Diversity Hotspots Research Articles

Genome-Wide Data Uncover Cryptic Diversity With Multiple Reticulation Events in the Balkan-Anatolian Cardamine (Brassicaceae) Species Complex.

Plant species diversity may be considerably underestimated, especially in evolutionarily complex genera and in diversity hotspots that have enabled long-term species persistence and diversification, such as the Balkan Peninsula. Here, we address the topic of underexplored plant diversity and underlying evolutionary and biogeographic processes by investigating the hygrophytic mountain species complex of Cardamine acris s.l. distributed in the Balkans (three subspecies within C. acris) and northwestern Anatolia (C. anatolica). We performed a series of phylogenetic and phylogeographic analyses based on restriction-site associated DNA sequencing (RADseq) and target enrichment (Hyb-Seq) data in combination with habitat suitability modelling. We found C. anatolica as a clade nested within the Balkan C. acris, probably resulting from a founder event, and uncovered three allopatric cryptic lineages within C. acris subsp. acris, allowing us to recognise a total of six entities in this complex. We observed the deepest genetic split within C. acris subsp. acris in the western Balkans, which was at odds with taxonomy and showed no distribution gap. We inferred vicariance as the most likely process for population divergence in the Balkans, accompanied by gene flow between the recognised entities, which was consistent with the modelled habitat suitability dynamics. Furthermore, we discovered several polyploid populations in C. acris, representing both pure intra- and inter-lineage hybrid polyploids, but detected only minor traces of hybridization with related congeners. Overall, our results illustrate that diverse evolutionary processes may influence the history of mountain plant species in the Balkan Peninsula, including vicariance, reticulation, polyploidization and cryptic diversification.

Warm-adapted encroachment outpaces cool-adapted retreat in a hotspot of trailing-edge population diversity in the southern Appalachian Mountains, USA

Abstract Many populations near receding low-latitude range: margins are declining in response to climate change, but most studies of trailing-edge populations have focused on single species. Using 10 years (2014–2023) of avian survey data from a high-elevation trailing-edge population hotspot in the Appalachian Mountains, USA, we tested the hypothesis that high-elevation communities would experience turnover through thermophilisation, as warm-adapted species near the center of their geographic ranges expand into regions formerly dominated by peripheral populations of cool-adapted species. Three of the 9 cool-adapted, peripheral populations decreased in abundance whereas 6 species exhibited little change. For warm-adapted populations near the core of their range, 1 of 16 decreased in abundance, 11 increased, and 4 exhibited no change. Within the most abundant species in this community, our results indicate that warm-adapted species are expanding their ranges faster than the rate at which ranges of cool-adapted species are contracting. Avoiding future community turnover may require conservation strategies that maintain microclimates for cool-adapted species facing novel abiotic and biotic conditions at high elevations.

Diversity and Distribution of Australian Stygobiont and Other Groundwater-Associated Amphipods (Crustacea: Malacostraca: Peracarida)

Numerous and diverse groundwater habitats suitable for sustaining aquatic invertebrate communities exist across Australia. These habitats include enclosed subterranean aquifer systems, fractured rock, alluvial aquifers, perched aquifers, artesian springs, and spring-fed seeps and marshes. Crustaceans are a dominant member of these groundwater-associated invertebrate communities, and amphipods, both stygobiont and associated epigean species, are particularly diverse yet are still relatively poorly known. We review both the diversity and distributions of Australian amphipods associated with groundwater habitats, describing hotspots of diversity, providing notes on the unique Australian habitats, and examining the extraordinary species diversity and endemism of the Australian species. Our review highlights the significance of Australian groundwater ecosystems, their associated biodiversity, and the importance in considering these ecosystems in groundwater conservation management plans.

Biogeography of the Iranian snakes.

