Human development and biodiversity conservation in Brazilian Cerrado

We evaluated how different variables reflecting human occupation in Brazilian Cerrado are correlated with diversity patterns and which one could be the best indicator of conflicts between biodiversity conservation and socio-economic development across the region. A spatially corrected multiple regression of anuran species richness against axes derived from a principal component analysis summarizing 23 socioeconomic variables was performed. Species richness was positively correlated with the first two principal components, expressing patterns of modern agriculture and cattle ranching, respectively, but not with the third component, expressing human population size. Thus, human population density is not the best indicator of conflicts and, consequently, other socio-economic variables should be considered to minimize costs when establishing regional programs for conservation planning in Brazilian Cerrado.