Ecosystem Health and Sustainability · Published 2026-01-01 · DOI 10.34133/ehs.0569
The spatial geometry of protected areas (PAs), such as size and shape, are key factors to consider in the design of PAs and may affect their forest conservation effectiveness by shaping the edge effects. However, the effects of PAs’ geometry on their forest conservation effectiveness have not yet been rigorously examined. Here, we assessed the spatial geometry of China’s PAs and examined the effects of size and shape of PAs on their effectiveness in forest conservation. We found that 62.6% of China’s PAs are small (<100 km2), of which 11.9% had complex shapes. Direct comparisons showed that small and complex PAs exhibited marginally higher mean effectiveness in reducing forest loss, but these differences were not statistically significant (P > 0.05). After controlling for other covariates using covariate balancing propensity score, no statistically significant association between PA geometry and forest conservation effectiveness was detected (P > 0.05). Our study highlights the importance of empirical evaluation of the relationships between PAs’ geometry and their forest conservation effectiveness to support efficient design and planning of PAs in China and beyond.
Abstract from DOAJ. Public domain (CC0 1.0).
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