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Aim: Understanding the formation and maintenance of biogeographical breaks is fundamental for developing analyses related to biodiversity and conservation. Biogeographical patterns along China's coast are changing dramatically in the face of climate change and alterations in land‐use. In this paper, we sought to clarify the mechanisms responsible for the formation and maintenance of a biogeographical barrier on China's coast. Location: Coastline of northern China. Methods: We have reviewed literature of research related to biogeographical and phylogeographical patterns of intertidal macrobenthos along the coast of Jiangsu Province and adjacent areas, summarized the distribution patterns and biogeographical breakers. We have also reviewed literature about the processes and drivers on coastal biogeographical breaks, to clarify the mechanisms acting to the northward shift of the biogeographical break. Results: The Yangtze (Changjiang) River Estuary Biogeographical Barrier (YREBB) at 30°–31°N, which serves as a coastal biogeographical boundary for the Cold Temperate Northwest Pacific Province and the Warm Temperate Northwest Pacific Province for marine species, has moved northward to ~33°–34°N due to the changes in habitat continuity, oceanographic circulation and climate factors. Consequently, a new biogeographic barrier for intertidal macrobenthos, the Subei Biogeographical Barrier (SBB) on the central coast of Jiangsu Province, has emerged. Main conclusions: The formation and maintenance of the SBB are closely related to the larval dispersal potential, larval settlement success and post‐settlement population establishment, all of which have been profoundly influenced by anthropogenic environmental changes. The northward shift of the YREBB and the appearance of the SBB provide an excellent model system for investigating the impacts of climate change and land‐use change on coastal biogeographic patterning and for clarifying the mechanisms underlying the formation and maintenance of biogeographical barriers in the face of the unprecedented environmental changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conservation biogeography involves the application of biogeographical principles, theories, and analyses to problems regarding biodiversity conservation. The field was formally defined in 2005, and considerable research has been conducted in the ensuing 5 years. This editorial sets the context for 16 contributions in a special issue of Diversity and Distributions on developments and challenges in conservation biogeography. Papers are grouped into the following main themes: species distribution modelling; data requirements; approaches for assigning conservation priorities; approaches for integrating information from numerous disparate sources; special challenges involving invasive species; and the crucial issue of determining how elements of biodiversity are likely to respond to rapid climate change. One paper provides a synthesis of requirements for a robust conservation biogeography for freshwater ecosystems. Conservation biogeography is well poised to make a significant contribution to the process of providing policy makers with objectively formulated scenarios and options for the effective management of biodiversity. The editorial, and the papers in the special issue, deliberate on many of the exciting developments in play in the field, and the many complex challenges that lie ahead. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biodiversity and distributions Six papers in this issue are focused on the biodiversity assessment and conservation management. Knowledge of species distribution across space and time is critical to ecological conservation and environmental management at the local, regional and global scales (Albert et al., 2021). Reliable DNA barcode reference libraries are critical for accurate species identification and biodiversity monitoring based on eDNA. Therefore, by no means will this special issue provide a full picture of environmental DNA (eDNA)-based studies; rather, it can serve as a window to showcase the recent and global developments in environmental DNA-based biodiversity assessment and conservation management. [Extracted from the article]

Geodiversity—the diversity of abiotic features and processes of the Earth's surface and subsurface—is an increasingly used concept in ecological research. A growing body of scientific literature has provided evidence of positive links between geodiversity and biodiversity. These studies highlight the potential of geodiversity to improve our understanding of biodiversity patterns and to complement current biodiversity conservation practices and strategies. However, definitions of geodiversity in ecological research vary widely. This can hinder the progress of geodiversity–biodiversity research and make it difficult to synthesize findings across studies. We therefore call for greater awareness of how geodiversity is currently defined and for more consistent use of the term 'geodiversity' in biodiversity research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Patterns of benthic biodiversity at the macroecological scale remain poorly characterised throughout the Chilean latitudinal gradient, in part due to the lack of integrated databases, uneven sampling effort, and the use of species richness alone to quantify biodiversity. Different diversity measures, encompassing taxonomic and functional components, may give us extra information on biodiversity relevant to conservation planning and management. Thus, evaluating the spatial complementarity of these measures is essential. Location: Coast and continental shelf of Chile. Methods: The latitudinal gradient of Chile was divided into five ecoregions according to the Marine Ecosystems of the World classification. Using a 55 × 55 km equal area grid, we estimated the incidence coverage‐based estimator (ICE), taxonomic distinctness (Δ+) and three measures of functional diversity: functional richness (FRic), functional evenness (FEve) and functional divergence (FDiv). For each measure, we described spatial patterns, identified hotspots, evaluated hotspot congruence and evaluated complementarity between measures. Results: Diversity patterns varied between ecoregions and over the latitudinal gradient. ICE and Δ+ peaked in the Chiloense and Channels and Fjords ecoregions. Δ+ and FRic present a similar pattern at mid‐latitudes. FEve showed a contrary pattern, principally with FRic. Areas with high numbers of hotspots differed spatially according to each metric, and three latitudinal bands were observed. ICE, Δ+ and FRic were positively correlated, but the hotspot overlap at the grid cell level was more limited. Main Conclusions: The complementarity between taxonomic and functional diversity measures is limited when we observe the overlap between grid cells representing hotspots. However, some regions are consistently identified as highly diverse, with the Magellanic Province (Chiloense and Channels and Fjords ecoregions) being the most important for the richness, taxonomic and functional diversity of benthos. Confirmation of the importance of this region can help prioritise conservation efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Rare species make substantial contributions to coastal ecosystem functions. Functional rarity (FR) and phylogenetic rarity (PR) are important features for biodiversity conservation. This work aimed to discuss the necessity and reasonableness of conserving fish FR and PR in coastal seas. Location: China. Methods: By compiling historical fish investigation data, joint species distribution modelling (JSDM) was applied to model fish communities in coastal China Seas. Biogeographic patterns of FR and PR were explored, and the effectiveness of current MPA networks in terms of match/mismatch with the hotspots of rarity was assessed. Results: A total of 44 functionally rare species and 22 phylogenetically rare species were identified. Six of these species were both functionally and phylogenetically rare, and only one was listed as endangered on the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Functional rarity hotspots covered 10.27% of the coastal areas, which geographically converged in the southern and eastern coast of Taiwan, the Yangtze River Estuary and the Yellow River Estuary. Phylogenetic rarity hotspots only covered 3.06% of the coastal areas, which were sporadically distributed in the coastal East China Sea, the Bohai Sea and the northern Yellow Sea. Current marine‐protected areas (MPAs) only represented 16.16% of the FR hotspots and 20.48% of the PR hotspots, indicating substantial mismatched areas between the MPAs and the hotspots of FR and PR. Main Conclusions: Only considering threatened species in conservation practices will omit functionally and phylogenetically rare species because FR and PR are not necessarily correlated with species threat status on the IUCN Red List. Functional rarity hotspots do not necessarily overlap with PR hotspots, and current MPAs mismatch the majority of these areas. We therefore advocate that conservation prioritization and expansion of MPA networks should account for FR and PR both at the species and site levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim Biologists increasingly recognize the roles of humans in ecosystems. Subsequently, many have argued that biodiversity conservation must be extended to environments that humans have shaped directly. Yet popular biogeographical frameworks such as biomes do not incorporate human land use, limiting their relevance to future conservation planning. 'Anthromes' map global ecological patterns created by sustained direct human interactions with ecosystems. In this paper, we set to understand how current conservation efforts are distributed across anthromes. Location Global. Methods We analysed the global distribution of IUCN protected areas and biodiversity hotspots by anthrome. We related this information to density of native plant species and density of previous ecological studies. Potential conservation opportunities in anthromes were then identified through global analysis and two case studies. Results Protected areas and biodiversity hotspots are not distributed equally across anthromes. Less populated anthromes contain a greater proportion of protected areas. The fewest hotspots are found within densely settled anthromes and wildlands, which occur at the two extremes of human population density. Opportunities for representative protection, prioritization, study and inclusion of native species were not congruent. Main conclusions Researchers and practitioners can use the anthromes framework to analyse the distribution of conservation practices at the global and regional scale. Like biomes, anthromes could also be used to set future conservation priorities. Conservation goals in areas directly shaped by humans need not be less ambitious than those in 'natural areas'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To investigate how the potential bias from isolation by distance (IBD) in inferences of population structure has been addressed, in studies aiming biodiversity conservation. Location: Global. Methods: We reviewed the literature on the impact of IBD on the performance of the widely used software structure. We also performed a literature survey in the Web of Knowledge to assess how data have been analysed in biodiversity conservation studies when IBD is detected. Results: By reviewing the literature on