Conservation units alone are insufficient to protect Brazilian Amazonian chelonians

The creation of protected areas (PAs) is not always based on science; consequently, some aquatic species may not receive the same level of protection as terrestrial ones. The objective of this study was to identify priority areas for the conservation of chelonians in the Brazilian Amazon basin and a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Scientific reports 2024-05, Vol.14 (1), p.10827-10827, Article 10827
Main Authors: Sousa, Loyriane Moura, Correia, Letícia Lima, Alexandre, Rafaela Jemely Rodrigues, Pena, Simone Almeida, Vieira, Thiago Bernardi
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
631/158/1144
631/158/670
704/158/672
Animals
Bayesian analysis
Bioclimatic variables
Bioclimatology
Biodiversity
Brazil
Conservation
Conservation of Natural Resources - methods
Conservation unit
Ecosystem
Geographical distribution
Humanities and Social Sciences
Indigenous lands
Mathematical models
Maximum entropy
multidisciplinary
Protected areas
Protected species
Reptiles & amphibians
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Species
Sustainable use
Tortoise
Turtle
Turtles
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Summary:The creation of protected areas (PAs) is not always based on science; consequently, some aquatic species may not receive the same level of protection as terrestrial ones. The objective of this study was to identify priority areas for the conservation of chelonians in the Brazilian Amazon basin and assess the contribution of PAs, distinguishing between Full Protection Areas, Sustainable Use Areas, and Indigenous Lands for group protection. The entire species modeling procedure was carried out using Species Distribution Models. Location records were obtained from platforms such as SpeciesLink, GBIF, the Hydroatlas database, and WorldClim for bioclimatic variables adjusted with algorithms like Maximum Entropy, Random Forest, Support Vector Machine, and Gaussian-Bayesian. Indigenous lands cover more than 50% of the distribution areas of chelonian species in the Brazilian Amazon. Protected areas with higher conservation importance (Full Protection Areas and Sustainable Use Areas) hold less than 15% of the combined species distribution. Researchers face significant challenges when making decisions with models, especially in conservation efforts involving diverse taxa that differ significantly from one another within a group of individuals.
ISSN:2045-2322
2045-2322
DOI:10.1038/s41598-024-61722-y