Osa Conservation, Washington, DC, United States of America.
Osa Conservation Campus, Puntarenas, Costa Rica.
PLoS One. 2024 May 31;19(5):e0304756. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0304756. eCollection 2024.
Climate adaptation corridors are widely recognized as important for promoting biodiversity resilience under climate change. Central America is part of the Mesoamerican biodiversity hotspot, but there have been no regional-scale analyses of potential climate adaptation corridors in Central America. We identified 2375 potential corridors throughout Central America that link lowland protected areas (≤ 500 m) with intact, high-elevation forests (≥ 1500 m) that represent potential climate change refugia. Whereas we found potential corridors in all Central American countries, potential corridors in Panama, Belize, and Honduras were most protected (medians = 64%, 49%, and 47%, respectively) and potential corridors in El Salvador were least protected (median = 10%). We also developed a corridor priority index based on the ecological characteristics and protected status of potential corridors and their associated start and end points. Compared to low- and medium-priority corridors, high-priority corridors (n = 160; top 7% of all corridors) were generally more protected, forested, and distributed across wider elevational gradients and more Key Biodiversity Areas, but also generally linked larger lowland protected areas to target areas that were larger, more protected, and spanned wider elevational gradients. For example, based on median values, high-priority corridors were 9% more protected and overlapped with 2-3 more Key Biodiversity Areas than low- and medium-priority corridors. Although high-elevation targets spanned considerably wider elevational gradients than lowland protected areas (medians = 695 vs. 142 m, respectively) and thus may be more likely to support refugia, they were considerably smaller than lowland protected areas (medians = 11 vs. 50 km2 respectively) and mostly unprotected (median = 4% protection). This initial, regional assessment can help prioritize locations for finer-scale research, conservation, and restoration activities in support of climate adaptation corridors throughout Central America and highlights the need for greater conservation of potential high-elevation refugia.
气候适应走廊被广泛认为是促进气候变化下生物多样性恢复力的重要手段。中美洲是中美洲生物多样性热点地区的一部分，但尚未对中美洲的潜在气候适应走廊进行区域规模的分析。我们在中美洲各地确定了 2375 条潜在的走廊，这些走廊将低地保护区（≤500 米）与完整的高海拔森林（≥1500 米）连接起来，这些森林是潜在的气候变化避难所。虽然我们在所有中美洲国家都发现了潜在的走廊，但巴拿马、伯利兹和洪都拉斯的潜在走廊受到的保护最多（中位数分别为 64%、49%和 47%），而萨尔瓦多的潜在走廊受到的保护最少（中位数为 10%）。我们还根据潜在走廊及其相关起点和终点的生态特征和保护状况，制定了一个走廊优先指数。与低优先级和中优先级走廊相比，高优先级走廊（n=160；所有走廊中前 7%）通常受到更好的保护，森林覆盖度更高，分布在更广泛的海拔梯度上，与更多的关键生物多样性区域相连，但也通常将更大的低地保护区与更大、更受保护且海拔梯度更宽的目标区域连接起来。例如，基于中位数，高优先级走廊的保护程度比低优先级和中优先级走廊高 9%，与更多的关键生物多样性区域重叠。虽然高海拔目标的海拔梯度比低地保护区宽得多（中位数分别为 695 米和 142 米），因此更有可能支持避难所，但它们比低地保护区小得多（中位数分别为 11 公里和 50 平方公里），而且大部分没有得到保护（中位数为 4%）。这一初步的区域评估可以帮助确定优先地点，以便在中美洲各地进行更精细的研究、保护和恢复活动，支持气候适应走廊，并强调需要更大程度地保护潜在的高海拔避难所。