The events of the Cenozoic era such as mountain formation caused Iran to become one of the most amazing biodiversity hotspots in the world today. This pioneering study on Iranian snake biogeography integrates historical and ecological analyses. A phylogeographic review traces speciation and dispersal, while cluster analysis with a new snake checklist assesses faunistic similarities within Iran and its surroundings. Jaccard and Sorenson indices generate similarity dendrograms, Indicator Species Analysis pinpoints regional key species, and Endemism index calculates regional endemism rates, enriching our knowledge of Iran's species diversity. Phylogeographic analyses identify four biogeographical corridors for snake ingress into Iran: the Arabian region through southwestern Iran, the Western Asian mountainous transition zone via northwestern Iran, the Turanian region into northeastern Iran, and the Indus River Valley into southeastern and eastern Iran. Dendrogram analysis divides snake fauna into three groups. The first group associates western Zagros and Khuzestan fauna with the Sahara and Arabian regions. The second group links Kopet Dagh and Turkmen Steppe fauna with the Turanian region, and Central Plateau and Baluchistan fauna with the Iranian region. The third group connects northwest highlands, Alborz and Zagros mountains, and Caspian Sea coasts with the Western Asian Mountain transition zone. The study validates broad biogeographic patterns via ecoregional associations and indicator species analysis, providing finer resolution. Species like Platyceps najadum in Caspian Hyrcanian mixed forests exemplify ecoregional alignment, while Zagros and Alborz mountains exhibit unique faunal indicators, indicating species-level divergence. Shared indicators among widespread ecoregions reflect habitat continuity; exclusive indicators emphasize regional distinctiveness. Despite endemic species prevalence, they seldom act as significant indicators due to various factors. Our research confirms the Zagros Mountains, Khuzestan Plain, Alborz Mountains, and Persian Gulf coasts as snake diversity hotspots, marked by higher species richness compared to other Iranian regions.

Brachysporium sinense, a new species from a plateau lake in Yunnan Province, China

Yunnan is one of the fungal diversity hotspots and many studies of lignicolous freshwater fungal research have been done in this Province. Presently, research on lignicolous freshwater fungi in the plateau lakes of this region is being systematically conducted. During our investigation of the species diversity of lignicolous freshwater fungi in Dujuanhu Lake, we found a distinctive species, Brachysporium sinense, based on morphological characteristics and phylogenetic analysis. Brachysporium sinense is distinguished from other Brachysporium species by monoblastic, integrated, terminal conidiogenous cells and fusoid to limoniform, verrucose, septate, brown to dark brown conidia with subhyaline ends, which are connected to the conidiogenous cells by a single denticle. Detailed descriptions and illustrations and relatively comprehensive sequence data are provided.

O short-branch Microsporidia, where art thou? Identifying diversity hotspots for future sampling

Short-branch Microsporidia were previously shown to form a basal grade within the expanded Microsporidia clade and to branch near the classical, long-branch Microsporidia. Although they share simpler versions of some morphological characteristics, they do not show accelerated evolutionary rates, making them ideal candidates to study the evolutionary trajectories that have led to long-branch microsporidian unique characteristics. However, most sequences assigned to the short-branch Microsporidia are undescribed, novel environmental lineages for which the identification requires knowledge of where they can be found. To direct future isolation, we used the EukBank database of the global UniEuk initiative that contains the majority of the publicly available environmental V4 SSU rRNA gene sequences of protists. The curated OTU table and corresponding metadata were used to evaluate the occurrence of short-branch Microsporidia across freshwater, hypersaline, marine benthic, marine pelagic, and terrestrial environments. Presence–absence analyses infer that short-branch Microsporidia are most abundant in freshwater and terrestrial environments, and alpha- and beta-diversity measures indicate that focusing our sampling effort on these two environments would cover a large part of their overall diversity. These results can be used to coordinate future isolation and sampling campaigns to better understand the enigmatic evolution of microsporidians’ unique characteristics.

Microfacies and species richness analysis of upper Bartonian and Priabonian carbonate shelf deposits from the Thrace Basin (Tethyan Ocean, Greece): Paleoenvironmental evolution and species-richness hotspot revealed

Sediment, thin section, microfacies and foraminiferal analyses were conducted on middle-upper Eocene carbonate deposits to shed new light on the paleoenvironmental evolution and species richness of the Thrace Basin (Tethyan Ocean, Greece). Material from a total of 7 new sites, covering localities on the mainland and the north-eastern Aegean islands of Samothraki and Lemnos, was examined in order to analyze the general conditions and environmental evolution of the basin over as large a geographical area as possible. Analysis of the sedimentological and paleontological data allowed the identification of 5 microfacies types. These can be assigned to a sequence of interior to outer shelf environments and speak in favor of a model of a rimmed carbonate shelf with isolated platforms. Both open and restricted water circulation patterns have prevailed on and between the platforms. Triggered and driven by dynamic syn-rifting, topographic highs have developed in this area on which productive and species-rich reef structures could thrive. In the late Eocene carbonate deposits we found the highest documented species richness of larger symbiont-bearing foraminifers (LBF) to date, characterizing the Thrace Basin not only as a particularly species-rich and diverse area, but also as a LBF hotspot of diversity.

