• Studies of endangered animals on border

    From ScienceDaily@1:317/3 to All on Tue Mar 22 22:30:46 2022
    Studies of endangered animals on border of China and Vietnam stress need
    for transboundary conservation
    As climate change forces species to migrate across borders, scientists recommend coordinated approaches to prevent biodiversity loss

    Date:
    March 22, 2022
    Source:
    American Museum of Natural History
    Summary:
    A series of studies on endangered species that make their homes
    on the border of Vietnam and China underscores the growing
    importance of transboundary conservation efforts in the face of
    climate change. As the world warms, many plant and animal species
    migrate from their traditional habitats, increasing the likelihood
    of local and global extinctions.



    FULL STORY ==========================================================================
    A series of studies on endangered species that make their homes on
    the border of Vietnam and China underscores the growing importance of transboundary conservation efforts in the face of climate change. As the
    world warms, many plant and animal species migrate from their traditional habitats, increasing the likelihood of local and global extinctions. A
    special issue of the journal Frontiers of Biogeography co-edited by the American Museum of Natural History's Director of Biodiversity Informatics Research Mary Blair stresses that strategic, coordinated approaches
    toward managing transboundary species and landscapes is essential to
    preventing biodiversity loss.


    ========================================================================== "Biodiversity is undergoing dramatic loss on the global level, and
    we know that it is essential to human health and wellbeing -- and
    that one of the most complex and challenging threats to biodiversity
    is climate change," said Blair, who works in the Museum's Center for Biodiversity and Conservation and co- edited the special issue along with collaborators Minh Le from Vietnam National University and Ming Xu from
    Henan University in China. "There's an urgent need for more information
    about how climate change is already affecting the distributions of key endangered species and habitats to inform conservation action planning, especially in areas where there may be limited capacity or resources
    for management, such as Southeast Asia." Globally, more than half of
    all terrestrial birds, mammals, and amphibians have distributions that
    cross national borders. In addition to threats such as deforestation
    and hunting, these species may be harmed by the construction of border infrastructure and the lack of coordination of conservation activities
    on either side of the border. These threats are likely to be exacerbated
    by climate change. A previously conducted study predicts that most areas climatically suitable as habitat for about one-third of mammal and bird
    species will have shifted to a different country by the 2070s.

    To further investigate this issue, in 2018, with funding from the Prince
    Albert II of Monaco Foundation, Blair, Le, and Xu began a project
    focused on a suite of ecologically and culturally important species
    that live near the China- Vietnam border and are at risk from climate
    change. These include one of the most endangered animals in the world,
    the Cao Vit gibbon, which is found in only one small forest patch; one
    of the world's most threatened trees, Magnolia grandis, with a total
    population of fewer than 120 adult trees; and the Francois' langur, a
    monkey that thrives in a special type of forest that grows over limestone.

    "Our analyses show that suitable habitat for species like the Cao Vit
    gibbon and the Owston's civet will significantly shrink and become
    highly fragmented, whereas habitat for the endangered crocodile lizard
    will substantially shift under future climate scenarios. The results
    of the study will play a crucial role in formulating appropriate
    transboundary conservation measures," said Minh Le. "The special issue
    is published almost concurrently with the approval of the new Vietnam
    National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan, which highlights the
    importance of assessing impacts of climate change on biodiversity,
    especially highly endangered species, in the country and designing transboundary conservation measures in collaboration with neighboring countries." "The project is also timely and important to China's national biodiversity conservation plan. China is reforming its protected areas
    by establishing a more efficient conservation network to better protect
    species and ecosystems in the country, including the 'new immigrants'
    expected to arrive under future climate change," said Ming Xu. "Results
    of the project have also been used to support China's National Spatial
    Planning Initiative, which requires delimitation and implementation
    along three control lines, namely the ecological protection boundaries, permanently protected farmlands, and urban development boundaries."
    The special journal issue includes these detailed studies as well as
    commentary from the three editors on best practices for using species distribution models (SDMs), which can identify how a species' range
    might shift under climate change. They authors agree that, especially
    in transboundary conservation contexts, SDMs should be collaboratively developed from the outset with all of the stakeholders.

    "Borders often exemplify complex sociopolitical contexts and
    histories between countries," Blair said. "So conservation scientists, practitioners, and managers have an obligation to understand those
    contexts and know how they relate to our work and the goals of
    conservation. As global changes, including climate change, continue,
    we will have to increasingly work across borders to achieve biodiversity conservation goals and to do better science." This project benefitted
    from the support of the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation. Technical support was received from Cologne Zoo, Fauna and Flora International,
    and the Center for Plan Conservation, among others.


    ========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by
    American_Museum_of_Natural_History. Note: Content may be edited for
    style and length.


    ========================================================================== Journal Reference:
    1. Hai Ngoc Ngo, Huy Quoc Nguyen, Tien Quang Phan, Truong Quang Nguyen,
    Laurenz R. Gewiss, Dennis Ro"dder, Thomas Ziegler. Modeling the
    environmental refugia of the endangered Lichtenfelder's Tiger
    Gecko (Goniurosaurus lichtenfelderi) towards implementation of
    transboundary conservation. Frontiers of Biogeography, 2022; 14
    (1) DOI: 10.21425/ F5FBG51167 ==========================================================================

    Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/03/220322150915.htm

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