Identification of critical areas for mammal conservation in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest Biosphere Reserve

Herein we identified the geographic location of protected areas (PAs) critical for strengthening mammalian conservation in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest Biosphere Reserve (RMBA) by assessing sites of particular importance for mammal diversity using different biodiversity criteria (richness, rarity, vulnerability) and a connectivity index. Although 95% of mammal species were represented by PAs, most of them had less than 10% of their distribution range protected by these areas. A total of 94 critical areas for mammal conservation-representing 49.60% of the total PAs were identified. Most of these areas were located at endangered ecoregions. We recommend that conservationists and policy makers should identify critical areas in order to guarantee biodiversity fluxes among landscapes, and enhance the connectivity between PAs to increase biodiversity protection and conservation. Knowledge about the location of critical areas may encourage managers and policy makers to develop specific programs to strengthen mammal biodiversity protection, especially for threatened species.This study was supported by BIOTREE-net - project funded by BBVA Foundation and M.J.T. Assunção-Albuquerque was supported by the Brazilian Ministry of Education, through CAPES (Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior) Doctorate scholarship.Peer Reviewe

Supporting underrepresented forests in Mesoamerica

AbstractThe third largest Biodiversity Hotspot of the world, Mesoamerican forests are declining due to human pressures. Based on species distribution models calibrated for 1224 native tree species in Mesoamerica, we identified high-value forest conservation areas at the resolution of a 10km×10km cells using the Zonation Reserve Selection software, and investigated whether these high-value forest conservation areas are well represented by the World Database on Protected Areas network. We had three key findings. First, dry forest is the least protected biome in Mesoamerica (4.5% protected), indicating that further action to safeguard this biome is warranted. Secondly, the poor overlap between protected areas and high-value forest conservation areas found herein may provide evidence that the establishment of protected areas may not be fully accounting for tree priority rank map. Third, high percentages of forest cover and high-value forest conservation areas still need to be represented by the protected areas network. Because deforestation rates are still increasing in this region, Mesoamerica needs funding and coordinated action by policy makers, national and local governmental and non-governmental organizations, conservationists and other stakeholders

Escala diagramática para avaliação da severidade de oídio em eucalipto

The eucalyptus powdery mildew caused by Podosphaera pannosa can cause losses in eucalyptus nurseries in Brazil. The evaluation of this disease and the damages that could be caused by it, as well as the investigation for the efficient controlling forms, lead us to the need of having a visual scale, as means to quantify the severity of this pathosystem. This study had, as its goals, the development of a diagrammatic scale to evaluate the powdery mildew severity in eucalyptus leaves in a nursery home. To do so, symptomatic eucalyptus leaves were collected, scanned, and digitalized to determine the total leaf area and the area occupied with symptoms. Thus, we were able to obtain eight levels of severity based on the sample distribution. To validate the scale, the disease severity had been estimated by ten evaluators, which did not have the scale in hands, and in the sequence, the disease severity was estimated by using the proposed scale in 60 eucalyptus leaves, which had heterogeneous levels of severity. The precision of the obtained estimates obtained was by calculating the coefficient of determination (R²) and a simple linear regression analysis was performed. Precision was found in the visual estimates of the severity of powdery mildew in eucalyptus using the proposed diagrammatic scale, therefore, its use is adequate and being this possible to be used for epidemiological researches and to evaluate control and management strategies.O oídio do eucalipto, causado por Podosphaera pannosa, acarreta prejuízos em viveiros de eucalipto no Brasil. A avaliação dessa doença e os danos causados pela mesma, bem como a busca de formas eficientes de controle, justificam a necessidade da confecção de uma escala visual para quantificar a severidade nesse patossistema. O objetivo deste estudo foi elaborar uma escala diagramática para quantificar a severidade de oídio em folhas de eucalipto em viveiro. Para isso, folhas sintomáticas foram coletadas, escaneadas e digitalizadas para determinar sua área total e a área com sintomas. Dessa maneira, foram obtidos oito níveis de severidade, com base na distribuição das amostras. Para validação da escala, a severidade da doença foi estimada por dez avaliadores sem o auxílio da escala, e em seguida, com a utilização da escala proposta, em 60 folhas de eucalipto, com níveis de severidade heterogêneos. Determinou-se a precisão das estimativas obtidas calculando o coeficiente de determinação (R²) e realizou-se uma análise de regressão linear simples. Constatou-se precisão nas estimativas visuais de severidade do oídio em eucalipto com o uso da escala diagramática proposta, portanto, sua utilização é adequada e pode ser aplicada em estudos epidemiológicas e para avaliar estratégias de controle e manejo