Island biocultural diversity in the Mediterranean: the case study of Sardinia

The Mediterranean Basin is a hotspot for biological and cultural diversity, and this is particularly evident in its islands, even though little attention has been paid to their remarkable biocultural diversity. In order to elucidate this characteristic phenomenon, we present a review of the literature on biodiversity and cultural studies in Sardinia. From the review, it has emerged that the island can serve as an excellent case study and a model for the development of a methodology on the topic, which can be applied to the entire Mediterranean Basin. An Island Biocultural Diversity Initiative for the Mediterranean Region has therefore been set up to support the preservation of biocultural diversity and Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) in Mediterranean islands, with Sardinia as its primary hotspot.

The role of protected areas in the Balkan freshwater biodiversity conservation: The case of Blidinje Nature Park (Southwestern Bosnia-Herzegovina)

Freshwaters of the Balkan Peninsula show high levels of endemism and relict species, which are still little studied and are threatened by numerous anthropogenic stressors. Protected areas could give special opportunities to improve knowledge of their biodiversity and develop proper conservation measures for the most at-extinction risk species. The aims of this research were to: i) fill the knowledge gap regarding fish and crustaceans occurring in the main water bodies of the Blidinje Nature Park (Southwestern Bosnia-Herzegovina); ii) assess the population abundance and growth, for the species of conservational interest; iii) identify fish biodiversity hotspots in Bosnia-Herzegovina; iv) identify anthropogenic pressures and suggest proper conservation measures. Fish and crayfish data were collected in four sampling sites located on the main water bodies, using electrofishing and gillnets, in three sampling phases over the period July 2022-August 2023. The presence of three species at high extinction risk has been detected: Squalius tenellus, Aulopyge huegelii and Astacus astacus. Their populations were abundant, with balanced age structure and good growth performance. A spatial analysis allowed to quantify the fractions of the endemic species range covered by the Blidinje Nature Park, which were 6.1% and 2.3% for S. tenellus and A. huegelii, respectively. The presence of invasive Atlantic trout and overharvesting of crayfish seem to represent the main anthropogenic pressures on freshwater biota. The obtained information allowed to expand the knowledge on the distribution and population status of threatened species and to highlight diversity hotspots as valuable tools for their conservation and management.

Research on longevity and associated age data of South American anurans: trends, gaps and recommendations

Longevity is one of the most important characteristics in the life history of organisms. It is directly associated with growth, reproduction and age of sexual maturity. Despite this, little is known about longevity in South American anuran species, a region considered as a hotspot of world diversity. Thus, we carried out a literature review of publications on longevity of South American anurans that used the skeletochronology method to identify the main publication trends, as well as to point out the main information gaps and suggest future directions. We found clear biases when we analysed temporal, spatial and taxonomic patterns in publications on longevity: (i) studies are recent (mostly from 2015 onwards), (ii) bufonids and leptodactylids were the most studied groups, (iii) medium to large species are the most studied, (iv) species with wide geographic distribution, low risk of extinction, (v) the studies are concentrated in Brazil and Argentina, and (vi) most studies are in the Chaco biogeographical sub-region. We suggest that future work prioritizes little explored families and with high species diversity, small-bodied species, with restricted distribution, threatened with extinction, in order to expand the representation of different evolutionary lineages along the biogeographical units of South America.

The Indo-Burma biodiversity hotspot for ferns: Updated phylogeny, hidden diversity, and biogeography of the java fern genus Leptochilus (Polypodiaceae)

The Indo-Burma Biodiversity Hotspot is renowned for its rich biodiversity, including that of vascular plants. However, the fern diversity and its endemism in this hotspot have not been well understood and so far, the diversity of very few groups of ferns in this region has been explored using combined molecular and morphological approaches. Here, we updated the plastid phylogeny of the Java fern genus Leptochilus with 226 (115% increase of the latest sampling) samples across the distribution range, specifically those of three phylogenetically significant species, Leptochilus ovatus, L. pedunculatus, and L. pothifolius. We also reconstructed the first nuclear phylogeny of the genus based on pgiC gene data. Based on molecular and morphological evidence, we identified three new major clades and six new subclades, redefined three existing species, discovered a number of cryptic species of the genus, and elucidated the evolution of the three most variable characters. Our divergence time analyses and ancestral area reconstruction showed that Leptochilus originated in the Oligocene and diversified from early Miocene and 15 dispersal events from lower to higher latitudes are identified. The evolution of three most important morphological characters is analyzed in a context of the new phylogeny. Our analysis showed that 30 (59% of total 51) species of Leptochilus occur in Indo-Burma hotspot, 24 (80% of the 30 species) of which are endemic to this hotspot. We argue that the Indo-Burma hotspot should be recognized as a diversity hotspot for ferns.