structure performance in IBD data sets, we found a high number of studies showing that structure outputs are extremely affected by IBD. This misleading inference results principally in the detection of artificial genetic clusters. The literature survey showed that IBD was present in most data sets (60.56%) and that a substantial number of the articles only tested IBD by Mantel tests (82.21%). The most concerning result is that several articles have been using structure even after detecting IBD (57.99%), and a substantial number of them are drawing formal conservation strategies, notwithstanding the potentially biased results (51.49%). Main conclusions: Our results are of great concern, as conservation strategies may be distinct under different population structure, and its success can be affected by the incorrect identification of populations. We recommend possible stages to be considered in the presence of IBD, which can help conservation investigators before the proposition of explicit conservation strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conservation and land management decisions may be misguided by inaccurate or misinterpreted knowledge of biodiversity. Non-systematists often lack taxonomic expertise necessary for an accurate assessment of biodiversity. Additionally, there are far too few taxonomists to contribute significantly to the task of identifying species for specimens collected in biodiversity studies. While species level identification is desirable for making informed management decisions concerning biodiversity, little progress has been made to reduce this taxonomic deficiency. Involvement of non-systematists in the identification process could hasten species identification. Incorporation of DNA sequence data has been recognized as one way to enhance biodiversity assessment and species identification. DNA data are now technologically and economically feasible for most scientists to apply in biodiversity studies. However, its use is not widespread and means of its application has not been extensively addressed. This paper illustrates how such data can be used to hasten biodiversity assessment of species using a little-known group of edaphic beetles. Partial mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I was sequenced for 171 individuals of feather-wing beetles (Coleoptera: Ptiliidae) from the Klamath ecoregion, which is part of a biodiversity hotspot, the California Floristic Province. A phylogram of these data was reconstructed via parsimony and the strict consensus of 28,000 equally parsimonious trees was well resolved except for peripheral nodes. Forty-two voucher specimens were selected for further identification from clades that were associated with many synonymous and non-synonymous nucleotide changes. A ptiliid taxonomic expert identified nine species that corresponded to monophyletic groups. These results allowed for a more accurate assessment of ptiliid species diversity in the Klamath ecoregion. In addition, we found that the number of amino acid changes or percentage nucleotide difference did not associate with species limits. This study demonstrates that the complementary use of taxonomic expertise and molecular data can improve both the speed and the accuracy of species-level biodiversity assessment. We believe this represents a means for non-systematists to collaborate directly with taxonomists in species identification and represents an improvement over methods that rely solely on parataxonomy or sequence data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dispersal is universally considered important for biodiversity conservation. However, the significance of long- as opposed to short-distance dispersal is insufficiently recognized in the conservation context. Long-distance dispersal (LDD) events, although typically rare, are crucial to population spread and to maintenance of genetic connectivity. The main threats to global biodiversity involve excessive LDD of elements alien to ecosystems and insufficient dispersal of native species, for example, because of habitat fragmentation. In this paper, we attempt to bridge the gap in the treatment of LDD by reviewing the conservation issues for which LDD is most important. We then demonstrate how taking LDD into consideration can improve conservation management decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This special issue ofDiversity and Distributionspresents six papers that contribute to the assembly of a general research agenda for studying long-distance dispersal (LDD) across a variety of taxonomic groups (e.g. birds, fish, aquatic invertebrates and plants), ecosystems (e.g. terrestrial and marine ecosystems, wetlands and grasslands) and thematic fields (e.g. biological transport, marine biology, biogeochemistry and biodiversity conservation). This editorial emphasizes the need to develop a network integrating different research approaches (‘yellow brick roads’) to address the great challenge (‘finding the end of the rainbow’) of quantifying, understanding and predicting LDD and its implications. I review the key avenues for future research suggested in the special issue contributions, and stress the critical importance of properly considering the spatial and temporal scales relevant to the process and system of interests. I propose combining absolute and proportional definitions of LDD as a default practice in any investigation of LDD processes. When LDD is defined primarily by an absolute critical distance that characterizes key feature(s) of the system of interest, a quantitative assessment of the proportion of dispersal events expected to move beyond this critical threshold distance should also be provided. When LDD is defined primarily by a certain small fraction of dispersal events that travel longer than all others, an estimate of the absolute distance associated with this high percentile at the tail of the dispersal curve should also be added. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conservation policies and environmental impact assessments commonly target threatened species and habitats. Nevertheless, macroecological research provides reasons why also common species should be considered. We investigate the consequences of focussing solely on legally protected species and habitats in a spatial conservation planning context using a comprehensive, benthic marine data set from the northern Baltic Sea. Using spatial prioritization and surrogacy analysis, we show that the common approach in conservation planning, where legally listed threatened species and habitats are the focus of conservation efforts, could lead to poor outcomes for common species (and therefore biodiversity as a whole), allowing them to decline in the future. If conservation efforts were aimed solely at threatened species, common species would experience a loss of 62% coverage. In contrast, if conservation plans were based only on common species, threatened species would suffer a loss of 1%. Threatened species are rare and their ecological niches distinct, making them poor surrogates for biodiversity. The best results are achieved by unified planning for all species and habitats. The minimal step towards acknowledging common species in conservation planning would be the inclusion of the richness of common species, complemented by information on indicator species or species of high importance for ecosystem functioning. The trade‐off between planning for rare and common species should be evaluated, to minimize losses to biodiversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: (i) To determine whether area and connectivity of temporary ponds can predict plant species diversity, and the diversity and abundance of different plant life histories; (ii) To explore whether pond connectivity with the river prior to river regulation predicts better plant diversity patterns than current pond connectivity, suggestive of possible effects of connectivity loss. Location: Eastern Carpathian Mountains, Romania, Europe. Methods: We fitted linear and generalized linear models (LM and GLM) to examine whether pond area and current distance from the Olt River predict plant species richness, Shannon diversity and relative cover of different social behaviour types and overall plant species richness and Shannon diversity. Using historical maps, we measured pond distance from the river ca. 60 years before the Olt River was regulated, and we refitted the LM and GLM models using pond area and past distance from the river as independent variables. Results: Total plant species richness increased with pond area, and it decreased with the distance from the river, but total plant Shannon diversity index was affected, positively, only by pond area. The strength of responses to pond area and connectivity of species richness, Shannon diversity and relative cover varied across the different social behaviour types. Past and current distances between ponds and riverbeds had similar effects on plant diversity, with some evidence for stronger effect of the present connectivity on specialist species Shannon diversity and a weaker effect on disturbance tolerants, generalists and competitors. Main Conclusions: Pond area and connectivity with the landscape are important predictors of the diversity of plant life history strategies, and therefore, useful tools in pond conservation. Consistent species richness and Shannon diversity responses of wetland specialists to pond area and connectivity make this life history type well suited for monitoring pond condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Biodiversity hotspots often span international borders, thus conservation efforts must as well. China is one of the most biodiverse countries and the length of its international land borders is the longest in the world; thus, there is a strong need for transboundary conservation. We identify China's transboundary conservation hotspots and analyse the potential effects of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) on them to provide recommendations for conservation actions. Location: China, Asia. Methods: We compiled a species list of terrestrial vertebrates that span China's borders. Using their distribution, we extracted the top 30% of the area with the highest richness value weighted by Red List category and considered these transboundary hotspots for conservation priority. Then we analysed protected area (PA) coverage and connectivity to identify conservation gaps. To measure potential impact of the BRI, we counted the species whose distribution range is traversed by the BRI, and calculated the aggregation index, proportion of natural land and night light index along its routes. Results: We identified 1964 terrestrial vertebrate species living in the border region. We identified four transboundary hotspots and found insufficient PA coverage and low connectivity in three of them. The BRI routes intersected all four hotspots and traversed 82.4% (1619/1964) of the transboundary species, half of which (918) are sensitive to the potential risks brought by the BRI. Night light index increased generally along the BRI. However, the proportion of natural land and the aggregation index near the BRI showed different trends in hotspots. Main Conclusions: There is an urgent need for conservation action in China's transboundary region. The BRI should put biodiversity conservation at the core of its development strategy. Furthermore, we suggest using the planned BRI as a platform for dialogue and consultation, knowledge and data sharing, and joint planning to