Is Rich and Rare the Common Share? Describing Biodiversity Patterns to Inform Conservation Practices for South American Anurans

Abstract

Species richness and range size are key features of biogeographic and macroecological analyses, which can yield a first assessment tool to define conservation priorities. Here we combined both features in a simultaneous analysis, based on range-diversity plots, to identify sets of rich-rare (high species richness with restricted ranges) and poor-rare cells (low species richness with restricted ranges). We applied this analysis to the anurans of South America and evaluated the representation of those sets of cells within the protected area system. South American anurans showed high species richness in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest and East Tropical Andes, while regions harboring most of the rare species were concentrated in the Andes and Atlantic Coast from North-Eastern Brazil to River Plate. Based on such patterns, we identified as rich-rare cells the Brazilian Atlantic Forest and Tropical Andes and as poor-rare cells the southern part of Andes and Uruguay. A low fraction of both sets of cells was represented within the protected area system. We show that a simultaneous consideration of species richness and rarity provides a rapid assessment of large-scale biodiversity patterns and may contribute to the definition of conservation priorities.

Unequal Contribution of Widespread and Narrow-Ranged Species to Botanical Diversity Patterns

“…Our results confirm that richness patterns based on narrow-ranged species differ from those based on widespread species [15,17,23]. However, the correlation of each of these patterns with the total species richness pattern depends on the extent of the study area used to define the prevalence of species.…”

“…Several studies have shown a positive, non-linear relationship between the number of narrow-ranged species and the total number of species in an area, resulting in species-rich areas having a higher proportion of narrow-ranged species than average [15,16]. However, studies on vertebrates have shown that centres of endemism are not necessarily congruent with centres of species richness [17–21]. …”

Amphibian conservation, land-use changes and protected areas: A global overview

“…However, families with the largest percentage of gap species are endemic to regions with little relationship between the extent of PAs and amphibian species richness, such as the Western Ghats in India (Nasikabatrachidae and Micrixalidae), the tropical Andes (Rhinatrematidae and Telmatobiidae) and Southeast Asia (Ceratobatrachidae) (Frost, 2014;IUCN and UNEP-WCMC, 2013). Range-restricted species (and families) are highly vulnerable (Villalobos et al, 2013) and therefore must be considered in conservation policies (Rosenfield, 2002;Whittaker et al, 2005).…”

Temporal nestedness in Chironomidae and the importance of environmental and spatial factors in species rarity

“…This phenomenon can be explored through nestedness, if we infer that in general, rarest species tend to occur in the richest areas and the most common species will be found in all locations (Moore & Swihart, 2007). Although clearly relevant for assessments and the planning of conservation strategies, these attributes, i.e., species richness and rarity, have rarely been investigated simultaneously (Villalobos et al, 2013).…”