Priority areas for biodiversity conservation in the context of global change
Résumé
Human-driven habitat degradation, climate change and biological invasions are major causes of current species mass extinction. In Europe where wetland
surface area has declined by 90% since 1700s, the European pond turtle Emys orbicularis is considered as the reptile that suffered the most dramatic
decline. Recently alien turtle species originated from America, Asia and Africa have been widely spread in Europe with high invasion potential threatening
native biodiversity. Using field data, open databases and GIS modelling, we mapped present and future distributions, in relation to habitat and climate
conditions, of the native European pond turtle and seven alien turtle species, including the red slider painted turtle Trachemys scripta sp. which is listed as
one of the 100 worst invasive species in the world. We show that presently T. scripta and Graptemys pseudogeographica exhibit highest ecological
flexibility, occupying most habitats suitable for native E. orbicularis with ~45% overlap at the scale of (mainly Western) Europe. By 2050, this overlap will
increase, except in Northern and Eastern Europe where E. orbicularis is predicted to expand its range by 700 km, while exotic turtles spread only up to
Southwestern Ukraine. We conclude that priority conservation areas for the endangered European pond turtle are Eastern and Northern Europe, where
competition risk of invasive turtles are limited.
We thank the projects EMYS-R (www.emysr.cnrs.fr), Nr.lzp-2021/1-0247 and PAUSE.
Domaines
Sciences du Vivant [q-bio]Origine | Fichiers produits par l'(les) auteur(s) |
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