promote transboundary conservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Macroecological and biogeographical studies and their applicability for biological conservation vitally depend on distribution data. These are usually taken from distribution atlases and databases or maps found in identification guides. A previous study pointed to another little explored source of data — local faunistic studies. Here, I would like to draw attention to another potential source. Papers that analysed the food composition of some taxa (e.g. insectivorous birds) are an overlooked source of rich information on taxa distributions. These studies frequently include an ‘Appendix’ with a list of food items determined to the species level. These studies also contain data on abundances, number of samples, sampling time, and geographical location as a rule. Foraging birds naturally provide data on invertebrate distributions with good spatio-temporal coverage and reasonably large samples. Importantly, birds frequently collect rare and by entomological methods hardly detectable species (i.e. those living high, in tree canopies, in very dense vegetation, or with secretive lifestyle). Data from bird dietary studies may help to ameliorate one of the most serious problems in distribution studies — zero inflation. I briefly discuss pros and cons of this so far neglected source of biogeographical data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: The Irano‐Anatolian biodiversity hotspot is among the least‐known biodiversity hotspots on earth. In this study, we aim to map the richness and genetic divergence of lizards in the biodiversity hotspot and its surrounding areas and identify the most important determinants of the richness and genetic divergence patterns. Location: Iran and Turkey (Irano‐Anatolian biodiversity hotspot). Methods: Here, we mapped the distribution of 211 lizard species in Iran and Turkey using existing occurrence data and generated the first genetic divergence pattern map of the lizard species in the two countries to identify areas of high species diversity and genetic divergence in the Irano‐Anatolian biodiversity hotspot. We also identified determinants of lizard richness and genetic divergence patterns. Results: Results showed that the Zagros Mountains, Central Iranian Plateau and the northern Persian Gulf have the highest lizard richness. The Zagros Mountains, Central Iranian Plateau, the northern Persian Gulf and the regions around the Lut Desert and Jazmourian Plain have the highest total genetic divergence in Iran. Alborz and Kopet Dag mountains and south western parts of Turkey have the highest average genetic divergence. The annual temperature was the most important predictor of lizard richness, and temperature change velocity was the most influential determinant of genetic divergence pattern. Much to our surprise, species diversity and most areas with high genetic divergence are located outside of Irano‐Anatolian biodiversity hotspot. Main conclusions: This study showed that lizard richness and genetic divergence patterns are associated with current and past climate. In particular, this study highlights the legacy of past climate changes on lizard genetic divergence distribution patterns. We showed that most of the species‐rich and genetically diverse regions are located outside of the biodiversity hotspot. So conservation efforts that are concentrated inside the biodiversity hotspot may not benefit lizard biodiversity conservation. Thus, future studies and conservation programs on the biodiversity hotspot should also consider its surrounding areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Groundwater harbours an exceptional fauna and provides invaluable ecosystem services, yet is among the least explored and consequently least protected ecosystems. Successful protection of its biodiversity depends on complete species inventories, knowledge of species spatial distribution, and quantification of biodiversity patterns, as well as disentanglement of the processes that shaped biodiversity patterns. We studied the hyper‐speciose amphipod genus Niphargus as a model system within a global subterranean biodiversity hotspot. We linked the biodiversity patterns with possible underlying processes and discuss the needs to include information on different origins of biodiversity into conservation approaches. Location: Europe, Western Balkans. Methods: We analysed biodiversity patterns of Niphargus using two biodiversity metrics, species richness and phylogenetic diversity, on a grid‐based approach. To account for high cryptic diversity, we replaced nominal species with taxonomic units identified in unilocus delimitations (MOTUs). We built a time‐calibrated multilocus phylogeny of 512 Niphargus MOTUs from within and outside the study area, and calculated Faith's phylogenetic diversity, standardized effect sizes of phylogenetic diversity, and residual of phylogenetic diversity regressed onto species richness. Results: Within the study area, we recognized 245 MOTUs, belonging to different Niphargus clades. Species richness is highest in a north‐western hotspot, although some species‐rich cells were detected also in the south‐east. High phylogenetic diversity coincides with high species richness in the north‐west, while in the south‐east it is lower than expected. Main conclusions: We have shown that species richness does not predictably correlate with phylogenetic diversity. This difference suggests that different processes have led to the formation of species‐rich areas in the Western Balkans: through a combination of dispersal and speciation in the north‐west, and local radiation in the south‐east, respectively. This calls for caution in conservation strategies relying solely on number of species and may change the view on conservation priorities within this region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Locally abundant species are typically widespread, while locally scarce species are geographically restricted—the so‐called abundance‐occupancy relationships (AORs). AORs help explain the drivers of species rarity and community assembly, but little is known about how variation around such relationship is driven by species traits and niche‐based processes, particularly in tropical woody plants. We tested the hypothesis that AORs in tropical dryland woody plants are positive and mediated by niche and functional traits along environmental gradients. Location: The Caatinga dry forest and Cerrado savannah, Brazil. Methods: We aggregated abundance and occurrence data into grid‐cells representing local (10‐km) to landscape scales (50‐km). We calculated species mean relative abundance at occupied grid‐cells (local abundance) and the proportion of grid‐cells occupied (occupancy), and estimated their niche breadth and marginality along multivariate environmental gradients. Results: AORs were positive but weak at different scales in both regions due to some locally abundant but geographically restricted species, with most species being both locally and geographically rare. Cross‐species variation in local abundance was largely unpredictable, but occupancy was strongly driven by niche and functional traits, with a prominent negative effect of niche marginality. Geographically restricted species were associated with rare habitats, such as wetter and less intensively used habitats. Large seeds and abiotic dispersal favoured occupancy in Caatinga at small and large spatial scales, respectively, whereas species with conservative leaves were more widespread across scales in Cerrado. Main conclusions: Woody plants in dry tropical biotas exhibit weak AORs, a pattern likely related to low habitat availability and dispersal limitation. Caatinga and Cerrado biotas emerge as environmentally structured at multiple spatial scales, with several habitat‐specialist rare species bearing specific regenerative and resource‐use traits and relying on conditions threatened by climate change and land‐use intensification. Examining AORs through the lens of niche, functional traits and spatial scales enables mapping patterns and drivers of species commonness and rarity, enhancing understanding of species assembly and providing tools for biodiversity conservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Natural disaster risk reduction (DRR) is becoming a more important function of protected area (PAs) for current and future global warming. However, biodiversity conservation and DRR have been handled separately and their interrelationship has not been explicitly addressed. This is mainly because, due of prevailing strategies and criteria for PA placement, a large proportion of PAs are currently located far from human‐occupied areas, and habitats in human‐occupied areas have been largely ignored as potential sites for conservation despite their high biodiversity. If intensely developed lowland areas with high flooding risk overlap with important sites for biodiversity conservation, it would be reasonable to try to harmonize biodiversity conservation and human development in human‐inhabited lowland areas. Here, we examined whether extant PAs can conserve macroinvertebrate and freshwater fish biodiversity and whether human‐inhabited lowland flood risk management sites might be suitable to designate as freshwater protected areas (FPAs). Location: Across Japan. Methods: We examined whether extant PAs can conserve macroinvertebrate and freshwater fish biodiversity and analysed the relationship between candidate sites for new FPAs and flood disaster risk and land use intensity at a national scale across Japan based on distribution data for 131 freshwater fish species and 1395 macroinvertebrate species. Results: We found that extant PAs overlapped with approximately 30% of conservation‐priority grid cells (1 km2) for both taxa. Particularly for red‐listed species, only one species of freshwater fish and three species of macroinvertebrate achieved the representation target within extant PAs. Moreover, more than 40% of candidate conservation‐priority grid cells were located in flood risk and human‐occupied areas for both taxa. Main conclusions: Floodplain conservation provides suitable habitat for many freshwater organisms and helps control floodwaters, so establishing new FPAs in areas with high flood risk could be a win‐win strategy for conserving freshwater biodiversity and enhancing ecosystem‐based DRR (eco‐DRR). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: The Appalachian forests ecoregion in eastern North America supports a diverse and highly endemic temperate biota, which is potentially threatened by rapid climate change. We investigated possible outlooks for biodiversity in this biologically important ecoregion under future climate change. Location: Appalachian forests ecoregion, USA. Methods: We estimated distributional shifts for 258 forest‐dependent vertebrates of conservation concern in four major taxonomic groups (amphibians, birds, mammals and reptiles) under short‐ (2040) and long‐term (2080s) climate change using ecological niche modelling. We examined which groups are likely most vulnerable to climate change and identified places predicted to experience the greatest changes in their species assemblages and those predicted to support high species richness under various future scenarios. To assess species' vulnerability, we compared and regressed future projected range against present range estimates for each species. To evaluate which places could see greatest changes, we mapped species richness and turnover in each taxonomic group. Results: A total of 30%–33% and 31%–38% of species were predicted to lose > 50% of area that is currently climatically suitable under short‐ and long‐term climate change, respectively. We expect climate change to impact amphibians and mammals more than birds and reptiles: a much larger fraction of amphibian and mammal (22%–48% in 2040; 29%–56% in 2080s) species were predicted to lose more than half of their present climatically suitable habitat area compared with birds and reptiles (1%–12% in 2040; 6%–12% in 2080s). While species were predicted to move northward and upslope assuming full dispersal, the Blue Ridge, Cumberland Plateau and southern Central Appalachians subregions are poised to remain as richness hotspots under the broad range of scenarios explored in this study. Main conclusions: Our results highlighted species groups and locations that policymakers and conservation practitioners should emphasize in planning vertebrate conservation efforts in the Appalachians under future climate scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Introduced predators negatively impact biodiversity globally, with insular fauna often most severely affected. Here, we assess spatial variation in the number of terrestrial vertebrates (excluding amphibians) killed by two mammalian mesopredators introduced to Australia, the red fox (Vulpes vulpes) and feral cat (Felis catus). We aim to identify prey groups that suffer especially high rates of predation, and regions where losses to foxes and/or cats are most substantial. Location: Australia. Methods: We draw information on the spatial variation in tallies of reptiles, birds and mammals killed by cats in Australia from published studies. We derive tallies for fox predation by (i) modelling continental‐scale spatial variation in fox density, (ii) modelling spatial variation in the frequency of occurrence of prey groups in fox diet, (iii) analysing the number of prey individuals within dietary samples and (iv) discounting animals taken as carrion. We derive point estimates of the numbers of individuals killed annually by foxes and by cats and map spatial variation in these tallies. Results: Foxes kill more reptiles, birds and mammals (peaking at 1071 km−2 year−1) than cats (55 km−2 year−1) across most of the unmodified temperate and forested areas of mainland Australia, reflecting the generally higher density of foxes than cats in these environments. However, across most of the continent – mainly the arid central and tropical northern regions (and on most Australian islands) – cats kill more animals than foxes. We estimate that foxes and cats together kill 697 million reptiles annually in Australia, 510 million birds and 1435 million mammals. Main conclusions: This continental‐scale analysis demonstrates that predation by two introduced species takes a substantial and ongoing toll on Australian reptiles, birds and mammals. Continuing population declines and potential extinctions of some of these species threatens to further compound Australia's poor contemporary conservation record. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Biodiversity conservation relies in part on enduring habitat in protected areas. In fire‐prone ecosystems, shifts in species' ranges will result both from changes in climate and fire‐catalysed vegetation change, which could lead to niche contraction and undermine protected‐area efficacy. We explored these dynamics for three forest species with varied niches representative of other taxa and different hypothesized responses to fire‐regime change (black‐backed woodpecker, Picoides arcticus; North American marten, Martes spp.; and red squirrel, Tamiasciurus hudsonicus). We asked: How do the extent and spatial pattern of these species' distributions change during the 21st century based on the independent and joint effects of climate and vegetation? Location: Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (Wyoming, USA). Methods: For each species, we developed separate distribution models based on climate and forest attributes, projected under four climate‐fire scenarios (a 2 × 2 design with moderate and high temperature and precipitation change). A spatially explicit forest landscape model calibrated for Greater Yellowstone was used to project fire and forest dynamics through 2100, and climate suitability was estimated with MaxEnt. Results: Suitable habitat for all three species based on climate or vegetation alone frequently did not overlap on the landscape, and habitat patches became simpler in shape and farther apart. Climatically suitable habitat for the black‐backed woodpecker increased in all scenarios, and suitable forest structure expanded by a factor of 30 in dry scenarios with more fire. Climatically suitable habitat for martens declined with warming and drying; the area of suitable vegetation fell >80% with fire‐driven losses of mature forest. Red squirrel habitat was maintained in all scenarios, but was sensitive to aridity, and patches were redistributed and compacted. Main conclusions: Projections based on climate alone may misrepresent future species distributions, especially where disturbances accelerate vegetation change. Our results identify important consequences of fire‐regime change for wildlife in forests dominated by obligate‐seeder or fire‐sensitive conifers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Protected areas (PAs) play an important role in biodiversity conservation, but remain increasingly threatened by invasive alien plant species (IAPS) in conjunction with global climate change. The latter is modifying the distribution of the former, and the magnitude and direction of distributional changes are predicted to vary depending on species dispersal mode. Here, we address the question of whether clonality is expected to affect the future invasion pattern in PAs. Location: Worldwide. Time period: 1950–2100. Major taxa studied: 36 invasive alien plant species. Methods: We used ensembles of three species distribution models (GLM, GAM and Maxent) based on >70,000 occurrence records to project the distribution of 36 of the world's most invasive clonal and non‐clonal plants in >20,000 PAs. Projections were based on three greenhouse gas concentration scenarios (low, medium and high) for 2080. Results: Climate change showed little impact on the global invasion pattern in PAs, and clonality showed little effect when all biomes were processed in concert. However, we discerned that the future invasion risk of clonal IAPS markedly increased in biomes located at high elevation and high latitude compared with non‐clonal IAPS, while the risk decreased in lower‐elevation tropical and subtropical biomes where asexual reproduction may be a less successful trait. We also showed that invasion hot spots overlapped with biodiversity hot spots and two realms (i.e. Nearctic and Palearctic), which calls for bridging the gap between invasion and conservation sciences and for more concerted management strategies. Main conclusions: We suggest that effective management of IAPS in PAs should consider in which biomes PAs are located as well as the reproductive traits of IAPS that are present or may become so. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: The ongoing global change makes landscape planning and management of ecological corridors crucial to preserve biodiversity. We propose a workflow optimizing the use of different data sources to convert ecological niche models (ENMs) into landscape‐focused species distribution models (SDMs), using these latter to compute ecological corridors. We infer corridors connecting present occurrence localities to future climatic refugia as well as to localities where extinct populations occurred. Also, a continuous connectivity change index is proposed to assess current–future differences. Finally, we discuss possible applications of our workflow to conservation, assessing the capability of established protected areas to preserve ecological corridors. Location: Europe. Methods: As case study to illustrate our framework, we use a database comprising occurrence localities of Vipera ursinii, one of the most endangered European reptiles. We obtain weighted SDMs for each of the four V. ursinii subspecies by coupling climate‐based ENMs with standardized occurrence frequencies along land use and altitude gradients through weighted averaging in GIS. We calculate current and future landscape connectivity for each subspecies based on the corresponding weighted SDM. We compare predictive performance of "traditional" ENMs, including climate, land use and topography as predictors and weighted SDMs. Results: Weighted SDMs outperform ENMs, according to Boyce index. SDMs are used to infer connectivity, predicted to decrease in all future scenarios for V. ursinii, and assess where connections may favour movements of individuals to, for example, future suitable areas. Generally, protected areas are predicted to cover low‐connectivity territories. Main conclusions: The proposed "couple‐and‐weigh" approach could represent a helpful tool to investigate biogeography, conservation and landscape planning topics, as it permits to capitalize on occurrence records and accessible environmental predictors by narrowing the target species' potential distribution, estimated within "traditional" ENMs, to the realized one through post‐modelling GIS analyses, which in turn improves estimation of friction maps used to infer connectivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding has demonstrated its applicability as a highly sensitive biomonitoring tool across small spatial and temporal scales in marine ecosystems. However, it has rarely been tested across large spatial scales or biogeographical barriers. Here, we scale up marine eDNA metabarcoding, test its ability to detect a major marine biogeographic break and evaluate its use as a regional biomonitoring tool in Australia. Location: North‐western Australia (NWA). Methods: We applied metabarcoding assays targeting the mitochondrial 16S rRNA and CO1 genes to 284 surface seawater eDNA samples collected from 71 mid‐shelf, inshore, coastal and nearshore estuarine sites over 700 km of the NWA coastline. Results: Metabarcoding detected a wide range of bony fish (404 taxa), elasmobranchs (44) and aquatic reptiles (5). We detected bioregional and depth differentiation within inshore bony fish communities. These findings support the presence of a marine biogeographic break, which is purported to occur in the vicinity of Cape Leveque, demarcating the border between the Kimberley and Canning bioregions. Inshore bony fish and elasmobranch communities, as well as coastal bony fish assemblages, were additionally found to differ between the South and North Kimberley regions suggesting previously unrecognized subregional differentiation amongst these taxa. The overall compositional data have been used to update distribution information for a number of endangered, elusive and data‐deficient taxa, including sawfish (family: Pristidae), northern river shark (Glyphis garricki) and wedgefish (genus: Rhynchobatus). Main conclusions: eDNA metabarcoding demonstrated a high level of sensitivity that was able to discern fine‐scale patterns across the large‐scale, remote and oceanographically complex region of North‐western Australia. Importantly, this study highlights the potential of integrating broad‐scale eDNA metabarcoding alongside other baseline surveys and long‐term monitoring approaches, which are crucial for the sustainable management and conservation of marine biodiversity in this unique marine region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: The management of habitats for the conservation and restoration of biodiversity in protected area networks requires an appropriate monitoring to increase our understanding of processes and dynamics in managed ecosystems. Remote sensing offers a unique potential for the derivation of coherent spatiotemporal information to report on natural or management‐induced habitat change. However, the methods used for the delineation of habitat types in remote sensing imagery depend on the extensive process of ground truth sampling as reference to construct image classifiers. In fact, the number of required reference samples is intrinsically unknown in complex scenes due to the heterogeneity of varying habitat conditions. Thus, most classifiers are not transferable in retrospective image analysis or between different ecosystems that is, however, required for an operational use of remote sensing‐based monitoring systems. Innovation: A new procedure is introduced that autonomously generates representative reference samples for a predictive modelling of habitat type probabilities. The procedure, termed Habitat Sampler, is provided as a tool that can be applied to any image input that display vegetation structures and dynamics on multiple temporal and spatial scales. The Habitat Sampler provides many labelled point locations for the training of image classifiers and enables a fast and easy to implement model transfer for the delineation of habitat dynamics in various ecosystems. Main conclusions: The Habitat Sampler outperforms standard machine learning classifiers when the distribution of reference samples is unknown or insufficient. It was shown that particularly in retrospective image analyses patterns of successional and cyclic habitat development can be mapped for large heathland areas. The procedure is feasible for application in biodiversity conservation monitoring using various habitat typologies that are associated over ecosystem processes, particularly to report on protected area networks using cost‐free satellite imagery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To fill knowledge gaps regarding the distributions, ecogeographic niches and conservation status of sorghum's wild relatives (Sorghum Moench). Location: The study covered the potential native ranges of wild Sorghum taxa worldwide, including Australia, New Guinea, Asia, Africa and Central America. Methods: We modelled the distributions of 23 wild Sorghum taxa, characterized their ecogeographic niches, assessed their conservation status both ex situ and in situ and performed preliminary threat assessments. Results: Three taxa were categorized as "high priority" for further conservation based on their ex situ and in situ assessments, with a further 19 as "medium priority" and only one as "low priority". The preliminary threat assessment indicated that 12 taxa may be Endangered, four Vulnerable and four Near Threatened. The taxa fill a wide range of climatic niches, both across and within taxa, including temperatures and precipitation. Main conclusions: Taxon richness hotspots, especially in northern Australia, represent hotspots for conservation action, including further seed collection and habitat protection, with Sorghum macrospermum E. D. Garber being the highest priority for increased in situ protection. Outside Australia, Sorghum propinquum (Kunth) Hitchc. stands out for further ex situ conservation, especially given its close relationship to the crop. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: Primary forests are critical for forest biodiversity and provide key ecosystem services. In Europe, these forests are particularly scarce and it is unclear whether they are sufficiently protected. Here we aim to: (a) understand whether extant primary forests are representative of the range of naturally occurring forest types, (b) identify forest types which host enough primary forest under strict protection to meet conservation targets and (c) highlight areas where restoration is needed and feasible. Location: Europe. Methods: We combined a unique geodatabase of primary forests with maps of forest cover, potential natural vegetation, biogeographic regions and protected areas to quantify the proportion of extant primary forest across Europe's forest types and to identify gaps in protection. Using spatial predictions of primary forest locations to account for underreporting of primary forests, we then highlighted areas where restoration could complement protection. Results: We found a substantial bias in primary forest distribution across forest types. Of the 54 forest types we assessed, six had no primary forest at all, and in two‐thirds of forest types, less than 1% of forest was primary. Even if generally protected, only ten forest types had more than half of their primary forests strictly protected. Protecting all documented primary forests requires expanding the protected area networks by 1,132 km2 (19,194 km2 when including also predicted primary forests). Encouragingly, large areas of non‐primary forest existed inside protected areas for most types, thus presenting restoration opportunities. Main conclusion: Europe's primary forests are in a perilous state, as also acknowledged by EU's "Biodiversity Strategy for 2030." Yet, there are considerable opportunities for ensuring better protection and restoring primary forest structure, composition and functioning, at least partially. We advocate integrated policy reforms that explicitly account for the irreplaceable nature of primary forests and ramp up protection and restoration efforts alike. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Wild biodiversity and agrobiodiversity are affected by challenges such as agricultural intensification. However, it is unknown whether or not both components of biodiversity respond similarly to environmental factors and to these challenges. Here, we examine the spatial relationships between the distributions of wild biodiversity and agrobiodiversity, to quantify how and where they covary across the geography. Location: Mainland Spain, a European region that harbours high values of both wild and agro‐ biodiversity. Methods: We used geographically weighted regression models to analyse the spatial variation in the relationships between the distribution of wild vertebrates and environmental and agrobiodiversity variables. We modelled the spatial gradients in species richness of native terrestrial vertebrates—that is, specific groups of amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals—as a function of local livestock breed richness—that is, bovine, ovine, caprine, asinine, equine and porcine—climate variables and human footprint. Results: We found significant covariation between the distribution of native vertebrate species richness and climate, human footprint and livestock diversity. Overall, the association between species richness of the four wild terrestrial vertebrate groups and local livestock breed richness is positive across most of the studied area. However, local breed richness of cattle and sheep breed displays contrasting patterns, where cattle breeds associate positively to most wildlife vertebrates and sheep breeds show negative associations. Main conclusion: Wildlife diversity distributions are significantly associated with livestock agrobiodiversity. These spatial relationships are mediated by large‐scale environmental gradients. Since both, wildlife and livestock agrobiodiversity, tend to co‐occur spatially, future strategies for conservation in agricultural landscapes could benefit from integrated approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Mining and petroleum industries are exploring for resources in deep seafloor environments. Lease areas are often spatially aggregated and continuous over hundreds to thousands of kilometres. Sustainable development of these resources requires an understanding of the patterns of biodiversity at similar scales, yet these data are rarely available for the deep sea. Here, we compare biodiversity metrics and assemblage composition of epibenthic megafaunal samples from deep‐sea benthic habitats from the Great Australian Bight (GAB), a petroleum exploration zone off southern Australia, to similar environments off eastern Australia. Location: The Great Australian Bight (34–36°S, 129–134°E) and south‐eastern (SE) and north‐eastern (NE) Australian continental margins (23–42°S, 149–155°E) in depths of 1,900–5,000 m. Methods: A species–sample matrix was constructed from invertebrate and fish megafauna collected from beam trawl samples across regions at lower bathyal (1,900–3,200 m) and abyssal (>3,200 m) depths, and analysed using multivariate, rarefaction and model‐based statistics. We modelled rank abundance distributions (RAD) against environmental factors to identify drivers of abundance, richness and evenness. Results: Multivariate analyses showed regional and bathymetric assemblage structure across the region. There was an almost complete turnover of sponge fauna between the GAB and SE. SE samples had the highest total faunal abundance and species richness. RAD models linked total abundance and species richness to levels of carbon flux. Evenness was associated with seasonality of net primary production. Conclusions: Significant assemblage structure at regional scales is reported for the first time at lower bathyal and abyssal depths in the southern Indo‐Pacific region along latitudinal and longitudinal gradients. The GAB fauna was distinct from other studied areas. Relatively high species richness, previously reported from the GAB continental shelf, did not occur at lower bathyal or abyssal depths. Instead, the abundance, richness and evenness of the benthic fauna are linked to surface primary production, which is elevated off SE Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: We examined the relationships between bathymetry, latitude and energy and the diversity of marine benthic invertebrates across wide environmental ranges of Canada's three oceans. Location: Canadian Pacific, Arctic and Atlantic Oceans from the intertidal zone to upper bathyal depths, encompassing 13 marine ecoregions. Methods: We compiled 35 benthic datasets that encompass 3,337 taxa (70% identified to species and 21% to genus) from 13,172 samples spanning 6,117 sites. Partitioning the analyses by different gear types, ecoregions or sites, we used Hill numbers to examine spatial patterns in α‐diversity. We used resampling and extrapolation to standardized sampling effort and examined the effects of depth, latitude, chemical energy (export particulate organic carbon [POC] flux), thermal energy (bottom temperature) and seasonality of primary production on the benthic biodiversity. Results: The Canadian Arctic harboured the highest benthic diversity (e.g. epifauna and common and dominant infauna species), whereas the lowest diversity was found in the Atlantic. The Puget Trough (Pacific), Beaufort Sea, Arctic Archipelago, Hudson Bay, Northern Labrador and Southern Grand Bank (Atlantic) were the "hotspots" of diversity among the ecoregions. The infauna and epifauna both exhibited hump‐shaped diversity–depth relationships, with peak diversity near shelf breaks; latitude (positively) predicted infaunal diversity, albeit weakly. Food supply, as inferred from primary production and depth, was more important than thermal energy in controlling diversity patterns. Limitations with respect to calculating POC flux in coastal (e.g. terrestrial