Patterns and drivers of abundance and diversity of reptiles and amphibians in the protected area of Mount Chelmos

Abstract The primary objective of this study was to investigate patterns of abundance and diversity among reptiles and amphibians within the protected area of Mount Chelmos, located in Peloponnese, Greece. Our aim was to examine the drivers influencing abundance (for lizards, snakes, chelonians, anurans, urodels) and diversity (for reptiles and amphibians) within the finely-scaled study area and identify biodiversity hotspots. Land cover significantly impacted the abundance and diversity of all studied groups. Elevation had a significant impact on the abundance of snakes, chelonians, and anurans, as well as on reptile and amphibian diversity. Climate influenced all groups except chelonians. Slope significantly impacted anuran abundance and amphibian diversity. Aspect primarily influenced the abundance of lizards, anurans, and urodels, as well as reptile diversity. We have also identified abundance and diversity hotspots, emphasizing the importance of conservation and management efforts. In reptiles, abundance hotspots were predicted in the west, east, and south of the mountainous massif, whereas amphibian abundance hotspots were mapped to the west and east-southeast of the massif. Regarding diversity, the patterns were similar for both reptiles and amphibians, with hotspots emerging in the west, south, and southeast boundaries of the study area, and a few spots north of the mountainous region. Notably, many of these hotspots coincided with areas susceptible to human exploitation and vehicular transit.

Museum collections as untapped sources of undescribed diversity of sponge-zoantharian associations with the description of six new species of Umimayanthus (Zoantharia: Parazoanthidae) from Western Australia and eastern Indonesia

Abstract The zoantharian genus Umimayanthus consists largely of species that live in obligate symbioses with sponges. Although zoantharians have often been overlooked in field collecting campaigns and in research, sponges are usually well-collected, and many natural history museums harbor numerous sponge specimens. Thus, these sponge collections may also include previously overlooked zoantharian species. Such is the case in this research, in which we examined sponge specimens in museum collections from Western Australia and eastern Indonesia. Based on our morphological and molecular analyses, we herein describe six species of Umimayanthus new to science, and redescribe another species described over a century ago. These species can be distinguished by their sponge associations, gross polyp and colony morphology, and depth ranges. Based on these findings, it appears that the Central Indo-Pacific region of Western Australia and Indonesia can be considered a hotspot for sponge-associated zoantharian diversity. We provide a key for the identification of all formally described species in the genus, but caution that there are likely more Umimayanthus species awaiting discovery.

Recent evolutionary origin and localized diversity hotspots of mammalian coronaviruses

Several coronaviruses infect humans, with three, including the SARS-CoV2, causing diseases. While coronaviruses are especially prone to induce pandemics, we know little about their evolutionary history, host-to-host transmissions, and biogeography. One of the difficulties lies in dating the origination of the family, a particularly challenging task for RNA viruses in general. Previous cophylogenetic tests of virus-host associations, including in the Coronaviridae family, have suggested a virus-host codiversification history stretching many millions of years. Here, we establish a framework for robustly testing scenarios of ancient origination and codiversification versus recent origination and diversification by host switches. Applied to coronaviruses and their mammalian hosts, our results support a scenario of recent origination of coronaviruses in bats and diversification by host switches, with preferential host switches within mammalian orders. Hotspots of coronavirus diversity, concentrated in East Asia and Europe, are consistent with this scenario of relatively recent origination and localized host switches. Spillovers from bats to other species are rare, but have the highest probability to be towards humans than to any other mammal species, implicating humans as the evolutionary intermediate host. The high host-switching rates within orders, as well as between humans, domesticated mammals, and non-flying wild mammals, indicates the potential for rapid additional spreading of coronaviruses across the world. Our results suggest that the evolutionary history of extant mammalian coronaviruses is recent, and that cases of long-term virus–host codiversification have been largely over-estimated.

Recent evolutionary origin and localized diversity hotspots of mammalian coronaviruses.

