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Here I examine the overexploitation of Artemisia granatensis, a narrow endemic medicinal plant species from Sierra Nevada, Spain, and the consequences for its conservation. With over 50,000 flowering plant species used for medicinal purposes worldwide, many species face sustainability issues due to overharvesting and habitat loss. Historical documentation of A. granatensis use dates back to the 13th century, highlighting its significance in traditional medicine. However, this species has suffered extensive overexploitation, particularly in the 19th and 20th centuries, leading to a significant decline in populations. Conservation concerns were first raised in 1909, and despite the species being legally protected since 1982, illegal collection and environmental pressures persist. Today, A. granatensis is critically endangered, with fewer than 2000 individuals remaining in fragmented populations. The study synthesizes the historical and recent literature to understand the long-standing pressures on this species and the limited conservation efforts made. Cultivation of A. granatensis is proposed as a crucial strategy to reduce pressure on wild populations and ensure the survival of this flagship important plant species.

Conversion of natural, heterogenous tropical forests to intensively managed, monoculture-production landscapes is a major threat to biodiversity. This phenomenon is driven by global demand for commodities such as wood, palm oil, sugar, and soybean. The economies of many countries in tropical areas depend on these commodities, and there is a need to ensure economic welfare while protecting biodiversity. Certification schemes such as those developed by the Forest Stewardship Council and Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil are intended to provide incentive to companies to employ environmentally and socially sustainable production practices. One element of these certification schemes is the concept of High Conservation Values (HCVs) which fall into six categories that encompass ecological indicators and human dimensions. The HCV process has expanded beyond production landscapes to include long-term conservation planning. Despite expansion, implementation of the HCV process as it pertains to biodiversity is challenged, in part, by a lack of specificity regarding target metrics. Another challenge is that, in practice, there is a short time period for assessment, resulting in limited collection of primary data and a reliance on secondary data sources for interpolation. HCV guidance advances a precautionary approach to assessment, but in some regions, there is not enough known about the biology, behavior, or interspecific associations of species to effectively assess what is not observed. In this paper, we assess environmental HCVs in a well-studied timber production system in Sarawak, East Malaysia. Using an original long-term multi-method dataset of avifaunal surveys as well as published datasets of other taxa, we 1) assess biodiversity metrics at the site including presence of Rare, Threatened, and Endemic species, 2) assess change over time at assessment locations, and 3) evaluate costs and benefits of the various methods and provide best practice recommendations for HCV assessment and long-term monitoring. Finally, we recommend transparent data-archiving and sharing for improved accuracy and efficiency in the HCV process. Managed landscapes are important areas for ecological research that are beneficial not only to the restoration and conservation of species and ecosystems but also to well-informed certification and long-term sustainability.

Aim: New protected areas should consider safeguarding high conservation value sites based on multiple criteria and not just the presence of a single endangered or charismatic species. However, the extent to which complementary criteria coincide is usually unknown. We use the case of Guaiacum sanctum (Zygopyllaceae), an endangered timber tree species, to explore whether the protection of forests where this species is most abundant would meet other complementary conservation goals, such as capturing regional plant biodiversity, protecting other threatened/endemic species or safeguarding ecosystem services. Location: Yucatan Peninsula, southern Mexico. Methods: We conducted an analysis of the structure, composition and diversity of tree communities (including stems ≥5 cm dbh) at eight G. sanctum forest sites. We identified endemic and threatened tree species and quantified above-ground tree biomass and carbon storage in these G. sanctum forests. Results: Guaiacum sanctum forests contain 35—59 tree species on plots as small as 1000 m 2 . The species composition of tree communities changed rapidly (high β-diversity) across soil boundaries and rainfall regimes. Twenty-one endemic and eight threatened tree species were recorded in our inventories. Individuals of G. sanctum represented up to 55% of the above-ground carbon for trees ≥5 cm dbh. The high basal area of G. sanctum forests plus the high wood density, abundance, large size and longevity (more than 500 years) of G. sanctum and other tree species enhance the potential importance of these forests for carbon storage. Main conclusions: A conservation strategy focused on protecting important populations of G. sanctum in the Yucatan Peninsula would have significant co-benefits for conservation of regional tree species biodiversity and provision of critical ecosystem services. Our study illustrates a multiple criteria approach useful for the selection of areas with high conservation value on the basis of endemic, threatened species, species richness and ecosystem services.

