Plant and animal endemism in the eastern Andean slope: challenges to conservation

Abstract

BackgroundThe Andes-Amazon basin of Peru and Bolivia is one of the most data-poor, biologically rich, and rapidly changing areas of the world. Conservation scientists agree that this area hosts extremely high endemism, perhaps the highest in the world, yet we know little about the geographic distributions of these species and ecosystems within country boundaries. To address this need, we have developed conservation data on endemic biodiversity (~800 species of birds, mammals, amphibians, and plants) and terrestrial ecological systems (~90; groups of vegetation communities resulting from the action of ecological processes, substrates, and/or environmental gradients) with which we conduct a fine scale conservation prioritization across the Amazon watershed of Peru and Bolivia. We modelled the geographic distributions of 435 endemic plants and all 347 endemic vertebrate species, from existing museum and herbaria specimens at a regional conservation practitioner's scale (1:250,000-1:1,000,000), based on the best available tools and geographic data. We mapped ecological systems, endemic species concentrations, and irreplaceable areas with respect to national level protected areas.ResultsWe found that sizes of endemic species distributions ranged widely (< 20 km2 to > 200,000 km2) across the study area. Bird and mammal endemic species richness was greatest within a narrow 2500-3000 m elevation band along the length of the Andes Mountains. Endemic amphibian richness was highest at 1000-1500 m elevation and concentrated in the southern half of the study area. Geographical distribution of plant endemism was highly taxon-dependent. Irreplaceable areas, defined as locations with the highest number of species with narrow ranges, overlapped slightly with areas of high endemism, yet generally exhibited unique patterns across the study area by species group. We found that many endemic species and ecological systems are lacking national-level protection; a third of endemic species have distributions completely outside of national protected areas. Protected areas cover only 20% of areas of high endemism and 20% of irreplaceable areas. Almost 40% of the 91 ecological systems are in serious need of protection (= < 2% of their ranges protected).ConclusionsWe identify for the first time, areas of high endemic species concentrations and high irreplaceability that have only been roughly indicated in the past at the continental scale. We conclude that new complementary protected areas are needed to safeguard these endemics and ecosystems. An expansion in protected areas will be challenged by geographically isolated micro-endemics, varied endemic patterns among taxa, increasing deforestation, resource extraction, and changes in climate. Relying on pre-existing collections, publically accessible datasets and tools, this working framework is exportable to other regions plagued by incomplete conservation data.

Projected distribution shifts and protected area coverage of range-restricted Andean birds under climate change

“…These birds have geographic ranges of less than 50 000 km 2 (Stattersfield et al, 1998) and most have more than 80% of their range in Bolivia (see maps of Tudor, 2009 andSwenson et al, 2012). These species are also found in endemic bird areas (EBA) suggested for conservation (Stattersfield et al, 1998 In the sub-Andean Amazonian forests (Bolivian and Peruvian lower Yungas, EBA 054) are the middle-elevation birds (referred to here as species whose range extent is below 2500 m elevation): Bolivian Recurvebill Syndactyla striata, Ashy Antwren Myrmotherula grisea, Upland Antshrike Thamnophilus aroyae and Hazel-fronted Pygmy-Tyrant Pseudotriccus simplex.…”

Distribución espacial y rasgos ecológicos de la flora endémica de los Pirineos

“…Although endemic species have concentrated research effort for different scientific interest (Favarger & Siljak-Yakovlev, 1986;Segarra-Moragués & Catalán, 2008;McMullen, 2009) we want to point out two major points. First, their restricted distribution often requires priority conservation politics (Médail & Verlaque, 1997;Dirnböck et al, 2011;Swenson et al, 2012;Huang et al, 2016) and second, they are valuable targets in evolutionary biology (Segarra-Moragués et al, 2007;Ikeda & Setoguchi, 2007;Casazza et al, 2008;Schön-swetter & Schneeweiss, 2009;García et al, 2012;Loidi et al, 2015).…”

The conservation value of germplasm stored at the Millennium Seed Bank, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, UK

“…The most commonly used measure of uniqueness and irreplaceability in conservation is plant endemism (Stattersfield et al 1998). Geographic distribution of plant endemism is highly taxon-dependent (Swenson et al 2012) and describes the ecological state of a taxon being unique to a defined geographic location, such as an island, nation, country or other defined zone, or habitat type.…”

“…Geographic distribution of plant endemism is highly taxon-dependent (Swenson et al 2012) and describes the ecological state of a taxon being unique to a defined geographic location, such as an island, nation, country or other defined zone, or habitat type. Organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsewhere.…”