title: Conservation of Terrestrial Vertebrates in a Global Hotspot of Karst Area in Southwestern China.
abstract: The karst area of southwest China (KASC) is the largest piece of karst landscape on the earth and a global biodiversity hot-spot with high concentrations of endemic species. Although a number of nature reserves (NRs) have been established across the region, the representativeness of biodiversity of the NR system is still unknown. Based on comprehensive literature and field surveys, and intensive consultations with zoologists and wildlife managers, we compiled distributions of 1,204 terrestrial vertebrate species and 271 NRs in KASC. We found Jinxiu, Mengla, Hekou, and Jinghong have the richest amphibian species; Jinxiu has the highest species richness of reptiles; Jinghong, Menghai, and Mengla have the largest numbers of avian species; whereas, Mengla, Longzhou, and Ningming have the greatest mammalian diversity in the region. Gap analysis among NR system, species richness pattern, and five biogeographic indicators found insufficient representation of the NR system on territorial vertebrate diversity. The conservation effectiveness in Guizhou Province was much lower than that in Guangxi and Yunnan Provinces. Under-representation and over-representation simultaneously occurred in many of the ecoregions, elevation classes, vegetation types, landcover categories, and human disturbance intensity gradients. For conservation of terrestrial vertebrates in KASC, several suggestions were presented in this study.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.|School of Life Sciences, Central China Normal University, Wuhan 430079, China.
authors.forename: Zhenhua
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
authors.forename: Songhua
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.|University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
authors.forename: Zhigang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.|University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
authors.forename: Hongxia
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.|University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
authors.forename: Chunwang
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000663:Amphibians / Q000145:classification / Q000254:growth & development; D000818:Animals; D044822:Biodiversity; D001717:Birds / Q000145:classification / Q000254:growth & development; D002119:Calcium Carbonate / Q000737:chemistry*; D002681:China; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources / Q000379:methods*; D017753:Ecosystem; D005843:Geography; D006801:Humans; D008322:Mammals / Q000145:classification / Q000254:growth & development; D011156:Population Density; D012104:Reptiles / Q000145:classification / Q000254:growth & development; D014714:Vertebrates / Q000145:classification / Q000254:growth & development*
chemical_list: D002119:Calcium Carbonate