Strengthening the Natural and National Park system of Iberia to conserve vascular plants

Abstract

The diversity of the Iberian vascular flora has been investigated using WORLDMAP versions 3.08 and 3.18. Two data sets scoring plant distributions as presences within the Iberian Peninsula were compiled; one for 2133 species at 50 × 50 km grid and the other for 801 species at 10 × 10 km map grids. Patterns of biodiversity were determined using the diversity measures of species richness, range‐size rarity and character richness diversity. Using the diversity measures, combined with an area selection method, maps of priority areas were calculated using iterative procedures. Near minimum sets (NMSs) for both scales were calculated. Comparison of the NMS for the 10 × 10 km grid with the near minimum set for existing reserves (NMSER) showed that at least 2% more of the land surface would be required above and beyond the existing protected area network, currently comprising 6% of the area, to ensure representation of all species at least once as listed within the present data‐base. It is demonstrated that reserve systems selected on a variety of different criteria are suboptimal when compared to particular groups of target organisms with a definite goal of representation for conservation. Calculating efficiency of existing reserve systems and accounting for all taxa identifies precisely the extra required areas for the protected area system to satisfy particular goals of representation.

Integrative taxonomy of Iberian Merodon species (Diptera, Syrphidae)

“…As M. arundanus is morphologically distinct, it is recognized as an endemic taxon and is presently found only in Grazalema (South Spain). The taxon agrees with a common pattern for endemicity in the Iberian Peninsula: the areas with highest concentrations of endemic species occur in mountain areas (Martín et al 2000;Castro-Parga et al 1996). Thus, we hypothesize that the low divergence between the taxa both for the COI and the ITS2 region indicates that these taxa have speciated recently, but the presence of distinctive morphological diagnostic characters and level of 28S divergence suggest the opposite.…”

El papel del Jardín Botánico Francisco Javier Clavijero (Xalapa, Veracruz, México) en la conservación de la flora mexicana

“…Hence, there is an expectation that many species within these areas are already under some threat of extinction (Brooks et al, 2002). The protected area networks for regions of high plant diversity are insufficient in order to attain effective conservation (Parga et al, 1996). Therefore, botanic gardens as a "lifeboat" strategy represent an opportunity to achieve effective plant conservation worldwide (Chen and Sun, 2018;Smith, 2019).…”