Biodiversity and Conservation Planning of the Amphibians and Reptiles in the Western ...

277 Pages·2010·25.56 MB·English

UNIVERSIDADE DE LISBOA
Faculdade de Ciências
Departamento de Biologia Animal
Biodiversity and Conservation Planning
of the Amphibians and Reptiles
in the Western Mediterranean Basin
Sílvia Ricardo Benoliel de Carvalho
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UNIVERSIDADE DE LISBOA
Faculdade de Ciências
Departamento de Biologia Animal
Biodiversity and Conservation Planning
of the Amphibians and Reptiles
in the Western Mediterranean Basin
Sílvia Ricardo Benoliel de Carvalho
Tese Orientada por:
Eduardo José de Frias Gonçalves Crespo
Professor Catedrático do Departamento de Biologia Animal da Faculade de Ciências da
Universidade de Lisboa e Investigador do Centro de Biologia Ambiental da Faculdade de Ciências da
Universidade de Lisboa
José Carlos Alcobia Rogado de Brito
Investigador do Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos da
Universidade do Porto (CIBIO/UP)
Doutoramento em Biologia
Especialidade Biodiversidade
2010

Aos meus pais e às minhas avós
To my parents and to my grannies

vii
Foreword
According to the Article 41 nrº 1 of the Post-graduate studies Regulation (Diário da
República Nº 1506 de 2006, II série de 30 de Outubro de 2006), the present thesis integrates
manuscripts published or submitted listed below, in collaboration with co-authors. The
candidate declares that she contributed to conceiving the ideas, compiling the data,
producing the databases and analyzing the data. The candidate also declares that she led
the writing of all chapters, with exception of chapter 4.
List of papers
Chapter 4
Harris, D.J., Carretero, M.A., Brito, J.C., Kaliontzopoulou, A., Pinho, C., Perera, A., Vasconcelos, R.,
Barata, M., Barbosa, D., Batista, V., Carvalho, S., Fonseca, M.M., Pérez-Lanuza, G., Rato, C., 2008.
Data on the distribution of the terrestrial herpetofauna of Morocco: records from 2001-2006.
Herpetological Bulletin 103, 19-28.
Chapter 5
Carvalho, S.B., Brito, J.C., Pressey, R.L., Crespo, E., Possingham, H.P., 2010. Simulating the effects of
using different types of species distribution data in reserve selection. Biological Conservation
143, 426-438.
Chapter 6
Carvalho, S.B., Brito, J.C., Crespo, E.J., Possingham, H.P. (submited) Incorporating evolutionary
processes into conservation planning using species distribution data: a case study with the
western Mediterranean herpetofauna. Diversity and Distributions.
Chapter 7
Carvalho, S.B., Brito, J.C., Crespo, E.J., Possingham, H.P., 2010. From climate change predictions to
actions – conserving vulnerable animal groups in hotspots at a regional scale. Global Change
Biology, doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2486.2010.02212.x
Chapter 8
Carvalho, S.B., Brito, J.C., Crespo, E.J., Watts, M. Possingham, H.P. (in prep.) Conservation Planning
under Climate Change: accounting for uncertainty in predicted species distributions to increase
confidence in conservation investments in space and time. Biological Conservation.
This thesis was supported by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia through the PhD grant
SFRH/BD/21896/2005/J031675S109
Este Trabalho foi realizado com o apoio da Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia
SFRH/BD/21896/2005/J031675S109

ix
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements xi
Resumo xv
Summary xxi
SECTION I
Chapter 1. Introduction 3
1.1 The biodiversity crisis 3
1.1.1 What is biodiversity and why it is important 3
1.1.2 The biodiversity crisis 3
1.1.3 Protected areas 4
1.2 The science of conservation planning 5
1.2.1 Objectives and key principles of systematic conservation planning 6
1.2.2 Stages and conceptual framework of systematic conservation planning 8
1.2.3 Algorithms and computational tools for spatial prioritization 11
1.3 Challenges in conservation planning 11
1.3.1 Issues about species’ distribution data 11
1.3.2 Incorporating evolutionary processes into conservation planning 16
1.3.3 Dynamics in conservation planning: dealing with shifts in species’ ranges derived
21
by climate change
1.3.4 Dealing with uncertainty to improve conservation decisions 23
1.4 References 25
Chapter 2. Study Area 43
2.1 Current patterns of biodiversity in the Mediterranean region 43
2.2 Amphibians and reptiles in the Western Mediterranean region –
44
current patterns
2.3 The Western Mediterranean region: determinants of amphibian and reptile diversity 46
2.3.1 Historical geography 50
2.3.2 Current topography and hydrography 52
2.3.3 Current landcover 53
2.3.4 Climate 55
2.4 Protected Areas Network 59
2.5 References
Chapter 3. Objectives and overview of the thesis 67
SECTION II
Chapter 4. Data on the distribution of the terrestrial herpetofauna of Morocco: records
73
from 2001-2006
Chapter 5. Simulating the effects of using different types of species distribution data in
93
reserve selection
Chapter 6. Incorporating evolutionary processes into conservation planning using 125
species distribution data: a case study with the Western Mediterranean herpetofauna
Chapter 7. From climate change predictions to actions: conserving vulnerable animal
167
groups in hotspots at a regional scale
Chapter 8. Conservation Planning Under Climate Change: Accounting for uncertainty
in predicted species distributions to increase confidence in conservation investments in 197
space and time
x
SECTION III
Chapter 9. General Discussion 227
9.1 Summary and key findings 227
9.1.1 Contribution to knowledge on the distribution of amphibians and reptiles in 227
9.1.2 Contribution to Conservation Planning Science 229
9.1.3 Implications for the conservation of amphibians and reptiles in the Western
232
Mediterranean
9.2 Future prospects 235
9.2.1 Biodiversity data 235
9.2.2 Evolutionary Processes 237
9.2.3 Dynamics in conservation planning 239
9.2.4 Uncertainty 241
9.2.5 Frontiers of conservation planning 242
9.3 References 244