Ecological niche modeling, niche overlap, and good old Rabinowitz?s rarities applied to the conservation of gymnosperms in a global biodiversity hotspot

M. P. QUIROGA; C.P. SOUTO

LANDSCAPE ECOLOGY

SPRINGER

Lugar: Berlin; Año: 2022

0921-2973

Context: Biodiversity hotspots harbor 77% of endemic plant species. Patagonian Temperate Forest (PTF) is a biodiversity hotspot, but over the past centuries, has been over-exploited, fragmented and replaced with exotic species plantations, lately plus the threat of climate change.ObjectivesOur aim is to better understand patterns of habitat suitability and niche overlap of nine endemic gymnosperm species, key elements of the PTF, complementing traditional approaches of biodiversity conservation.MethodsUsing R packages and 3024 occurrence data, we deployed ecological niche models (ENM) in MaxEnt via KuENM, and classified species according to Rabinowitz?s types of rarity. We then overlapped their niches calculating Schoener´s D index, and considered types of rarity in a spatial ecological context. Finally, we overlay high species? suitability and protected areas and detect conservation priorities using GapAnalysis.ResultsWe generated simplified ENMs for nine Patagonian gymnosperms and found that most niches overlap, and only one species displayed a unique niche. Surprisingly, we found that three species have divergent suitability of habitats across the landscape. We showed that the rarer a species is the smaller niche volume tend to have, that six out of nine studied species have high conservation priority, and that there are conservation gaps in the PTF.ConclusionOur approach showed that there are unprotected suitable areas for native key species at high risk in Patagonian forests. Suggesting that integrating habitat-suitability models of multiple species, types of rarity, and niche overlap, can be a handy tool to identify potential conservation areas in global biodiversity hotspots.