Several coronaviruses infect humans, with three, including the SARS-CoV2, causing diseases. While coronaviruses are especially prone to induce pandemics, we know little about their evolutionary history, host-to-host transmissions, and biogeography. One of the difficulties lies in dating the origination of the family, a particularly challenging task for RNA viruses in general. Previous cophylogenetic tests of virus-host associations, including in the Coronaviridae family, have suggested a virus-host codiversification history stretching many millions of years. Here, we establish a framework for robustly testing scenarios of ancient origination and codiversification versus recent origination and diversification by host switches. Applied to coronaviruses and their mammalian hosts, our results support a scenario of recent origination of coronaviruses in bats and diversification by host switches, with preferential host switches within mammalian orders. Hotspots of coronavirus diversity, concentrated in East Asia and Europe, are consistent with this scenario of relatively recent origination and localized host switches. Spillovers from bats to other species are rare, but have the highest probability to be towards humans than to any other mammal species, implicating humans as the evolutionary intermediate host. The high host-switching rates within orders, as well as between humans, domesticated mammals, and non-flying wild mammals, indicates the potential for rapid additional spreading of coronaviruses across the world. Our results suggest that the evolutionary history of extant mammalian coronaviruses is recent, and that cases of long-term virus-host codiversification have been largely over-estimated.

Assessing GEDI data fusions to map woodpecker distributions and biodiversity hotspots

Abstract In forested systems, woodpecker species richness has been linked with songbird diversity, and identifying woodpecker biodiversity hotspots may contribute important information for conservation planning. The availability of global forest structure data via the Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) instrument provides a new tool for examining broad extent relationships amongst environmental variables, forest structure, and woodpecker diversity hotspots. Within the Marine West Coast Forest ecoregion, USA, we used eBird data for 7 woodpecker species to model encounter rates based on bioclimatic variables, process data (e.g. duration and timing of survey), MODIS forest land cover data, and GEDI-fusion metrics. The GEDI-fusion metrics included foliage height diversity (fhd), rh98 (a representation of canopy height), and canopy cover, which were created by combining GEDI data with Landsat, Sentinel-1, topographic, and climatic information within a random forest modeling framework. AUCs for the species-specific models ranged from 0.77–0.98, where bioclimatic and process predictors were amongst the most important variables for all species. GEDI-fusion forest structure metrics were highly ranked for all species, with fhd included as a highly ranked predictor for all species. The structural metrics included as top predictors for each species were reflective of known species-specific habitat associations. Hotspots in this ecoregion tended to be inland and occurred most often on privately-owned lands. Identification of hotspots is the first step towards management plans focused on biodiversity, and understanding ownership patterns is important for future conservation efforts. The near-global extent of GEDI data, along with recent studies that recommend woodpeckers as indicators of biodiversity across multiple forest types at local and global scales, suggest that synthesis of GEDI-derived data applied to woodpecker detection information might be a powerful approach to identifying biodiversity hotspots.

The mitochondrial genome of Bottapotamon fukienense (Brachiura: Potamidae) is fragmented into two chromosomes

BackgroundChina is the hotspot of global freshwater crab diversity, but their wild populations are facing severe pressures associated with anthropogenic factors, necessitating the need to map their taxonomic and genetic diversity and design conservation policies.ResultsHerein, we sequenced the mitochondrial genome of a Chinese freshwater crab species Bottapotamon fukienense, and found that it is fragmented into two chromosomes. We confirmed that fragmentation was not limited to a single specimen or population. Chromosome 1 comprised 15,111 base pairs (bp) and there were 26 genes and one pseudogene (pseudo-nad1) encoded on it. Chromosome 2 comprised 8,173 bp and there were 12 genes and two pseudogenes (pseudo-trnL2 and pseudo-rrnL) encoded on it. Combined, they comprise the largest mitogenome (23,284 bp) among the Potamidae. Bottapotamon was the only genus in the Potamidae dataset exhibiting rearrangements of protein-coding genes. Bottapotamon fukienense exhibited average rates of sequence evolution in the dataset and did not differ in selection pressures from the remaining Potamidae.ConclusionsThis is the first experimentally confirmed fragmentation of a mitogenome in crustaceans. While the mitogenome of B. fukienense exhibited multiple signs of elevated mitogenomic architecture evolution rates, including the exceptionally large size, duplicated genes, pseudogenisation, rearrangements of protein-coding genes, and fragmentation, there is no evidence that this is matched by elevated sequence evolutionary rates or changes in selection pressures.

A hotspot of diversity: novel Shewanella species isolated from Baltic Sea sediments delineate a sympatric species complex.

