Tanzania's reptile biodiversity: Distribution, threats and climate change vulnerability

Han Meng; Jamie Carr; Joe Beraducci; Phil Bowles; William Branch; Claudia Capitani; Jumapili Chenga; Neil Cox; Kim Howell; Patrick Malonza; Robert Marchant; Boniface Mbilinyi; Kusaga Mukama; Charles Msuya; Philip John Platts; Ignas Safari; Stephen Spawls; Yara Shennan-Farpon; Philipp Wagner; Neil Burgess

doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2016.04.008

Tanzania's reptile biodiversity: Distribution, threats and climate change vulnerability

Han Meng, Jamie Carr, Joe Beraducci, Phil Bowles, William Branch, Claudia Capitani, Jumapili Chenga, Neil Cox, Kim Howell, Patrick Malonza, Robert Marchant, Boniface Mbilinyi, Kusaga Mukama, Charles Msuya, Philip John Platts, Ignas Safari, Stephen Spawls, Yara Shennan-Farpon, Philipp Wagner, Neil Burgess

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

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.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	72-82
Number of pages	11
Journal	Biological Conservation
Volume	204
Issue number	Part A
Early online date	17 May 2016
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2016.04.008
Publication status	Published - 1 Dec 2016

Bibliographical note

Keywords

Conservation priority
Endemism
Protected areas
Red List
Species richness
Traits

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Meng_et_al_2016_Tanzanian_reptiles_manuscript
© 2016, Elsevier Ltd. This is an author-produced version of the published paper. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher’s self-archiving policy.
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Meng, H., Carr, J., Beraducci, J., Bowles, P., Branch, W., Capitani, C., Chenga, J., Cox, N., Howell, K., Malonza, P., Marchant, R., Mbilinyi, B., Mukama, K., Msuya, C., Platts, P. J., Safari, I., Spawls, S., Shennan-Farpon, Y., Wagner, P., & Burgess, N. (2016). Tanzania's reptile biodiversity: Distribution, threats and climate change vulnerability. Biological Conservation, 204(Part A), 72-82. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2016.04.008

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abstract = "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.",

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Meng, H, Carr, J, Beraducci, J, Bowles, P, Branch, W, Capitani, C, Chenga, J, Cox, N, Howell, K, Malonza, P, Marchant, R, Mbilinyi, B, Mukama, K, Msuya, C, Platts, PJ, Safari, I, Spawls, S, Shennan-Farpon, Y, Wagner, P & Burgess, N 2016, 'Tanzania's reptile biodiversity: Distribution, threats and climate change vulnerability', Biological Conservation, vol. 204, no. Part A, pp. 72-82. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2016.04.008

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AU - Meng, Han

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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

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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.

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KW - Protected areas

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KW - Species richness

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JO - Biological Conservation

JF - Biological Conservation

SN - 0006-3207

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ER -

Tanzania's reptile biodiversity: Distribution, threats and climate change vulnerability

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

Access to Document

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Cite this