Skip to main content
WCS
Menu
Library
Library Catalog
eJournals & eBooks
WCS Research
Archives
Research Use
Finding Aids
Digital Collections
WCS History
WCS Research
Research Publications
Science Data
Services for WCS Researchers
Archives Shop
Bronx Zoo
Department of Tropical Research
Browse By Product
About Us
FAQs
Intern or Volunteer
Staff
Donate
Search WCS.org
Search
search
Popular Search Terms
WCS History
Library and Archives
Library and Archives Menu
Library
Archives
WCS Research
Archives Shop
About Us
Donate
en
fr
Title
Vulnerability of turtles to deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon: Indicating priority areas for conservation
Author(s)
Fagundes, Camila K.;Vogt, Richard C.;de Souza, Rodrigo A.;De Marco Jr, Paulo
Published
2018
Publisher
Biological Conservation
Published Version DOI
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2018.08.009
Abstract
The loss of forest cover has been considered to be an important factor in the decline of turtle populations. We used Species Distribution Models (SDM) to identify the potential distribution areas of several turtle species in the Brazilian Amazon and to calculate amount of area possibly lost to deforestation (vulnerability). We then used the software Zonation to prioritize areas for turtle conservation. We assigned higher conservation weight to terrestrial, semi-aquatic and threatened turtles and forced the exclusion of deforested areas. Different scenarios were run to assess the effectiveness of PAs in protecting turtles. Priority areas for turtle conservation are located in central-northern Amazon. These regions usually do not encompass high deforestation areas. Areas that turtles are most vulnerable to deforestation are located in central-northeastern Amazon, but only three species lost more potential distribution area to current and predicted deforestation than the percentage of total deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon. Phrynops geoffroanus, Podocnemis unifilis, Mesoclemmys gibba and Kinosternon scorpioides had a highest proportion of their potential distribution area lost due to deforestation. Many priority sites for turtle conservation are located outside of PAs, even when considering only the top 17% of priority sites. Although we did not explicitly take into consideration the social importance of turtles as a food resource in our analysis, our results highlight the most important regions for investing in conservation of turtles in the Brazilian Amazon. These results have significant practical implications for conservation.
Keywords
Amazon;Deforestation vulnerability;Species distribution modeling;Reserve network efficiency;Turtle conservation
Access Full Text
A full-text copy of this article may be available. Please email the
WCS Library
to request.
Back
PUB23977