runoff) and ice‐covered regions or biological interactions may explain the negative POC flux–infaunal diversity relationship. Main Conclusions: We show previously unreported diversity hotspots in the Canadian Arctic and in other ecoregions. Our analyses reveal potential controlling mechanisms of large‐scale benthic biodiversity patterns in Canada's three oceans, which are inconsistent with the prevailing view of seafloor energy–diversity relationships. These results provide insightful information for conservation that can help to implement further MPA networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Conventional species distribution models (SDMs) usually focus on the species level but disregard intraspecific variability. Phylogeographic structure and evolutionary significant units (ESU) have been proposed as pragmatic proxies to incorporate intraspecific differentiation in SDMs. Nevertheless, the efficiency of using these proxies in SDMs has been poorly investigated. We analysed how the projections of current and future climatically suitable areas can be affected when using ESU‐based or lineage‐based models compared to a species‐level model. Location: West‐Palaearctic region. Methods: As examples, we used three bumblebee species (133,787 observations). We assessed potential climatic niche differentiation between species level, lineages and ESUs, by determining the niche position and niche breadth for each classification level by outlying mean index analyses. Subsequently, we developed SDMs for each species and classification level separately using boosted regression trees prior to a comparison of their performances. Finally, we used the alternative models to project the extent of climatically suitable areas in 2070. Results: We found that in spite of highly similar overall model accuracy, integrating intraspecific variability significantly increases model sensitivity (i.e., better predicting presences) while decreased model specificity (i.e., over‐predicting the range). Consequently, both predictions of current and projections of future suitable conditions differed among the three approaches. Main conclusions: We showed that although integrating lineage or ESU information did not improve the accuracy of conventional species‐level SDMs, it led to considerably different conclusions. As SDM‐based climatic risk assessments are increasingly used to help and improve conservation plans, divergences and limitations of each modelling approach should be taken into account for developing efficient biodiversity management strategies. Lineage and ESU‐based SDMs offer the advantage to draw attention to species in which allopatric populations could display physiologically different responses to climate change when they lead to different results than species‐based models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Mounting ecological impacts of invasive species on freshwater ecosystems are among the greatest challenges confronting ecologists and decision‐makers in conserving biodiversity and ecosystem function. Tools to slow the proliferation of aquatic invasive species are still needed to guide the allocation of limited resources more effectively and efficiently once a species is already established. Here we develop mechanistic models to recreate the invasion history of the rusty crayfish Faxonius rusticus in the John Day River (JDR) basin, forecast its future distribution, and evaluate the management efficiency of, and trade‐offs among, population control actions. Location: John Day River Basin, Oregon. Methods: The spread and control of rusty crayfish in the JDR was simulated with a spatially explicit individual‐based model (SEIBM) whereby the life history of each crayfish in the population is modelled in response to environmental conditions that vary across space and time. The model was calibrated by comparing modelled rusty crayfish spread throughout the JDR to known occurrences according to three comprehensive surveys. Results: Our model accurately reproduced historical rusty crayfish distribution data for 2005, 2010, and 2016 with a specificity and sensitivity of ~80%. Leveraging this realistic model of the spread of rusty crayfish, we show that rapid management actions to the initial invasion would have resulted in an opportunity to slow the spread of rusty crayfish. We instead predict that rusty crayfish will reach the mainstem of the Columbia River by 2025, at which our model predicts that the crayfish population will number on the order of 108 individuals over more than 1100 km of river throughout the watershed and progress into critical salmon spawning habitat. Main conclusion: This study demonstrates that SEIBMs can provide unique insight into the future distribution of aquatic invasive species and concretely support decision‐makers in choosing an optimal control strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Producing quantitative descriptions of large‐scale biodiversity patterns is challenging, particularly where biological sampling is sparse or inadequate. This issue is particularly problematic in marine environments, where sampling is both difficult and expensive, often resulting in patchy and/or uneven coverage. Here, we evaluate the ability of Gradient Forest (GF) modelling to describe broad‐scale marine biodiversity patterns, using a large dataset that also provided opportunity to investigate the effects of sample size on model stability. Location: New Zealand's Extended Continental Shelf to depths of 2,000 m. Methods: GF models were used to analyse and predict spatial patterns of demersal fish species turnover (beta diversity) using an extensive demersal fish dataset (>27,000 research trawls) and high‐resolution environmental data layers (1 km2 grid resolution). GF models were fitted using various sized, mutually exclusive subsets of the demersal fish data to explore the effect of variation in numbers of training observations on model performance and stability. A final GF model using 13,917 samples was used to transform the environmental layers, which were then classified to produce 30 spatial groups; the ability of these groups to identify fish samples with similar composition was evaluated using independent sample data. Results: Model fitting using varying sized subsets of the data indicated only minimal changes in model outcomes when using >7,000 observations. A multiscale spatial classification of marine environments created using results from a final GF model fitted using ~14,000 samples was highly effective at summarizing spatial variation in both fish assemblage composition and species turnover. Main conclusions: The hierarchical nature of the classification supports its use at varying levels of classification detail, which is advantageous for conservation planning at differing spatial scales. This approach also facilitates the incorporation of information on intergroup similarities into conservation planning, allowing greater protection of distinctive groups likely to support unusual assemblages of species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Aim: Abandoned lands are expanding globally due to depopulation in rural areas; biodiversity is declining due to the cessation of traditional management practices. However, the awareness of abandonment as a serious threat is still limited. Knowledge of the influence of the responsible factors on the assessment of regional extinction risk of species due to abandonment is sparse although it is indispensable for conservation decision‐making. This study aimed to clarify the influence of the heterogeneity in abandonment risk and interspecies differences in sensitivity to abandonment on regional species extinction risk and to identify the attributes of the species whose extinction risk is prone to be assessed inaccurately by ignoring the abandonment risk. Location: Awaji Island, Hyogo, Western Japan. Methods: We assessed the extinction risk of 64 species of macrophytes under four scenarios: 2 × 2 combinations whether to incorporate interspecies differences in sensitivity to abandonment and the abandonment risk, respectively. Results: Ignoring the abandonment risk overestimated the extinction risk of most species by 10%, whereas ignoring interspecies differences in sensitivity did not significantly affect the extinction risk. Ignoring the abandonment risk overestimated the extinction risk of emergent plants by 12%, whereas it underestimated that of free‐floating plants or threatened plants by 5%. Spatial bias in abandonment risk markedly reduced the correlation between the extinction risk and the frequency of species occurrence. Main conclusions: The abandonment risk was more effective in accurately assessing the extinction risk due to abandonment than interspecies differences in sensitivity. Extinction risk of emergent, free‐floating or threatened species were assessed inaccurately by ignoring the abandonment risk. Focusing only on the area of occurrence or the extent of occurrence of a species as a surrogate for its extinction risk is likely to produce inaccurate assessments, and thus should be avoided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Aim: Human activity is known to greatly influence species occurrences. In forest ecosystems, biodiversity is often believed to be influenced by two habitat characteristics: (1) forest continuity, related to a minimum length of time in a wooded state since a threshold date; and (2) stand maturity, related to the availability of late‐developmental‐forest attributes. In a context of ongoing global biodiversity loss, qualifying the effect of past and present human activity on forest ecosystems while taking into account variations in abiotic factors is of primary importance for conservation. Location: Temperate mountain forests in the Northern Alps. Method: Based upon a sampling design crossing forest continuity (ancient vs. Recent) and stand maturity (mature vs. overmature), and while controlling for the effect of two major environmental factors, soil and climate, we explored the individual response of saproxylic beetle, springtail, herbaceous plant and epiphytic macrolichen species to past and present human activity. Results: Forest continuity influenced the occurrence of relatively few species, indicating that past land use had almost no legacy effect on the species occurring in the study forests today. In contrast, stand maturity had an overall positive effect on species occurrences. However, our results showed that species occurrences were more obviously influenced by abiotic conditions. Indeed, beyond the effect of continuity and maturity factors, the probability of presence of numerous species was best explained by climate and soil. Main conclusions: Overall, we show that species occurrence was more influenced by stand maturity than by forest continuity, but also that site‐specific characteristics were of great importance in explaining the probability of presence for numerous species. In the ecological context of alpine forests, these findings emphasize the need to better control for climatic and edaphic conditions in order to (1) improve accuracy in predicting species occurrence and (2) better design areas of conservation interest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim Quantifying biological assemblages and their environment is a fundamental, yet statistically challenging task in conservation ecology. Here, we use a recently developed approach called Regions of Common Profile ( RCP) to quantify and map the distribution of demersal fish assemblages in an