Delphinium fissum subsp. sordidum is a restricted endemic subspecies whose core distribution is located in the central-western Iberian Peninsula with a disjunct subpopulation in Sierra Mágina (Jaén Province). This article reports a detailed study of its current distribution, population size and structure, and the threats that it faces. Phytosociological analysis shows two main plant communities where D. fissum subsp. sordidum develops: Quercion pyrenaicae and Quercion broteroi. According to the most recent IUCN categories and criteria, the conservation status of D. fissum subsp. sordidum is “Endangered” (EN) in Castile and Leon. We propose the creation of a Plant Micro-Reserve (PMR) in an enclave with high geological, ecological and conservation values. Medium-long term and individualized monitoring programs are required for all distribution range of Delphinium fissum subsp. sordidum. An overall Recovery Plan for the subspecies should be considered and implemented, including in-situ and ex-situ conservation measures that guarantee its protection, conservation and recovery.

Dendrophidion boshelli is a poorly known and endemic snake species from the Middle Magdalena river valley in Colombia. It was described in 1944 based on a single specimen from the municipality of Caparrapí, department of Cundinamarca. Since the original description, only three additional specimens have been established. As part of the results of a herpetological monitoring in the Miel I Hydroelectric project, department of Caldas-Colombia, three additional specimens of D. boshelli were found in 2014–2015. The specimens represent the second known population of the species. We presented morphological data and pholidosis; description of the coloration in life, and a description of the habitat. Recently, D. boshelli was included as a Critically Endangered (CR) species in the Red Book of Reptiles of Colombia, and the IUCN Redlist. For this reason, to promote the local conservation of this and other endemic and threatened species in the Miel I area, we suggested some actions at the local level, such as establishing a conservation area with legal status in the Middle Manso River basin, which is a tributary of the Miel I Hydroelectric project.

Although it is widely believed that an important function of protected areas is to conserve species that are unable to survive elsewhere, there are very few empirical studies in which a comparison is made between biodiversity of protected areas and that of the cultivated landscape surrounding them. We examined the diversity of trees, birds, and macrofungi at 58 sites in three land-use types in a tree-covered landscape in Kodagu district in the Western Ghats of India. Ten forest reserve sites in the formal protected area, and 25 sacred groves and 23 coffee plantations in the neighboring cultivated landscape were sampled. A total of 215 tree, 86 bird, and 163 macrofungus species were recorded. The forest reserve had a large number of trees that were restricted in their distribution, and the sacred groves had a large number of macrofungi. We observed that deciduous trees and non-forest-dwelling birds increased, and evergreen trees and forest-dwelling birds decreased with increasing intensity of land management. We found that trees having non-timber uses and macrofungi useful to the local people, as well as those with medicinal properties, were abundant in sacred groves. We found no significant differences in the distribution of endemic and threatened birds across the three land-use types. Although endemic trees were more abundant in the forest reserve than in sacred groves, threatened trees were more abundant in sacred groves than in the forest reserve. We attribute the high diversity in sacred groves to the native tree cover in shade coffee plantations. We conclude that informal protected areas are as important as formal ones for biodiversity conservation in Kodagu. We recommend that a conservation strategy that recognizes informal protection traditions is essential for successful biodiversity conservation in regions where formal reserves are surrounded by a matrix of cultivated land.

