Integrating ecological and biogeographical tools for the identifcation of conservation areas in two Neotropical biogeographic provinces in Argentina based on phytophagous insects

MONTEMAYOR S. I.; BESTEIRO S.I.; DEL RÍO M. G.

BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION

SPRINGER

Lugar: Berlin; Año: 2022

0960-3115

The Chaco and Pampean provinces in the Neotropical region are highly disturbed byintensive forestry and livestock raising. This study is an integrative approach that aimsto identify areas to be protected in these provinces. The distribution of 57 phytophagouscoleoptera species was used, with a dataset comprising about 1500 georeferenced records.This information was used to analyze species richness and endemicity, build species distributional models projected to the Mid-Holocene, and perform a spatial conservation prioritization analysis of the landscape. Areas with high species richness, endemism areas,refugia (areas where the climate has remained favorable for most of the study speciessince the Mid-Holocene), and areas with a high conservation value of the landscape wererecovered. Finally, all the evidence was considered together, and regions were recognizedwhere the areas recovered following the previous four approaches were congruent. Theseareas are currently only partially protected and are regions where human activities pose athreat to biodiversity. All the evidence indicates that these are unique regions with featuresthat make them particularly worthy of conservation. Integrating diferent approaches provides valuable information for recognizing areas that should be prioritized for biodiversityconservation.