Integrating economic costs and biological traits into global conservation priorities for carnivores.

BACKGROUND: Prioritization schemes usually highlight species-rich areas, where many species are at imminent risk of extinction. To be ecologically relevant these schemes should also include species biological traits into area-setting methods. Furthermore, in a world of limited funds for conservation, conservation action is constrained by land acquisition costs. Hence, including economic costs into conservation priorities can substantially improve their conservation cost-effectiveness. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We examined four global conservation scenarios for carnivores based on the joint mapping of economic costs and species biological traits. These scenarios identify the most cost-effective priority sets of ecoregions, indicating best investment opportunities for safeguarding every carnivore species, and also establish priority sets that can maximize species representation in areas harboring highly vulnerable species. We compared these results with a scenario that minimizes the total number of ecoregions required for conserving all species, irrespective of other factors. We found that cost-effective conservation investments should focus on 41 ecoregions highlighted in the scenario that consider simultaneously both ecoregion vulnerability and economic costs of land acquisition. Ecoregions included in priority sets under these criteria should yield best returns of investments since they harbor species with high extinction risk and have lower mean land cost. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our study highlights ecoregions of particular importance for the conservation of the world's carnivores defining global conservation priorities in analyses that encompass socioeconomic and life-history factors. We consider the identification of a comprehensive priority-set of areas as a first step towards an in-situ biodiversity maintenance strategy.

Hung out to dry: choice of priority ecoregions for conserving threatened neotropical anurans depends on life-history traits.

BACKGROUND: In the Neotropics, nearly 35% of amphibian species are threatened by habitat loss, habitat fragmentation, and habitat split; anuran species with different developmental modes respond to habitat disturbance in different ways. This entails broad-scale strategies for conserving biodiversity and advocates for the identification of high conservation-value regions that are significant in a global or continental context and that could underpin more detailed conservation assessments towards such areas. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We identified key ecoregion sets for anuran conservation using an algorithm that favors complementarity (beta-diversity) among ecoregions. Using the WWF's Wildfinder database, which encompasses 700 threatened anuran species in 119 Neotropical ecoregions, we separated species into those with aquatic larvae (AL) or terrestrial development (TD), as this life-history trait affects their response to habitat disturbance. The conservation target of 100% of species representation was attained with a set of 66 ecoregions. Among these, 30 were classified as priority both for species with AL and TD, 26 were priority exclusively for species with AL, and 10 for species with TD only. Priority ecoregions for both developmental modes are concentrated in the Andes and in Mesoamerica. Ecoregions important for conserving species with AL are widely distributed across the Neotropics. When anuran life histories were ignored, species with AL were always underrepresented in priority sets. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The inclusion of anuran developmental modes in prioritization analyses resulted in more comprehensive coverage of priority ecoregions-especially those essential for species that require an aquatic habitat for their reproduction-when compared to usual analyses that do not consider this life-history trait. This is the first appraisal of the most important regions for conservation of threatened Neotropical anurans. It is also a first endeavor including anuran life-history traits in priority area-selection for conservation, with a clear gain in comprehensiveness of the selection process.

Assemblages of endophagous insects on Asteraceae in São Paulo cerrados.

A survey of the endophagous insects fauna associated to Asteraceae capitula was carried out from 2000 to 2002 in eight cerrado sensu stricto sites located in the Brazilian state of Sdo Paulo. Sixty-four endophagous species of Diptera and Lepidoptera were recorded from 49 asteracean host plants. Approximately half of the species were obtained from a single locality, with a large proportion emerging from a single sample (unicates). Thirty percent of the species were singletons (i.e. only one individual was recorded). The large proportion of rare species suggests a high species turnover among localities. Lepidopteran species were recorded on more host species than dipterans, confirming their more polyphagous food habit, also observed in other Brazilian biomes and in Europe. We conclude that the studied cerrado localities, all within São Paulo State, are isolated with its invertebrate fauna composed of many rare and exclusive species. We suggest that the maintenance of Asteraceae biodiversity and their endophagous insects depend on the conservation of all cerrado remnants in the state.

