Patterns of species richness and turnover in endemic amphibians of the Guineo-Congolian rainforest

Aim: The African Guineo-Congolian (GC) region is a global biodiversity hotspot with high species endemism, bioclimatic heterogeneity, complex landscape features, and multiple biogeographic barriers. Bioclimatic and geographic variables influence global patterns of species richness and endemism, but their relative importance varies across taxa and regions and is poorly understood for many faunas. We characterized patterns of richness and turnover in endemic amphibians of the GC biodiversity hotspot and evaluated the relative roles of geographic distance and bioclimatic variables in predicting turnover. 
Location: West and Central Africa. 
Major taxa studied: Amphibians
Methods: We compiled species-occurrence records via field sampling, online databases, and taxonomic literature. Our study used 1205 unique georeferenced records of 222 amphibian species endemic to the GC region. Patterns of species richness were mapped onto a grid with a spatial resolution of 0.5° × 0.5°. We estimated weig..., Distributional data
To generate a comprehensive checklist of endemic amphibians of the GC forest, we searched the Amphibiaweb database (https://amphibiaweb.org/; last accessed date: 1 April 2021) and the Amphibian Species of the World database (https://amphibiansoftheworld.amnh.org; last accessed date: 1 April 2021) to confirm the geographic distribution and taxonomic citations of amphibian species. We further searched the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List database (https://www.iucnredlist.org) to cross-validate each species' geographic range and IUCN Red List status. We considered extant (resident) species in the GC forest for this study. Records with inaccurate/incomplete geographical location points were eliminated. Each species record was double-checked to match the currently recognized species distributions to produce an endemic amphibian species inventory for GC.
After this process, our initial data comprised 310 endemic amphibian species belonging to ...,