Systematic conservation assessment for the Mesoamerica, Choco, and Tropical Andes biodiversity hotspots: a preliminary analysis

Using IUCN Red List species as biodiversity surrogates, supplemented with additional analyses based on ecoregional diversity, priority areas for conservation in Mesoamerica, Choco, and the Tropical Andes were identified using the methods of systematic conservation planning. Species' ecological niches were modeled from occurrence records using a maximum entropy algorithm. Niche models for 78 species were refined to produce geographical distributions. Areas were prioritized for conservation attention using a complementarity-based algorithm implemented in the ResNet software package. Targets of representation for Red List species were explored from 10 to 90% of the modeled distributions at 10% increments; for the 53 ecoregions, the target was 10% for each ecoregion. Selected areas were widely dispersed across the region, reflecting the widespread distribution of Red List species in Mesoamerica, Choco, and the Tropical Andes, which underscores the region's importance for biodiversity. In general, existing protected areas were no more representative of biodiversity than areas outside them. Among the countries in the region, the protected areas of Belize performed best and those of Colombia and Ecuador worst. A high representation target led to the selection of a very large proportion of each country except Colombia and Ecuador (for a 90% target, 83-95% of each country was selected). Since such large proportions of land cannot realistically be set aside as parks or reserves, biodiversity conservation in Mesoamerica, Choco, and the Tropical Andes will require integrative landscape management which combines human use of the land with securing the persistence of biota.