Threatened birds, climate change, and human footprint: protected areas network in Neotropical grassland hotspot

JUAN ANDRES SARQUIS; ALEJANDRO GIRAUDO; CRISTALDI, MAXIMILIANO A.; VANESA ARZAMENDIA

ANAIS DA ACADEMIA BRASILEIRA DE CIENCIAS.

ACAD BRASILEIRA DE CIENCIAS

Lugar: Rio de Janeiro; Año: 2022

0001-3765

Climate change (CC) and human footprint (HF) shape species spatial patternsand may affect the effectiveness of Protected Areas (PAs) network. Spatial patternsof threatened bird species of Subtropical–temperate hotspots in SoutheasternSouth American grasslands are relevant biodiversity features to guide conservationpolicies. However, the PAs network covers less than 1% of grassland areas and doesnot overlap areas with the most suitable environmental conditions for threatenedbirds. Our aim was to fi nd the most environmentally suitable areas for both currentand future threatened birds (2050 and 2070) in Entre Ríos. We applied SystematicConservation Planning protocols with Ecological Niche Models (ENMs) and ZONATIONusing distribution interaction function and HF as a cost. Then we overlapped binarymaps to fi nd priority areas among time periods. HF showed a more fragmented spatialconfi guration. The PAs network may include environmentally suitable conditions forthreatened birds in CC scenarios and HF. We found areas that showed more connectivityin landscape prioritization over time and ensure high-quality environmental conditionsfor birds. We concluded that the effectiveness of the PAs network could be improved byoverlapping priority areas. Our approach provides a knowledge base as a contributionto conservation-related decisions by considering HF and CC.