ecologically significant region of the Southern Ocean to (1) gain ecological and management insights and (2) evaluate the utility of the new method for ecoregionalization. Location Northern Kerguelen Plateau, Subantarctic Islands, Southern Ocean. Methods The RCP approach is a multispecies, model-based approach that can overcome many limitations of traditional distance-based approaches. It simultaneously groups sites with a similar composition of species and describes the patterns of variation in assemblages using environmental data, allowing the prediction of assemblages across the study region. We apply RCP to a unique dataset of demersal fish occurrences across the northern Kerguelen Plateau to model and map the distribution of assemblages and examine the representativeness of the Heard Island and McDonald Island marine reserve. Results We demonstrate that the RCP approach allows a direct and quantitative interpretation of the composition of assemblages as well as their environment. Further, the model reasonably predicts the occurrence of individual species across the plateau as well as the species composition of sites. We distinguish and map seven assemblages defined by depth, surface temperature and chlorophyll a. Shallow-water assemblages contain a high proportion of endemic species, while deep-water assemblages contain more cosmopolitan species. With the exception of one deep-water assemblage, assemblages were well represented within the current Heard and McDonald Islands marine reserve. Main conclusions The RCP is a valuable tool for classifying biological regions with a range of ecological and conservation management applications. Our results extend current ecological and biogeographic knowledge for the northern Kerguelen Plateau, and maps of the distribution of assemblages will be useful for ongoing spatial management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim To investigate the community-level impacts of woody plant invasions using Robinia pseudoacacia as a model species, affecting organisms on different trophic levels: vascular plants, nocturnal Lepidoptera and birds. Location Czech Republic, central Europe. Methods Nineteen plots with strong dominance of the invader were compared to 20 plots with native deciduous trees on sites with similar conditions. Species richness was compared using marginal models, species composition and the distribution of species traits by ordination analyses. Functional relationships between the three groups of organisms were investigated using a path analysis. Results Only minor differences in species richness between invaded and uninvaded plots were detected for plants and birds, but the invaded stands hosted significantly fewer species of nocturnal Lepidoptera. On the contrary, all three groups differed in species composition and in the distribution of traits between the invaded and uninvaded stands. Nitrophilous plants, supported by human disturbances, were more represented in the invaded stands, while habitat specialist birds preferred uninvaded forest. Within nocturnal Lepidoptera, species of open habitats and fast life cycle preferred the invaded stands, and forest and canopy species and habitat generalists of larger sizes preferred the uninvaded stands. Path analysis showed a minor effect of R. pseudoacacia on the numbers of plants which were unrelated to species richness at higher trophic levels. However, R. pseudoacacia had a negative direct effect on nocturnal Lepidoptera, contributing to a weak negative indirect impact on birds. Main conclusions The impacts of R. pseudoacacia on species richness differed across the trophic levels, questioning the existence of simple cascading effects as a consequence of its invasion. Invasive plants do not always reduce the diversity of species per se, but cause shifts in species composition by replacing some of the pre-invasion biota by species with traits enabling tolerance to the invaded habitat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim The development of conservation plans, including those dealing with invasive species, is underpinned by the need to obtain reliable and accurate data. However, in many cases responding rapidly is equally critical. Location The data were obtained from the Hebridean Mink Project, which was set up with the objective of removing mink from North Uist, Benbecula and South Uist. Methods Here, we introduce an extension of the Dirichlet process mixture ( DPM) model of geographic profiling that can be used to estimate source locations of invasions directly from spatial point pattern data without the need to specify dispersal parameters. We use this model to analyse a biological invasion of American mink ( Neovison vison) in the Hebrides. Results Our results suggest that sightings data - which are relatively easy and quick to acquire - can be used to capture much of the information about sources of invasive species that is obtained from the harder to acquire and more intensive trap data. Main conclusion These results have important implications for the development of conservation plans and, in this case, in the early stages of biological invasions, when interventions are most likely to be successful. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Guayana Highlands ( GH) are virtually pristine environments and constitute a unique natural laboratory to study the biogeographical and evolutionary origin of the Neotropical biota. In addition, the GH provide most of the water of the Guayana region, which feeds the more important tributaries of the Orinoco and the Amazon basins. However, the biota and the ecosystems of the GH are in danger of being profoundly altered by current human activities. Recent studies have identified the presence of aggressive invader plant species (e.g. Poa annua and Polypogon elongatus) and infectious faecal bacteria ( Helicobacter pilori), both carried by tourists, which could deeply affect biodiversity and ecological performance of terrestrial and aquatic GH ecosystems. If these hazards are not controlled as soon as possible, the potential consequences could disturb not only the GH ecosystems but also those of the rest of the Guayana region. We still have time to find solutions and implement specific regulations before the mentioned threats become uncontrollable. The GH are within a national park and other conservation figures but a management plan is lacking; therefore, current conservation rules are insufficient to deal with the newly detected menaces. We propose an international initiative, including all countries of the Guayana Shield, to take immediate actions. Otherwise, we are in danger of losing one of the few pristine biomes that remain in the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim Cultural landscapes and their biodiversity are threatened by land use changes and the abandonment of traditional farming techniques. Conceptualizing cultural landscapes as social-ecological systems can be useful to develop strategies for biodiversity conservation. First, this study aimed to develop a typology of social-ecological units based on land use patterns. Second, we sought to relate this typology to biophysical and socio-demographic drivers as well as to biodiversity outcomes. Location Southern Transylvania (Romania). Methods We developed a typology of villages in Southern Transylvania based on land use data. We collected species richness data for plants, butterflies and birds, modelled local richness data for each village and related these values to the village typology. Also, we related village typology to biophysical and socio-demographic variables. Results We identified four types of villages that showed distinct species richness patterns. Bird richness was highest in forest-dominated and mixed-land use villages; plant richness was highest in pasture-dominated villages; and butterfly richness was high in arable-dominated, mixed-land use and pasture-dominated villages. The four types of villages had distinct topographic characteristics and also differed in terms of ethnic composition, migration patterns and geographic location. Drawing on a combined understanding of social-ecological variables, different conservation actions could be prioritized for each of the four village types. Main conclusions Applying social-ecological approaches has the potential to inform biodiversity conservation in cultural landscapes. Social-ecological typologies can improve our understanding of complex systems and provide useful input for the development of effective strategies for biodiversity conservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Antarctic Conservation Biogeographic Regions ( ACBRs), originally proposed in 2012, are now established as an important tool in Antarctic science, conservation, management and policy. Here, we provide a revised version of the ACBRs, reflecting updates in underlying spatial layers, together with the results of new analyses justifying the inclusion of a 16th bioregion. This updated version now covers all ice-free areas of Antarctica and is publicly available through the Australian Antarctic Data Centre. In light of the interest in the ACBRs across a variety of research fields, we also provide a new set of summary statistics for the updated spatial layer, including landscape metrics, climate data, protected area coverage and an overview of human activity. The updated ACBRs represent a contemporary, practical and evidence-based foundation for understanding, conserving and managing Antarctic biodiversity at a continental scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim Functional diversity is a relatively recent approach to quantify species diversity and may provide a better understanding of the linkages between biological diversity and ecosystem functioning. Understanding the relationships between mammal species richness and functional diversity, the factors that influence these relationships, and the spatial scale at which they operate, can improve our knowledge of ecosystem functioning and may benefit conservation planning. Location Costa Rica (8°0'-11°14'N and 82°32'-85°56'W). Methods We evaluated spatial patterns of species richness and functional diversity for terrestrial mammal species in Costa Rica using regression techniques and assessed the influence of environmental, biological and anthropogenic factors on those patterns. Results Environmental and anthropogenic factors influenced species richness and functional diversity, while a biological factor (i.e. species' geographic origin) only influenced functional diversity. Observed patterns of species richness and functional diversity resulted in identification of three regions which could be differentiated by ecosystem type and the occurrence of bats and rodents. The spatial scale at which variation in these diversity measures also differed, with species richness most affected at fine spatial scales (local) and functional diversity best explained at the meso-scale (regional level). Main conclusions Both diversity measures varied spatially in relationship of examined factors, and the extent at which influencing factors affect both measures also varied across the country and scales. Our results highlight that investigating the interaction of scales is necessary for also further understanding macroecological patterns. Considering multiple measures of biological diversity and the spatial scales at which they operate may improve our understanding of biodiversity and the efficacy of species and community conservation planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biodiversity