定的依据。但是，也不应该低估地形多样性的潜在用途。作为一种可行的补充指标，结合生物信息，地形多样性可以成为保护区管理人员，保护从业人员和政治家决策的出色工具。也不应低估地形多样性的潜在用途。作为一种可行的补充指标，结合生物信息，地形多样性可以成为保护区管理人员，保护从业人员和政治家决策的出色工具。也不应低估地形多样性的潜在用途。作为一种可行的补充指标，结合生物信息，地形多样性可以成为保护区管理人员，保护从业人员和政治家决策的出色工具。