Two bacterial strains, SP1S1-4T and SP2S1-2T, were isolated from sediment samples collected in the Stockholm archipelago in November 2021. Following whole-genome sequencing, these strains were identified as tentatively belonging to two novel Shewanella genospecies, based on digital DNA-DNA hybridization, as implemented in the Type Strain Genome Server. Shewanella septentrionalis, Shewanella baltica and Shewanella hafniensis were, in this order and within a narrow genomic relatedness range, their closest genotypic relatives. Additional sampling and sequencing efforts led to the retrieval of distinct isolates that were monophyletic with SP1S1-4T and SP2S1-2T, respectively, based on phylogenomic analysis of whole-genome sequences. Comparative analyses of genome sequence data, which included blast-based average nucleotide identity, core genome-based and core proteome-based phylogenomics, in addition to MALDI-TOF MS-based protein profiling, confirmed the distinctness of the putative novel genospecies with respect to their closest genotypic relatives. A comprehensive phenotypic characterisation of SP1S1-4T and SP2S1-2T revealed only minor differences with respect to the type strains of S. septentrionalis, S. baltica and S. hafniensis. Based on the collective phylogenomic, proteomic, and phenotypic evidence presented here, we describe two novel genospecies within the genus Shewanella, for which the names Shewanella scandinavica sp. nov. and Shewanella vaxholmensis sp. nov. are proposed. The type strains are, respectively, SP2S1-2T (=CCUG 76457T=CECT 30688T), with a draft genome sequence of 5 041 805 bp and a G+C content of 46.3 mol%, and SP1S1-4T (=CCUG 76453T=CECT 30684T), with a draft genome sequence of 4 920147 bp and a G+C content of 46.0 mol%. Our findings suggest the existence of a species complex formed by the species S. baltica, S. septentrionalis, S. scandinavica sp. nov., and S. vaxholmensis sp. nov., with S. hafniensis falling in the periphery, where distinct genomic species clusters could be identified. However, this does not exclude the possibility of a continuum of genomic diversity within this sedimental ecosystem, as discussed herein with additional sequenced isolates.

Climate change and California’s terrestrial biodiversity

In this review and synthesis, we argue that California is an important test case for the nation and world because terrestrial biodiversity is very high, present and anticipated threats to biodiversity from climate change and other interacting stressors are severe, and innovative approaches to protecting biodiversity in the context of climate change are being developed and tested. We first review salient dimensions of California’s terrestrial physical, biological, and human diversity. Next, we examine four facets of the threat to their sustainability of these dimensions posed by climate change: direct impacts, illustrated by a new analysis of shifting diversity hotspots for plants; interactive effects involving invasive species, land-use change, and other stressors; the impacts of changing fire regimes; and the impacts of land-based renewable energy development. We examine recent policy responses in each of these areas, representing attempts to better protect biodiversity while advancing climate adaptation and mitigation. We conclude that California’s ambitious 30 × 30 Initiative and its efforts to harmonize biodiversity conservation with renewable energy development are important areas of progress. Adapting traditional suppression-oriented fire policies to the reality of new fire regimes is an area in which much progress remains to be made.

Vertebrate taxonomic and functional hotspots in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest

AbstractAimWe aim to find the main drivers of the taxonomic and functional richness and functional dispersion of vertebrates (amphibians, birds, primates, marsupials, rodents, bats and medium‐ and large‐sized mammals) across the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. We also aim to identify hotspots of vertebrate diversity and quantify the extent to which they are legally protected.LocationBrazilian Atlantic Forest.MethodsWe gathered data on the occurrence of vertebrates based on the most recent published databases for Atlantic Forest vertebrates and measured taxonomic richness, functional richness and functional dispersion. We then related variation in diversity, within each group and overall, to environmental and landscape variables. Also, we modelled the diversity of each group for the entire extent of the Atlantic Forest, superimposing the diversity maps to delimit the vertebrate biodiversity hotspots and verified how much of these hotspots are covered by protected areas.ResultsTaxonomic/functional diversity were driven by environmental (e.g., average annual precipitation and precipitation of the driest quarter) and landscape variables (e.g., amount of forest and agricultural areas) for most taxonomic groups. The main hotspots of taxonomic richness are located in the central region of the Atlantic Forest, whereas those for functional diversity occur in the southern region of the biome. Only a little over 10% of the Atlantic Forest is covered by protected areas, and, as such, the vast majority of the medium and high diversity areas fall outside of protected areas, being therefore not legally protected.Main ConclusionsWe found evidence for previously described patterns, including the predicted positive effects of the amount of forest in the landscape and precipitation and the negative effects of agricultural areas on vertebrate diversity. Finally, our results show that most diversity hotspots are outside of legally protected areas, indicating that more conservation efforts should be made towards safeguarding these important areas.