TY - JOUR
T1 - Tanzania's reptile biodiversity
T2 - Distribution, threats and climate change vulnerability
AU - Meng, Han
AU - Carr, Jamie
AU - Beraducci, Joe
AU - Bowles, Phil
AU - Branch, William
AU - Capitani, Claudia
AU - Chenga, Jumapili
AU - Cox, Neil
AU - Howell, Kim
AU - Malonza, Patrick
AU - Marchant, Robert
AU - Mbilinyi, Boniface
AU - Mukama, Kusaga
AU - Msuya, Charles
AU - Platts, Philip John
AU - Safari, Ignas
AU - Spawls, Stephen
AU - Shennan-Farpon, Yara
AU - Wagner, Philipp
AU - Burgess, Neil
N1 - © 2016, Elsevier Ltd. This is an author-produced version of the published paper. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher’s self-archiving policy.
PY - 2016/12/1
Y1 - 2016/12/1
N2 - Assessments of biodiversity patterns and threats among African reptiles have lagged behind those of other vertebrate groups and regions. We report the first systematic assessment of the distribution, threat status, and climate change vulnerability for the reptiles of Tanzania. A total of 321 reptile species (including 90 Tanzanian endemics) were assessed using the global standard IUCN Red List methodology and 274 species were also assessed using the IUCN guidelines for climate change vulnerability. Patterns of species richness and threat assessment confirm the conservation importance of the Eastern Arc Mountains, as previously demonstrated for birds, mammals and amphibians. Lowland forests and savannah-woodland habitats also support important reptile assemblages. Protected area gap analysis shows that 116 species have less than 20% of their distribution ranges protected, among which 12 are unprotected, eight species are threatened and 54 are vulnerable to climate change. Tanzania's northern margins and drier central corridor support high numbers of climate vulnerable reptile species, together with the eastern African coastal forests and the region between Lake Victoria and Rwanda. This paper fills a major gap in our understanding of the distribution and threats facing Tanzania's reptiles, and demonstrates more broadly that the explicit integration of climate change vulnerability in Red Listing criteria may revise spatial priorities for conservation.
AB - Assessments of biodiversity patterns and threats among African reptiles have lagged behind those of other vertebrate groups and regions. We report the first systematic assessment of the distribution, threat status, and climate change vulnerability for the reptiles of Tanzania. A total of 321 reptile species (including 90 Tanzanian endemics) were assessed using the global standard IUCN Red List methodology and 274 species were also assessed using the IUCN guidelines for climate change vulnerability. Patterns of species richness and threat assessment confirm the conservation importance of the Eastern Arc Mountains, as previously demonstrated for birds, mammals and amphibians. Lowland forests and savannah-woodland habitats also support important reptile assemblages. Protected area gap analysis shows that 116 species have less than 20% of their distribution ranges protected, among which 12 are unprotected, eight species are threatened and 54 are vulnerable to climate change. Tanzania's northern margins and drier central corridor support high numbers of climate vulnerable reptile species, together with the eastern African coastal forests and the region between Lake Victoria and Rwanda. This paper fills a major gap in our understanding of the distribution and threats facing Tanzania's reptiles, and demonstrates more broadly that the explicit integration of climate change vulnerability in Red Listing criteria may revise spatial priorities for conservation.
KW - Conservation priority
KW - Endemism
KW - Protected areas
KW - Red List
KW - Species richness
KW - Traits
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84971330348&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.biocon.2016.04.008
DO - 10.1016/j.biocon.2016.04.008
M3 - Article
SN - 0006-3207
VL - 204
SP - 72
EP - 82
JO - Biological Conservation
JF - Biological Conservation
IS - Part A
ER -