Downscaling the Atlantic Forest biodiversity hotspot: Using the distribution of bats to find smaller hotspots with conservation priority

Abstract

The Atlantic Forest (AF) is one of the most important and threatened biodiversity hotspots worldwide, and despite its wide geographical extension, only 9.1% of its area is under legal protection. Due to the low investment of resources, it is important to identify conservation priority areas for the AF and one effective strategy is the detection of smaller biodiversity hotspots within the AF. In the current study, we used a Geographic Interpolation of Endemism analysis with different scales to determine the main endemic areas of 55 Phyllostomidae bat species for the AF. We identified eight endemic areas that were highly dissimilar due to species turnover (βsim = 0.44) and that have already been indicated as areas of endemism for other taxa. Only 18.5% of the endemic areas are legally protected, while nearly 43% of the land cover consists of farming. Information available at ICMBio (Instituto Chico Medes de Conservação da Biodiversidade) and PADDDtracker.org indicate that Conservation Units (CUs) within the endemic areas are mainly categorized as of “Sustainable Use” and presented several management shortcoming (e.g. lack of information in environmental management plans; moderate to low management effectiveness; reduced investments; threat of area reduction). We recommend strengthening the policies for the CUs, strengthening and maintaining the management of current CUs, as a way of moving towards a more “biodiversity friendly” landscape with justice and social equity. Moreover, the strategy presented here can increase the cost-benefit relationship for the establishment and planning of CUs in other biodiversity hotspots and ecoregions.