Evaluating the performance of rarity as a surrogate in site prioritization for biodiversity conservation

To solve the minimum-set coverage problem in conservation planning (representing the greatest number of species in the least number of sites), several metrics can be used to prioritize sites based on their conservation importance. Traditionally, species richness has been the most widely used approach, but previous studies suggest that it is one of the least effective. Alternative metrics such as complementarity algorithms have produced better results, for which they have been used in recent conservation studies. In this study, we assessed the performance of a new potential surrogate: rarity indices. Specifically, we tested rarity-weighted richness (RWR), index of summed rarity (ISR) and index of relative rarity (IRR), to determine if they are effective surrogates of biodiversity when solving the minimum-set coverage problem. We tested the rarity indices in 14 datasets spanning varying extents and grains, and found that rarity consistently outperformed species richness, even when accounting for the differences in rarity index performance. In some cases, rarity outperformed the complementarity solution, suggesting that it is a promising alternative surrogate that can be easily tested in situations where conservation action resources are limited. Rarity indices have been seldom assessed for their surrogacy effectiveness, and to the best of our knowledge, we are the first to test IRR and ISR in this context. Our results justify the need for future studies to elucidate the importance and applicability of rarity indices in conservation planning. Keywords: Rarity, Rarity indices, Biodiversity conservation, Conservation plannin

The geography of hotspots of rarity-weighted richness of birds and their coverage by Natura 2000

<div><p>A major challenge for biogeographers and conservation planners is to identify where to best locate or distribute high-priority areas for conservation and to explore whether these areas are well represented by conservation actions such as protected areas (PAs). We aimed to identify high-priority areas for conservation, expressed as hotpots of rarity-weighted richness (HRR)–sites that efficiently represent species–for birds across EU countries, and to explore whether HRR are well represented by the Natura 2000 network. Natura 2000 is an evolving network of PAs that seeks to conserve biodiversity through the persistence of the most patrimonial species and habitats across Europe. This network includes Sites of Community Importance (SCI) and Special Areas of Conservation (SAC), where the latter regulated the designation of Special Protected Areas (SPA). Distribution maps for 416 bird species and complementarity-based approaches were used to map geographical patterns of rarity-weighted richness (RWR) and HRR for birds. We used species accumulation index to evaluate whether RWR was efficient surrogates to identify HRRs for birds. The results of our analysis support the proposition that prioritizing sites in order of RWR is a reliable way to identify sites that efficiently represent birds. HRRs were concentrated in the Mediterranean Basin and alpine and boreal biogeographical regions of northern Europe. The cells with high RWR values did not correspond to cells where Natura 2000 was present. We suggest that patterns of RWR could become a focus for conservation biogeography. Our analysis demonstrates that identifying HRR is a robust approach for prioritizing management actions, and reveals the need for more conservation actions, especially on HRR.</p></div

Number of species represented in sites selected in order of rarity-weighted richness (solid black triangles), by species richness (solid grey triangles) and by Zonation (open cells).

<p>The random solution and the 95% confidence interval (in black) are also shown.</p

Geographical patterns of (A) Rarity-Weighted Richness (RWR) in EU countries and (B) Hot Spots of Rarity and Richness (HRR).

<p>Grey cells represent HRR covered by Natura 2000 network, orange cells represent HRR covered by SCA/SCIs only (partial gaps) and red cells represent HRR not covered by any Natura 2000 (gaps).</p

Percentage of anthropogenic biomes in Hot Spots of Rarity and Richness (HRR), partial gaps and total gaps.

<p>Percentage of anthropogenic biomes in Hot Spots of Rarity and Richness (HRR), partial gaps and total gaps.</p

Geographical distribution of areas under Habitat Directive across partial gaps in EU countries.

<p>Geographical distribution of areas under Habitat Directive across partial gaps in EU countries.</p

Correlations of rarity-weighted richness with Special Protected Areas (SPA) and combined protected areas cover (combined), including SPA, Sites of Community Importance and Special Areas of Conservation.

<p>Significance estimates are corrected for spatial autocorrelation using modified <i>t</i>-test [<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0174179#pone.0174179.ref027" target="_blank">27</a>]. The number of grid cells used in the analysis (N), corrected degree of freedom (D.F.) and the corrected probability are also given.</p