Global distribution patterns of terrestrial vertebrates: Implications for conservation

Accurate knowledge of the distribution and status of species is essential to preventing extinctions, but biodiversity conservation is often limited by lack of data and limited funding resources. I sought to test how species databases can inform conservation, thus making efforts more efficient. Three measures of biodiversity were of particular interest to me: species richness, species endemism, and species threat.; I created a uniquely comprehensive database that mapped the distributions of all terrestrial vertebrates in 799 ecoregions to assess the relative importance of species richness versus endemism globally. I show that global patterns of richness are highly correlated among amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals, as are endemism patterns. Furthermore, I demonstrate that although the correlation between global richness and endemism is low, aggregate regions selected for high levels of endemism capture significantly more species than expected by chance. While endemism has long been championed for the sake of protecting narrow-ranging species, these findings provide evidence that the measure is also a useful surrogate for the conservation of all terrestrial vertebrates.; The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species is the best source of information about the status of species. I argue that the Red List and its accompanying data are increasingly important as a tool for conservation planning because it is: quantitative instead of qualitative, not subject to political influence, and eliminating bias in its coverage of species both geographically and taxonomically. The utility of the Red List is especially apparent when combined with information about endemism.; The dual importance of threat and endemism is the foundation of the Alliance for Zero Extinction (AZE). This umbrella group includes 52 partners organizations committed to using the IUCN Red List and narrow-ranging species to identify sites of conservation concern the world over. I provide a geographic and taxonomic analysis of AZE sites in the Neotropics. More than half of all AZE sites and species are found within this realm. My work describes why the AZE strategy, and Neotropical AZE sites in particular, are essential to global conservation efforts. This new conservation approach results in the protection of highly threatened species.