Publications des scientifiques de l'IRD

Wulff A. S., Hollingsworth P. M., Ahrends A., Jaffré Tanguy, Veillon Jean-Marie, L'Huillier L., Fogliani B. (2013). Conservation priorities in a biodiversity hotspot : analysis of narrow endemic plant species in New Caledonia. Plos One, 8 (9), p. e73371. ISSN 1932-6203.

Titre du document
Conservation priorities in a biodiversity hotspot : analysis of narrow endemic plant species in New Caledonia
Année de publication
2013
Type de document
Article référencé dans le Web of Science WOS:000324695900012
Auteurs
Wulff A. S., Hollingsworth P. M., Ahrends A., Jaffré Tanguy, Veillon Jean-Marie, L'Huillier L., Fogliani B.
Source
Plos One, 2013, 8 (9), p. e73371 ISSN 1932-6203
New Caledonia is a global biodiversity hotspot facing extreme environmental degradation. Given the urgent need for conservation prioritisation, we have made a first-pass quantitative assessment of the distribution of Narrow Endemic Species (NES) in the flora to identify species and sites that are potentially important for conservation action. We assessed the distributional status of all angiosperm and gymnosperm species using data from taxonomic descriptions and herbarium samples. We characterised species as being NES if they occurred in 3 or fewer locations. In total, 635 of the 2930 assessed species were classed as NES, of which only 150 have been subjected to the IUCN conservation assessment. As the distributional patterns of un-assessed species from one or two locations correspond well with assessed species which have been classified as Critically Endangered or Endangered respectively, we suggest that our distributional data can be used to prioritise species for IUCN assessment. We also used the distributional data to produce a map of "Hotspots of Plant Narrow Endemism' (HPNE). Combined, we used these data to evaluate the coincidence of NES with mining activities (a major source of threat on New Caledonia) and also areas of conservation protection. This is to identify species and locations in most urgent need of further conservation assessment and subsequent action. Finally, we grouped the NES based on the environments they occurred in and modelled the habitat distribution of these groups with a Maximum Entropy Species Distribution Model (MaxEnt). The NES were separable into three different groups based primarily on geological differences. The distribution of the habitat types for each group coincide partially with the HPNE described above and also indicates some areas which have high habitat suitability but few recorded NES. Some of these areas may represent under-sampled hotspots of narrow endemism and are priorities for further field work.
Plan de classement
Sciences du monde végétal [076] ; Etudes, transformation, conservation du milieu naturel [082]
Description Géographique
NOUVELLE CALEDONIE
Localisation
Fonds IRD [F B010061169] ; Nouméa
Identifiant IRD
fdi:010061169
Contact