Biosphere reserve management has to keep biodiversity health above a resilience threshold in every zone simultaneously, even though the core, buffer and transition zones face very different levels of human pressure.
biodiversity(t+1) = biodiversity(t) + management*recovery - pressure*degradation
- Reserve zone grid — core, buffer and transition zones of a UNESCO-style biosphere reserve, each modeled separately.
- Biodiversity target — the species-richness/health level management aims to sustain or restore in each zone.
- Protection/management level — active conservation effort — patrols, restoration, sustainable-use agreements — applied per zone.
- Human pressure — logging, poaching, agriculture and tourism pressure pushing biodiversity down.
The core-buffer-transition zoning model tested here is the actual UNESCO Man and the Biosphere design: strict protection at the core, sustainable human use permitted further out, so people and nature aren't simply separated.