Conservation biogeography of mammals in the Cerrado biome underthe unified theory of macroecology

摘要

Understanding what limits the distribution and abundance of species is critical for adopting optimalconservation planning strategies, although it is still difficult to obtain abundance data at broad spatialscales. Here we propose conservation priorities in the Brazilian Cerrado based on density values of 108mammal species. These values were estimated by an abundant-centre model coupled with McGill andCollin's unified theory for macroecology. We assumed that species' densities decay with a Gaussiandistribution towards the range borders from a maximum density placed at the centre of each species'range. We used allometric equations to estimate maximum densities, at the Cerrado region we correctedthe estimated densities by the natural vegetation remnants. Then we used a Simulated Annealingalgorithm to select alternative sets of areas that met several levels of minimum viable population sizes(MVPSs) for each species. With low MVPSs, there were a small number of highly irreplaceable areaslocated in the northwest region of the biome, whereas with high MVPSs, highly irreplaceable areasoccurred in up to 95% of the biome. By incorporating principles from the unified theory of macroecology,we were able to generate a conservation network for the Cerrado biome aiming to prioritise species'persistence and not just their presence.