hotspots are conservation priorities. We identify the North American Coastal Plain ( NACP) as a global hotspot based on the classic definition, a region with > 1500 endemic plant species and > 70% habitat loss. This region has been bypassed in prior designations due to misconceptions and myths about its ecology and history. These fallacies include: (1) young age of the NACP, climatic instability over time and submergence during high sea-level stands; (2) climatic and environmental homogeneity; (3) closed forest as the climax vegetation; and (4) fire regimes that are mostly anthropogenic. We show that the NACP is older and more climatically stable than usually assumed, spatially heterogeneous and extremely rich in species and endemics for its range of latitude, especially within pine savannas and other mostly herbaceous and fire-dependent communities. We suspect systematic biases and misconceptions, in addition to missing information, obscure the existence of similarly biologically significant regions world-wide. Potential solutions to this problem include (1) increased field biological surveys and taxonomic determinations, especially within grassy biomes and regions with low soil fertility, which tend to have much overlooked biodiversity; (2) more research on the climatic refugium role of hotspots, given that regions of high endemism often coincide with regions with low velocity of climate change; (3) in low-lying coastal regions, consideration of the heterogeneity in land area generated by historically fluctuating sea levels, which likely enhanced opportunities for evolution of endemic species; and (4) immediate actions to establish new protected areas and implement science-based management to restore evolutionary environmental conditions in newly recognized hotspots. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim Mire ecosystems are threatened by global climate change but have important roles in biodiversity conservation, carbon storage, landscape-scale hydrological function and in providing ecosystem services. We aimed to: (1) estimate change in areas environmentally suitable for mires under future climates; (2) evaluate the sensitivities of projected change to uncertainties in future climate and model structure; (3) evaluate the effect of global mitigation actions on distribution change; (4) identify potential climate refuges for future adaptation actions. Methods We developed and evaluated correlative bioclimatic models for an Australian mire ecosystem by: (1) selecting environmental predictors representing ecological processes that mediate ecosystem occurrence and dynamics; (2) using a high-performance modelling algorithm; (3) quantifying predictive performance by cross-validation; (4) cross-checking responses to predictor variables between different algorithms; (5) comparing the modelled responses with expected mechanistic responses; (6) evaluating extrapolation risks by quantifying the deviation between future and current environmental domains of the study area and by assessing the temporal constancy of correlations between variables; (7) using a geographically stratified cross-validation to verify spatial consistency of the model; and (8) quantifying the robustness of predictions of climate change impacts to uncertainty in both climate and ecological models. Results All combinations of global circulation models and distribution model projected declines of at least 30% in both area and suitability of environments for the mire ecosystem and in projecting a contraction of range to the southwest. We identified a likely refuge in the south of the distribution and two less certain, emerging areas of suitable environment west and south of the current distribution. Main Conclusions We conclude that southern mire ecosystems are highly susceptible to climate change. Our approach will be useful for the prediction of climate impacts on other ecosystems for which there is enough knowledge to map distributions and develop plausible hypotheses about environmental factors that influence them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim Global conservation policies, such as the Convention on Biological Diversity ( CBD) decision to aim for the protection of 17% of the area of terrestrial ecosystems by 2020, are typically realized at national levels. We investigate the difference between continentally coordinated conservation versus nationally devolved conservation, in a manner relevant for the Nagoya resolution. Location The terrestrial areas of the Western Hemisphere. Methods We used IUCN distribution data for 8463 species of mammals, birds and amphibians in the Western Hemisphere. We investigated the consequences of prioritizing land at a continental scale, versus analysing priorities within each country separately. Spatial prioritization was performed using the Zonation software, which produces a complementarity-based hierarchical priority ranking across the area of interest. Results We found that coordinated continent-wide priorities achieved > 50% higher mean protection levels than national analyses for the top 17% of land. National prioritizations also result in spatial priority patterns that can be considered as artefacts at the continental scale: in bands of high-priority land concentrated at terrestrial political boundaries, such as at low-latitude edges of temperate zone countries. We find that this edge artefact also correlates with the present distribution of conservation areas, with the density of conservation areas within 50 km of a national border being > 50% higher than the density of conservation areas away from national borders. Main conclusions The means by which national priorities are integrated with continental or global conservation prioritization will have considerable influence on how much is achieved by the CBD resolution. Focus on national species distributions and priorities will result in lost performance because of emphasis on nationally rare species that are comparatively common elsewhere. National borders intersect species distributions (and possibly diversity gradients), leading to clustering of nationally rare species and priority areas close to the border. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim This study aimed to detect distribution patterns and identify diversity hotspots for Chinese endemic woody seed plant species (CEWSPS). Location China. Methods Presence of 6885 CEWSPS throughout China was mapped by taking the Chinese administrative county as the basic spatial analysis unit. The diversity was measured with five indices: endemic richness (ER), weighted endemism (WE), phylogenetic diversity (PD), phylogenetic endemism (PE) and biogeographically weighted evolutionary distinctiveness (BED). Three levels of area (i.e. 1, 5 and 10% of China's total land area) were used to identify hotspots, but the 5% level was preferred when both the total area of the hotspots identified and the diversity of CEWSPS reached by the hotspots were considered. Results Distribution patterns of CEWSPS calculated with the five indices are consistent with each other over the national extent. However, the hotspots do not show a high degree of consistency among the results derived from the five indices. Those identified with ER and PD are very similar, and so are those with WE and BED. In total, 20 hotspots covering 7.9% of China's total land area were identified, among which 11 were identified with all the five indices, including the Hengduan Mountains, Xishuangbanna Region, Hainan Island, and eight mountainous areas located in east Chongqing and west Hubei, in east Yunnan and west Guangxi, in north Guangxi, south-east Guizhou and south-west Hunan, in north Guangdong and south Hunan, in south-east Tibet, and in south-east Hubei and north-west Jiangxi. Taiwan Island was also identified as a major hotspot with WE, PE and BED. Main conclusions Hotspots of CEWSPS were identified with five indices considering both distributional and phylogenetic information. They cover most of the key areas of biodiversity defined by previous researchers using other approaches. This further verifies the importance of these areas for China's biodiversity conservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim Differentiation of sites or communities is often measured by partitioning regional or gamma diversity into additive or multiplicative alpha and beta components. The beta component and the ratio of within-group to total diversity (alpha/gamma) are then used to infer the compositional differentiation or similarity of the sites. There is debate about the appropriate measures and partitioning formulas for this purpose. We test the main partitioning methods, using empirical and simulated data, to see if some of these methods lead to false conclusions, and we show how to resolve the problems that we uncover. Location South America, Ecuador, Orellana province, Rio Shiripuno. Methods We construct sets of real and simulated tropical butterfly communities that can be unambiguously ranked according to their degree of differentiation. We then test whether beta and similarity measures from the different partitioning approaches rank these datasets correctly. Results The ratio of within-group diversity to total diversity does not reflect compositional similarity, when the Gini–Simpson index or Shannon entropy are used to measure diversity. Additive beta diversity based on the Gini–Simpson index does not reflect the degree of differentiation between N sites or communities. Main conclusions The ratio of within-group to total diversity (alpha/gamma) should not be used to measure the compositional similarity of groups, if diversity is equated with Shannon entropy or the Gini–Simpson index. Conversion of these measures to effective number of species solves these problems. Additive Gini–Simpson beta diversity does not directly reflect the differentiation of N samples or communities. However, when properly transformed onto the unit interval so as to remove the dependence on alpha and N, additive and multiplicative beta measures yield identical normalized measures of relative similarity and differentiation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim To highlight and examine apparent paradoxes in assessing the effectiveness of different forms of land-use for biodiversity conservation. Location Tanzania. Methods We compare and contrast the findings of two recent and seemingly conflicting studies on the effectiveness of conservation protection strategies in Tanzania. We evaluate these studies in the context of a wider body of evidence relating to the problem of determining protected area performance. Results We highlight the importance of landscape-scale management approaches for biodiversity conservation; establishing clear management and monitoring objectives in advance; the interrelation between the choice of target species and the appropriate spatial scale over which to measure their fate; and differences between snapshot and longitudinal scales in assessing the effectiveness of conservation strategies. Main conclusions Protected area assessments should not promote an isolated focus on particular conservation targets or methods of monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of conservation strategies. Instead we argue for a more pluralistic approach to evaluating conservation performance that can help to reveal where potential synergies in tackling different objectives exist, and clarifying the trade-offs when they do not. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]