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Conservation gaps and priorities of range-restricted birds in the Northern Andes.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Medina, W; Pimm, SL; Huang, RM
Published in: PeerJ
January 2024

The ongoing destruction of habitats in the tropics accelerates the current rate of species extinction. Range-restricted species are exceptionally vulnerable, yet we have insufficient knowledge about their protection. Species' current distributions, range sizes, and protection gaps are crucial to determining conservation priorities. Here, we identified priority range-restricted bird species and their conservation hotspots in the Northern Andes. We employed maps of the Area of Habitat (AOH), that better reflect their current distributions than existing maps. AOH provides unprecedented resolution and maps a species in the detail essential for practical conservation actions. We estimated protection within each species' AOH and for the cumulative distribution of all 335 forest-dependent range-restricted birds across the Northern Andes. For the latter, we also calculated protection across the elevational gradient. We estimated how much additional protection community lands (Indigenous and Afro-Latin American lands) would contribute if they were conservation-focused. AOHs ranged from 8 to 141,000 km2. We identified four conservation priorities based on cumulative species richness: the number of AOHs stacked per unit area. These priorities are high-resolution mapped representations of Endemic Bird Areas for the Tropical Andes that we consider critically important. Protected areas cover only 31% of the cumulative AOH, but community lands could add 19% more protection. Sixty-two per cent of the 335 species have ranges smaller than their published estimates, yet IUCN designates only 23% of these as Threatened. We identified 50 species as top conservation priorities. Most of these concentrate in areas of low protection near community lands and at middle elevations where, on average, only 34% of the land is protected. We highlight the importance of collaborative efforts among stakeholders: governments should support private and community-based conservation practices to protect the region with the most range-restricted birds worldwide.

Duke Scholars

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Published In

PeerJ

DOI

EISSN

2167-8359

ISSN

2167-8359

Publication Date

January 2024

Volume

12

Start / End Page

e16893

Related Subject Headings

  • Forests
  • Ecosystem
  • Conservation of Natural Resources
  • Birds
  • Biodiversity
  • Animals
  • 11 Medical and Health Sciences
  • 06 Biological Sciences
 

Citation

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Chicago
ICMJE
MLA
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Medina, W., Pimm, S. L., & Huang, R. M. (2024). Conservation gaps and priorities of range-restricted birds in the Northern Andes. PeerJ, 12, e16893. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.16893
Medina, Wilderson, Stuart L. Pimm, and Ryan M. Huang. “Conservation gaps and priorities of range-restricted birds in the Northern Andes.PeerJ 12 (January 2024): e16893. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.16893.
Medina W, Pimm SL, Huang RM. Conservation gaps and priorities of range-restricted birds in the Northern Andes. PeerJ. 2024 Jan;12:e16893.
Medina, Wilderson, et al. “Conservation gaps and priorities of range-restricted birds in the Northern Andes.PeerJ, vol. 12, Jan. 2024, p. e16893. Epmc, doi:10.7717/peerj.16893.
Medina W, Pimm SL, Huang RM. Conservation gaps and priorities of range-restricted birds in the Northern Andes. PeerJ. 2024 Jan;12:e16893.

Published In

PeerJ

DOI

EISSN

2167-8359

ISSN

2167-8359

Publication Date

January 2024

Volume

12

Start / End Page

e16893

Related Subject Headings

  • Forests
  • Ecosystem
  • Conservation of Natural Resources
  • Birds
  • Biodiversity
  • Animals
  • 11 Medical and Health Sciences
  • 06 Biological Sciences