Integrating species diversity, ecosystem services, climate and ecological stability helps to improve spatial representation of protected areas for quadruple win

Establishing and maintaining protected areas is a pivotal strategy for attaining the post-2020 biodiversity target. The conservation objectives of protected areas have shifted from a narrow emphasis on biodiversity to encompass broader considerations such as ecosystem stability, community resilience to climate change, and enhancement of human well-being. Given these multifaceted objectives, it is imperative to judiciously allocate resources to effectively conserve biodiversity by identifying strategically significant areas for conservation, particularly for mountainous areas. In this study, we evaluated the representativeness of the protected area network in the Qinling Mountains concerning species diversity, ecosystem services, climate stability and ecological stability. The results indicate that some of the ecological indicators are spatially correlated with also topographic gradient effects. The conservation priority areas predominantly lie in the northern foothills, the southeastern, and southwestern parts of the Qinling Mountain with areas concentrated at altitudes between 1,500–2,000 m and slopes between 40°–50° as hotspots. The conservation priority areas identified through the framework of inclusive conservation optimization account for 22.9% of the Qinling Mountain. Existing protected areas comprise only 6.1% of the Qinling Mountain and 13.18% of the conservation priority areas. This will play an important role in achieving sustainable development in the region and in meeting the post-2020 biodiversity target. The framework can advance the different objectives of achieving a quadruple win and can also be extended to other regions.