Complementarity of Species Distributions as a Tool for Prioritising Conservation Actions in Africa: Testing the Efficiency of Using Coarse-Scale Distribution Data

Abstract

Because of limited resources for conservation, and conflicts with other interests, systematic priority analysis is now a central task in conservation biology. Because of doubts about how efficient conservation schemes based on samples of biomes are for maintaining biodiversity, a major shift has taken place to use species distribution data compiled for large numbers of species. The spatial resolution of distribution data for regional or global analysis must necessarily be rather coarse, and it is therefore unclear whether identified priority areas will hold viable populations of all the species they are assumed to cover. We tested this using more finely resolved distribution data for forest birds of eastern Africa. The broad priority areas identified using coarse-scale data were corroborated using fine-scale data, and they appear to include suitable conservation sites for the majority of species. Exceptions to this were mainly in zones with few strictly forest-dependent species. Procedures for corrections and for moving on to identifying action sites within broader priority areas are discussed.