Identifying priority conservation areas for threatened amphibian habitats in the Yangtze river Delta region to maintain regional biodiversity

Abstract

The complex life cycle traits of amphibians make them especially sensitive to environmental change, and their ongoing conservation requires the maintenance of suitable habitat that accounts for such life cycle characteristics which may impacted by local environmental dynamics arising from climate change and human disturbance. Many existing studies on amphibian habitats disregard this important issue, leading to uncertainty in managing critical habitats. The application of appropriate conservation practices is therefore constrained by the fact that the major factors influencing amphibian habitats, and their spatio-temporal dynamics at different life stages, are poorly understood. In responding to this notable shortcoming, we applied a Bayesian Belief Network model and geographical detector method to identify spatial and seasonal changes in threatened amphibian habitats of the Yangtze River Delta region (YRDR). Our results reveal the relative importance of different environmental factors contributing to spatio-temporal change of threatened amphibian habitats in YRDR. The results highlight the spatially heterogenous nature of amphibian habitats and the impacts of urbanization, as evidenced by quantitative metrics of percentage area of built-up land and distance to built-up land. Habitat conservation priority analyses also indicate the importance of prioritizing habitat restoration efforts in severely degraded areas. Analysis of seasonality indicates that amphibians face particularly severe challenges during their autumn hibernation period (Slope=-0.002). In revealing seasonal variations in the level of threat to amphibians at different life stages across different habitats, this study fills an important knowledge gap and therefore supports regional amphibian habitat conservation and restoration efforts. The results of the study further imply that current conservation strategies need to comprehensively account for seasonal changes, life-cycle stages, and spatial heterogeneity.

Keywords: China; Climate change; Habitat conservation; Land use change; Threatened amphibian; Yangtze river Delta.