Delimiting priority areas for the conservation of endemic and threatened Neotropical birds using a niche-based gap analysis

Abstract

Knowledge of spatiotemporal distribution of biodiversity is still very incomplete in the tropics. This is one of the major problems preventing the assessment and effectiveness of conservation actions. Mega-diverse tropical regions are being exposed to fast and profound environmental changes, and the amount of resources available to describe the distribution of species is generally limited. Thus, the tropics is losing species at unprecedented rates, without a proper assessment of its biodiversity. Species distribution models (SDMs) can be used to fill such biogeographic gaps within a species’ range and, when allied with systematic conservation planning (e.g. analyses of representativeness, gap analysis), help transcend such data shortage and support practical conservation actions. Within the Neotropics, eastern Amazon and northern Cerrado present a high variety of environments and are some of the most interesting ecotonal areas within South America, but are also among the most threatened biogeographic provinces in the world. Here, we test the effectiveness of the current system of Protected Areas (PAs), in protecting 24 threatened and endemic bird species using SDMs. We found that taxa with wider distributions are potentially as protected as taxa with smaller ranges, and larger PAs were more efficient than smaller PAs, while protecting these bird species. Nonetheless, Cerrado PAs are mostly misallocated. We suggest six priority areas for conservation of Neotropical birds. Finally, we highlight the importance of indigenous lands in the conservation of Neotropical biodiversity, and recommend the development of community management plans to conserve the biological resources of the region.

Distribución potencial y conectividad del paisaje: criterios para reevaluar el grado de amenaza de Campylorhynchus yucatanicus (Aves: Troglodytidae)

“…Métodos similares a los utilizados en este estudio han sido útiles para establecer áreas de prioridad para la conservación de otras especies de aves endémicas y amenazadas en las zonas tropicales (Marini, Barbet-Massin, Lopes, & Jiguet, 2010;de Carvalho et al, 2017). El presente estudio servirá también de referencia en el futuro para evaluaciones similares de especies con distribución restringida.…”

Predicting the impacts of climate change on Papio baboon biogeography: Are widespread, generalist primates ‘safe’?

“…They can help identify zones of suitable but unused habitat and to predict how species’ habitats and thus potential ranges will change in response to climate change (e.g. Chucholl, ; De Carvalho et al, ; Williams et al, ). The only prior study that models the habitats of all six baboon taxa (Fuchs et al, ) focussed on evolutionary biogeography rather than predicting the impacts of future changes.…”

“…They can help identify zones of suitable but unused habitat and to predict how species' habitats and thus potential ranges will change in response to climate change (e.g. Chucholl, 2017;De Carvalho et al, 2017;Williams et al, 2009).…”

Negros Bleeding-heartGallicolumba keayiprefers dense understorey vegetation and dense canopy cover, and species distribution modelling shows little remaining suitable habitat

“…Understanding more about its resource requirements and habitat preference is important for its conservation (Bibby et al 2000; Begehold et al 2015). It can be used in species distribution modelling, in which species presence and environmental data is used to map where a species is most probably distributed (Morales et al 2017), and this is used to identify priority areas for conservation action, based on an evaluation of what already exists and what is needed (De Carvalho et al 2017).…”