Sequential use of niche and occupancy models identifies conservation and research priority areas for two data-poor endemic birds from the Colombian Andes

The lack of high-quality information on data-poor species can hinder efforts to inform conservation actions via spatial distribution modeling. This is particularly true for tropical birds of conservation concern, for which ecological studies and assessments of their conservation status have received limited funding. Here we use a cost- and time-efficient protocol for assessing the distribution of range-restricted taxa and to identify priority areas for their conservation based on a sequential application of Environmental Niche Models (ENMs) and Occupancy-Detection Models. This approach first uses available geographical information and niche-theory to prioritize potential study sites, which can later be surveyed to obtain high-quality presence-absence data to accurately model distributional ranges with limited resources. We apply this protocol to identify priority areas for two Neotropical birds of conservation concern endemic to the Colombian Andes: Yellow-headed Brush-finch (Atlapetes ...