Predicting biodiversity richness in rapidly changing landscapes: climate, low human pressure or protection as salvation?

Abstract

Rates of biodiversity loss in Southeast Asia are among the highest in the world, and the Indo-Burma and South-Central China Biodiversity Hotspots rank among the world’s most threatened. Developing robust multi-species conservation models is critical for stemming biodiversity loss both here and globally. We used a large and geographically extensive remote-camera survey and multi-scale, multivariate optimization species distribution modelling to investigate the factors driving biodiversity across these two adjoining biodiversity hotspots. Four major findings emerged from the work. (i) We identified clear spatial patterns of species richness, with two main biodiverse centres in the Thai-Malay Peninsula and in the mountainous region of Southwest China. (ii) Carnivores in particular, and large ungulates to a lesser degree, were the strongest indicators of species richness. (iii) Climate had the largest effect on biodiversity, followed by protected status and human footprint. (iv) Gap analysis between the biodiversity model and the current system of protected areas revealed that the majority of areas supporting the highest predicted biodiversity are not protected. Our results highlighted several key locations that should be prioritized for expanding the protected area network to maximize conservation effectiveness. We demonstrated the importance of switching from single-species to multi-species approaches to highlight areas of high priority for biodiversity conservation. In addition, since these areas mostly occur over multiple countries, we also advocate for a paradigmatic focus on transboundary conservation planning.

Prioritizing areas for conservation outside the existing protected area network in Bhutan: the use of multi-species, multi-scale habitat suitability models

“…Resource use by a species is influenced by natural and anthropogenic factors. While topographical factors impose physical constraints and drive major patterns of climate and vegetation, human land use often perturbs ecological systems, altering their structure, composition and suitability for many species (Magioli et al 2019;Macdonald et al 2020). We selected 20 predictor variables reflecting environmental, topographical and anthropogenic conditions that we hypothesized would affect habitat suitability of the 16 studied species (Table 1).…”

Identifying priority core habitats and corridors for effective conservation of brown bears in Iran

“…Therefore, our results can guide to conservation practitioners to establish new protected areas in strategic locations most important within the full conservation network 101 . Protecting a habitat large enough to sustain the life history traits of brown bear as an umbrella species will likely also protect the long-term persistence of many other species 99 , 102 .…”

How fish traits and functional diversity respond to environmental changes and species invasion in the largest river in Southeastern China

“…Global climate change impacts freshwater fish FD worldwide (Buisson et al, 2013). High fish FD loss in Southeast Asia, Indo-Burma, and South-Central China is accompanied by global climate change (Macdonald et al, 2020). Intensity of anthropogenic activities firmly associates with fish FD.…”