Prioritization of areas for conservation of oaks (Fagaceae: Quercus) across their global biodiversity hotspot based on richness, endemism, and introgression

This repository contains the binary habitat suitability maps generated from species distribution models (SDMs) for the Mexican oaks (Quercus spp.) included in this study. These binary maps were used to identify conservation priority areas for Mexican oaks (Quercus spp.) across Mexico. We developed SDMs for 121 Quercus species occurring across Mexico using occurrence data compiled from public repositories and environmental predictors representing climate, topography, and vegetation structure. Models were calibrated and evaluated to estimate suitable habitat distributions for each species. The resulting habitat suitability models were converted into binary maps representing suitable and unsuitable areas and were subsequently combined to identify areas of high conservation priority for Mexican oaks. We calculated: i. species richness, ii. geographic and ecological endemism and iii. areas of high potential hybridization A multicriteria spatial prioritization analysis was then conducted to identify regions with the highest overall conservation value for Mexican oaks. The Sierra Madre Oriental, Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt, and Sierra Madre del Sur consistently emerged as hotspots of oak diversity and hybridization potential. Repository contents: This repository contains: • Binary maps for the Maxent_100kmBuffer • Scripts: iv. Multicriteria_Analysis v. SympatryNetwork_Analysis vi. Per-state and Per-bioregion diversity vii. ProtectedAreasAnalysis