How habitat loss and fragmentation are reducing conservation opportunities for vertebrates in the most threatened savanna of the World

Author(s)

Vieira-Alencar, Joao Paulo S. ; Bolochio, Bruna E. ; Carmignotto, Ana Paula ; Sawaya, Ricardo J. ; Silveira, Luis Fabio ; Valdujo, Paula Hanna ; Nogueira, Cristiano de Campos ; Nori, Javier

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: PERSPECTIVES IN ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION; v. 21, n. 2, p. 7-pg., 2023-05-23.

Abstract

Effective, resilient and strategic protected area networks are essential to protect biodiversity and human welfare, especially in vulnerable biodiversity hotspots. This is the case in the Brazilian Cerrado, the rich-est tropical savanna, and a deforestation front worldwide. Worryingly, the rate of habitat conversion in Cerrado greatly reduces opportunities to conserve its biodiversity. Herein, using the most comprehensive database on the distribution of Cerrado endemic terrestrial vertebrates, we mapped conservation priority areas and evaluated how and to what extent habitat loss and fragmentation reduce conservation oppor-tunities. Priority areas are scattered throughout the Cerrado. Larger priority areas are concentrated in the northern portion of the region. Southern priority areas are small, scattered, and isolated. During the last 35 years, opportunities to conserve large contiguous areas have significantly decreased, hampering the representation of key endemic species. However, as most endemic vertebrates are small ranged, modest but well located increments in total protected area will result in significant overall improvements in the PA system. Protecting the largest priority areas identified here is urgent and mandatory, while using habitat restoration as a key activity to promote connectivity among smaller priority areas, especially in the southern portion of this hotspot. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 98/05075-7 - Systematics, Evolution and Conservation of Eastern Brazilian Mammals
• Grantee: Mario de Vivo
• Support Opportunities: BIOTA-FAPESP Program - Thematic Grants
• FAPESP's process: 17/23548-2 - Evaluation, recovering and conservation of endangered animal species from the Pernambuco Centre of Endemism
• Grantee: Luís Fábio Silveira
• Support Opportunities: BIOTA-FAPESP Program - Thematic Grants
• FAPESP's process: 02/00015-3 - Diversity and distribution patterns of Cerrado lizard fauna
• Grantee: Cristiano de Campos Nogueira
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• FAPESP's process: 11/20022-3 - Systematics of the small non-volant mammals from the open formations of South America: the case of the genus Cryptonanus (Didelphimorphia: Didelphidae)
• Grantee: Ana Paula Carmignotto
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• FAPESP's process: 20/12658-4 - Challenges to the conservation of amphibians and squamate reptiles, with emphasis on the Brazilian fauna: from basic information to conservation actions
• Grantee: Marcio Roberto Costa Martins
• Support Opportunities: BIOTA-FAPESP Program - Thematic Grants
• FAPESP's process: 00/06642-4 - Small terrestrial mammals of the Cerrado bioma: local and regional faunistic patterns
• Grantee: Ana Paula Carmignotto
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• FAPESP's process: 16/09734-5 - Biogeography, Biodiversity and Conservation of Cisandean Squamate Reptiles
• Grantee: Cristiano de Campos Nogueira
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Young Researchers
• FAPESP's process: 15/20215-7 - Biogeography, biodiversity and conservation of cis-Andean squamate reptiles
• Grantee: Cristiano de Campos Nogueira
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Young Investigators Grants
• FAPESP's process: 07/51956-6 - Diversity patterns and distribution of Amphibians in Brazilian Cerrado
• Grantee: Paula Hanna Valdujo
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate