The importance of species diversity and its components as criteria for selecting nature conservation areas

The failure of one of the traditional approaches for selecting sites where economic activities should be restricted is shown based on a simple example. Species richness cannot serve as a criterion for the creation of protected areas and species diversity is poorly suited for this as well. The other component of biodiversity, species evenness, is more informative: the lower its value is, the more scarce species are prone to extinction due to anthropogenic impact. It is necessary to support the existence of substantial parts of habitats of endemic, rare, and endangered species in areas with low species evenness, where dominant species are actively harvested. The restriction of economic activities in those areas is more effective for the conservation of the global species richness than simply protecting the diversity hotspots.