The oceanic island of Gran Canaria, part of the Macaronesian Archipelagos, is highly deteriorated, a situation which has had negative repercussions for endemic species. A recent law, however, established 32 Protected Natural Areas in an attempt to remedy the problem. In the present work we show the distribution of common (non-endemic) land snails on the island. The snails were largely introduced by man over the past five centuries. A comparison between the distribution of the endemic land snails and the protected areas shows the latter to be generally adequate. We also suggest some modifications to the law in two Areas and the addition to the list of two further Areas so as to guarantee protection of several endemic species currently under threat (according to the criteria of the IUCN): 2 'critically endangered', Hemicycla saulcyi saulcyi and Napaeus isletae, 2 'vulnerable', Theba arinagae and Obelus despreauxii, and 1 'lower risk', Hemicycla berkeleyi.[PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]

Central Pamir-Alai, which is located almost entirely within the area of Tajikistan, is one of the world hotspots of biodiversity, harbouring ca. 4,300 species and 1,400 endemic plants. The first application of the IUCN Red List criteria reveals that among all native species occurring in Tajikistan 1,627 taxa (38.11%) are threatened, including 23 extinct (0.54%), 271 (6.34%) critically endangered (CR), 717 (16.79%) endangered (EN) and 639 (14.96%) vulnerable (VU). Globally, 20 taxa are extinct, 711 (16.65%) threatened, including 144 (3.37%) critically endangered, 322 (7.54%) endangered and 245 (5.73%) vulnerable. As we found positive correlation between human density and the number of threatened species, we suspect this indirect factor responsible for the species diversity decline. Extinct or threatened taxa have short blooming periods in spring or early summer, have limited geographical range and inhabit mainly valley bottoms at lower altitudes. Threatened taxa occupy extremely dry or wet habitats, such as deserts, semi-deserts, water reservoirs and fens. The group of threatened plants consists mostly of Central Asian, Indo-Indochinese and Arctic species. Ornamental plants have a higher extinction risk than other plants, but species collected for medicinal reasons and used for forage or food reveal lower retreatment rate. Our assessment fills a gap for important plant area and provides the data for raising the effectiveness of plant diversity conservation.

Groundwater-dependent species are among the least-known components of global biodiversity, as well as some of the most vulnerable because of rapid groundwater depletion at regional and global scales. The karstic Edwards–Trinity aquifer system of west-central Texas is one of the most species-rich groundwater systems in the world, represented by dozens of endemic groundwater-obligate species with narrow, naturally fragmented distributions. Here, we examine how geomorphological and hydrogeological processes have driven population divergence and speciation in a radiation of salamanders (Eurycea) endemic to the Edwards–Trinity system using phylogenetic and population genetic analysis of genome-wide DNA sequence data. Results revealed complex patterns of isolation and reconnection driven by surface and subsurface hydrology, resulting in both adaptive and nonadaptive population divergence and speciation. Our results uncover cryptic species diversity and refine the borders of several threatened and endangered species. The US Endangered Species Act has been used to bring state regulation to unrestricted groundwater withdrawals in the Edwards (Balcones Fault Zone) Aquifer, where listed species are found. However, the Trinity and Edwards–Trinity (Plateau) aquifers harbor additional species with similarly small ranges that currently receive no protection from regulatory programs designed to prevent groundwater depletion. Based on regional climate models that predict increased air temperature, together with hydrologic models that project decreased springflow, we conclude that Edwards–Trinity salamanders and other codistributed groundwater-dependent organisms are highly vulnerable to extinction within the next century.

Forests provide crucial ecosystem services and are increasingly threatened by invasive plant species. The spread of these invasive species has affected biodiversity and has become a trending topic due to its impact on both endemic species and biodiversity. Therefore, it is imperative to implement conservation measures to protect native species such as mapping and monitoring invasive plant species in the forest realm. Mapping understory herb invasive plant species within forest categories is challenging, for example species such as Ageratum conyzoides and Cassia tora do not occur in distinct clusters, making them difficult to distinguish from the surrounding forest. In this paper, phenology plays a vital role for analysing the separability of both inter and intra-species discrimination to examine temporal curves for different vegetation indices that affect plant growth during the green and senescence periods. Machine learning algorithms, including regression tree-based algorithms, decision tree-based algorithms, and probabilistic algorithms, were used to determine the most effective algorithm for pixel-based classification. Support Vector Machine (SVM) classifier was the most effective method, with an overall accuracy of this classifier was calculated as 90.28% and a kappa of 0.88. The findings indicate that machine learning algorithms remain effective for pixel-based classification of understory invasive plant species from forest class. Thus, this study shows a technical method to distinguish invasive plant species from forest class which can help forest managers to locate invasion sites to eradicate them and conserve native biodiversity.