Invasive American bullfrogs and African Clawed Frogs in South America: High Suitability of Occurrence in Biodiversity Hotspots

摘要

Invasion ofprotected areas by non-native species is currently one of the main threats to globalbiodiversity. Using an ensemble of bioclimatic envelope models we quantify the degree ofexposure of South American protected areas to invasion by two invasive amphibian species.We focus on protected areas that coincide with global biodiversity hotspots. The speciesmodeled, and ,have been reported to threaten local faunas in several non-native areas that they invaded,including areas in Asia, Europe, North America, and South America. We show that 87.5% ofthe protected areas within the Atlantic Forest may be most at risk of invasion by and under current climateconditions, followed by areas in the Cerrado (51.7), Tropical Andes (37.6%),Tumbes-Choco-Magdalena (22.5%), and Chilean Winter Rainfall and Valdivian Forests (20.5%).Conservation plans for these regions should, therefore, consider latent threats frommultiple sources including invasion by highly competitive non-native species such as theones modeled in our study.