Assemblages of endophagous insects on Asteraceae in São Paulo Cerrados

A survey of the endophagous insects fauna associated to Asteraceae capitula was carried out from 2000 to 2002 in eight cerrado sensu stricto sites located in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. Sixty-four endophagous species of Diptera and Lepidoptera were recorded from 49 asteracean host plants. Approximately half of the species were obtained from a single locality, with a large proportion emerging from a single sample (unicates). Thirty percent of the species were singletons (i.e. only one individual was recorded). The large proportion of rare species suggests a high species turnover among localities. Lepidopteran species were recorded on more host species than dipterans, confirming their more polyphagous food habit, also observed in other Brazilian biomes and in Europe. We conclude that the studied cerrado localities, all within São Paulo State, are isolated with its invertebrate fauna composed of many rare and exclusive species. We suggest that the maintenance of Asteraceae biodiversity and their endophagous insects depend on the conservation of all cerrado remnants in the state.

No presente estudo foi realizado um levantamento da fauna de insetos endófagos de capítulos de Asteraceae (Compostas), de 2000 a 2002, em oito localidades de cerrados sensu stricto no estado de São Paulo. Foram obtidas 64 espécies de endófagos (dípteros e lepidópteros) de 49 espécies de hospedeiras. Aproximadamente metade das espécies foi obtida de apenas uma área, e destas uma grande proporção ocorreu em apenas uma amostra (unicatas). Trinta por cento das espécies foram consideradas "singletons" (apenas um indivíduo foi obtido). A grande quantidade de espécies raras sugere uma forte troca de espécies entre diferentes áreas. Lepidópteros foram registrados em mais espécies hospedeiras que dípteros, confirmando o já observado para o mesmo sistema de insetos e plantas em outros ambientes no Brasil e Europa. As áreas de cerrado sensu stricto estudadas no estado de São Paulo encontram-se isoladas, com uma grande parte da fauna de invertebrados composta por muitas espécies raras e exclusivas. Diante deste quadro, sugere-se que a manutenção da biodiversidade de Asteraceae e seus endófagos em seus níveis atuais depende da conservação de todo o conjunto de remanescentes de cerrado do estado.

Diversidade e ocorrência de Asteraceae em cerrados de São Paulo

De abril a maio de 2000 a 2002 oito localidades com remanescentes de cerrados sensu stricto no estado de São Paulo foram amostradas para o levantamento das espécies de asteráceas, uma das famílias mais representativas da flora herbáceo-arbustiva nestas formações. Foram feitas 23 amostragens e cada área de estudo foi amostrada em média uma vez por ano durante o pico de floração das plantas. Ao todo foram obtidas 399 amostras, nas quais foram reconhecidas 89 morfoespécies (74 foram identificadas como espécies conhecidas). Quarenta por cento das espécies foram registradas uma única vez (unicatas), indicando um grande número de espécies raras. Apenas 10 por cento das espécies que ocorreram em mais de uma amostra foram obtidas de uma mesma área (sobreposição espacial) ou de um mesmo ano de estudo (sobreposição temporal). A riqueza de espécies em cada área foi estimada por meio de transeções e depois comparada à riqueza total observada em cada área de estudo, sendo esta na maioria das vezes mais alta que a estimada com base nas transeções. A lista de espécies obtida para os cerrados amostrados foi comparada a outras 24 listas publicadas para cerrados no Brasil. Embora a maioria das espécies mais comuns tenha coincidido, oito espécies (11 por cento das espécies identificadas) não constam das listas publicadas. Concluímos que as áreas de cerrado sensu stricto estudadas no estado de São Paulo encontram-se isoladas, com uma grande parte da flora herbáceo-arbustiva composta por várias espécies raras e exclusivas. Diante deste quadro, sugerimos que a manutenção da biodiversidade de Asteraceae depende da conservação de todo o conjunto de remanescentes de cerrado do estado de São Paulo.