Reece Joshua Steven, Noss Reed F, Oetting Jon, Hoctor Tom, Volk Michael
Department of Biology, Valdosta State University, Valdosta, Georgia, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2013 Nov 19;8(11):e80658. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0080658. eCollection 2013.
Species face many threats, including accelerated climate change, sea level rise, and conversion and degradation of habitat from human land uses. Vulnerability assessments and prioritization protocols have been proposed to assess these threats, often in combination with information such as species rarity; ecological, evolutionary or economic value; and likelihood of success. Nevertheless, few vulnerability assessments or prioritization protocols simultaneously account for multiple threats or conservation values. We applied a novel vulnerability assessment tool, the Standardized Index of Vulnerability and Value, to assess the conservation priority of 300 species of plants and animals in Florida given projections of climate change, human land-use patterns, and sea level rise by the year 2100. We account for multiple sources of uncertainty and prioritize species under five different systems of value, ranging from a primary emphasis on vulnerability to threats to an emphasis on metrics of conservation value such as phylogenetic distinctiveness. Our results reveal remarkable consistency in the prioritization of species across different conservation value systems. Species of high priority include the Miami blue butterfly (Cyclargus thomasi bethunebakeri), Key tree cactus (Pilosocereus robinii), Florida duskywing butterfly (Ephyriades brunnea floridensis), and Key deer (Odocoileus virginianus clavium). We also identify sources of uncertainty and the types of life history information consistently missing across taxonomic groups. This study characterizes the vulnerabilities to major threats of a broad swath of Florida's biodiversity and provides a system for prioritizing conservation efforts that is quantitative, flexible, and free from hidden value judgments.
物种面临着诸多威胁，包括加速的气候变化、海平面上升以及人类土地利用导致的栖息地转变和退化。人们已提出脆弱性评估和优先排序方案来评估这些威胁，通常还会结合物种稀有程度、生态、进化或经济价值以及成功可能性等信息。然而，很少有脆弱性评估或优先排序方案能同时兼顾多种威胁或保护价值。我们应用了一种新颖的脆弱性评估工具——脆弱性与价值标准化指数，根据对2100年气候变化、人类土地利用模式和海平面上升的预测，评估佛罗里达州300种动植物的保护优先级。我们考虑了多种不确定性来源，并在五种不同的价值体系下对物种进行优先排序，从主要强调对威胁的脆弱性到强调保护价值指标，如系统发育独特性。我们的结果显示，在不同的保护价值体系中，物种的优先排序具有显著的一致性。高优先级物种包括迈阿密蓝蝶（Cyclargus thomasi bethunebakeri）、基韦斯特树仙人掌（Pilosocereus robinii）、佛罗里达暗翅蝶（Ephyriades brunnea floridensis）和基韦斯特鹿（Odocoileus virginianus clavium）。我们还确定了不确定性来源以及各分类群中一直缺失的生活史信息类型。这项研究描述了佛罗里达州广泛生物多样性面临的主要威胁的脆弱性，并提供了一个用于保护工作优先排序的系统，该系统具有定量、灵活且无隐藏价值判断的特点。
