Fine-scale sites of global conservation importance in the Atlantic forest of Brazil

Abstract

The Brazilian Atlantic Forest is a highly threatened biodiversity hotspot that has been the subject of several complementary conservation assessments and prioritysetting initiatives in the last 30 years. Results of these initiatives have relied on distinct types of distribution data for biodiversity features and differ in the objectivity and repeatability of their methodologies. Here we refine earlier priority-setting exercises using the key biodiversity areas (KBA) approach. We evaluate how well these KBAs are represented in the existing protected areas system, prioritize among them, and analyze critical aspects of the KBA methodology in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest context, such as its ability to guide specific conservation strategies. Building upon an extensive database with 1,636 species records and 122 previously identified Important Bird Areas, we demonstrate that conservation assessments in highly fragmented landscapes may be benefited by high resolution species data as is required by the KBA process. We identify 538 KBAs for 141 globally threatened vertebrate species. Prioritizing among these KBA, we highlight the 24 most irreplaceable sites for terrestrial vertebrate species conservation in the Atlantic Forest, based on existing data.

Medium and large-sized mammals of RPPN Estação Veracel, southernmost Bahia, Brazil

“…The RPPN harbors species that are crucial for the ecosystem, many of which are in decline and threatened by high hunting pressure and reduction of habitat. The results confirm the relevance of the RPPN as one of the last large remnants of Tabuleiro forest in southern Bahia and a Key Biodiversity Area -KBA (Paese et al 2010) for globally threatened species. Environmental education activities surrounding the RPPN and increased surveillance should be encouraged to reduce hunting and extraction of other natural resources from the Reserve.…”

Planning for conservation and restoration under climate and land use change in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest

“…Several conservation assessments and priority‐setting initiatives have suggested conservation and restoration priorities within the Atlantic Forest. Previous initiatives have varied greatly in terms of goals, taxonomic groups, data and methods used for identifying priorities (Paese et al., ). For instance, conservation and restoration priorities have been derived from present distributions and population estimates of various taxonomic groups (Crouzeilles et al., ; Galetti et al., ; Martins, Loyola, Messina, Avancini, & Martinelli, ; Murray‐Smith et al., ; Trindade‐Filho, Carvalho, Brito, & Loyola, ), centres of endemism (Silva, Sousa, & Castelletti, ), expert‐based workshops (MMA, ), potential effects of climate change (Ferro, Lemes, Melo, & Loyola, ; Lemes & Loyola, ; Loyola, Lemes, Brum, Provete, & Duarte, ) and detailed descriptions of remaining forests (Rappaport, Tambosi, & Metzger, ; Ribeiro et al., ; Tambosi, Martensen, Ribeiro, & Metzger, ).…”

Hunting, pet trade, and forest size effects on population viability of a critically endangered Neotropical primate, Sapajus xanthosternos (Wied‐Neuwied, 1826)

“…The integration of spatially explicit population viability analysis with identification of key forest fragments (e.g. Paese et al []) could be a very robust protocol for conservation planning of fragmented landscapes.…”