Sites for priority biodiversity conservation in the Caribbean Islands Biodiversity Hotspot

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Published: Aug 6, 2012
DOI: https://doi.org/10.11609/JoTT.o2996.2806-44

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V. Anadon-Irizarry
D.C. Wege
A. Upgren
R. Young
B. Boom
Y.M. Leon
Y. Arias
K. Koenig
A.L. Morales
W. Burke

Abstract

The Caribbean Islands Biodiversity Hotspot is exceptionally important for global biodiversity conservation due to high levels of species endemism and threat. A total of 755 Caribbean plant and vertebrate species are considered globally threatened, making it one of the top Biodiversity Hotspots in terms of threat levels. In 2009, Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) were identified for the Caribbean Islands through a regional-level analysis of accessible data and literature, followed by extensive national-level stakeholder consultation. By applying the Vulnerability criterion, a total of 284 Key Biodiversity Areas were defined and mapped as holding 409 (54%) of the region’s threatened species. Of these, 144 (or 51%) overlapped partially or completely with protected areas. Cockpit Country, followed by Litchfield Mountain - Matheson’s Run, Blue Mountains (all Jamaica) and Massif de la Hotte (Haiti) were found to support exceptionally high numbers of globally threatened taxa, with more than 40 such species at each site. Key Biodiversity Areas, building from Important Bird Areas, provide a valuable framework against which to review the adequacy of existing national protected-area systems and also to prioritize which species and sites require the most urgent conservation attention.

Article Details

Issue
Vol 4, No 8 (2012)
Section
Communications

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Author Biographies

V. Anadon-Irizarry

Veronica Anadon-Irizarry is the Caribbean Program Manager for BirdLife International. She has been supporting the development, management and implementation of BirdLife’s Caribbean Program since 2005. She reviewed boundaries, processed, analyzed and confirmed data for all the threatened species contained in the 284 Caribbean KBAs included in the Caribbean Hotspot Ecosystem Profile. She is lead author of this manuscript.

D.C. Wege

David C. Wege is BirdLife International’s Senior Caribbean Program Manager. He has led the development of a comprehensive program of Caribbean conservation - delivered by BirdLife’s network of national partners. He led the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund project to develop the Caribbean Hotspot Ecosystem Profile, defining KBAs that provide the scientific basis for CEPF’s hotspot investment strategy. He provided the lead author with editorial guidance, technical support and advice based on our joint work to define the hotspot’s KBAs.

A. Upgren

Amy Upgren is the Advisor, Conservation Priorities, with the Conservation Priorities and Outreach team at Conservation International (CI). In conjunction with CI regional offices and partners, she identifies priorities to safeguard biodiversity and human well-being. She is currently working to develop CI’s institutional framework for identifying geographic priorities and to link science staff in CI headquarters with technical staff in the field. She is a member of the metrics and priority setting team and the freshwater and species teams. She compiled data, supported analysis, KBA delineation and prioritization, and edited the manuscript.

R. Young

Richard Young is Head of Conservation Science at the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, and leads research programmes to support the design, management and evaluation of Durrell’s conservation efforts in Madagascar, Mauritius, the Caribbean, the Pacific and India. He is Co-Chair of the IUCN/SSC Small Mammal Specialist Group and a Visiting Lecturer at the University of Bath, UK. He compiled publicly available spatial data on the distributions of globally threatened amphibians and reptiles for the Caribbean, including liaising with global experts to gather unpublished data, and drafted KBAs boundaries for review by national committees. He provided comments on the design of the paper and edited two drafts of the manuscript.

B. Boom

Brian Boom serves as Director of the Caribbean Biodiversity Program and Bassett Maguire Curator of Botany at The New York Botanical Garden. In collaboration with Cuban scientists, his current principal focus is to identify and assess Cuba’s most vulnerable plant species in the face of climate change and habitat loss. For this study and paper, he compiled spatial distribution data on globally threatened plant species in the Caribbean region, and, with NYBG colleague Hannah Stevens, mapped these occurrences to propose new KBAs.

Y.M. Leon

Yolanda M. Leon is a research professor at Instituto Tecnologico de Santo Domingo, managing the Geographic Information Systems Laboratory and specializing in environmental applications of GIS. She is the President of Grupo Jaragua, whose mission is to preserve the biodiversity of Hispaniola (with emphasis on the Jaragua-Bahoruco-Enriquillo UNESCO Biosphere Reserve) through work with local communities, environmental advocacy and education. She co-coordinated the Dominican Republic’s KBA stakeholder workshop, assisted with KBA identification, processed experts’ information, developed shapefiles and edited the manuscript.

Y. Arias

Yvonne Arias is the Executive Director and founder member of Grupo Jaragua and Vice-president of the IUCN Committee for the Dominican Republic. She was recently recognized with the Woman Merit Medal in the category of Science and Technology for the Conservation of the Environment and the Natural Resources granted by the Dominican Republic government. She has 30 years of experience in ecology and herpetology, protected areas and environmental education. She is the coordinator and co-author of the Important Bird Areas and coordinated the Dominican Republic’s KBA stakeholder workshop, and edited the manuscript.

K. Koenig

Kellee Koenig is the GIS Manager and Cartographer at Conservation International. She contributed to the study by compiling and helping correct the GIS data.

A.L. Morales

Alcides L. Morales is a biologist working on wetland enhancement and terrestrial bird surveys, and President of Sociedad Ornitologica Puertorriquena, Inc. He is experienced in wildlife research and conservation, working and collaborating with governmental agencies, universities, non-governmental organizations as a scientific research assistant and adviser both with plants and animals (especially birds). He contributed field observations, report and data to the 27 Puerto Rican KBAs, and provided general review to the manuscript.

W. Burke

Wayne Burke is Barbados Project Manager of BirdLife International currently working on a Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act funded project focusing on increasing survival prospects for Neotropical migratory shorebirds on Barbados. He acted as a facilitator and resource for species information and site descriptions for Barbados and the Lesser Antilles, and provided general review to the manuscript.