Data from: Remotely sensed data informs red list evaluations and conservation priorities in southeast Asia

The IUCN Red List has assessed the global distributions of the majority of the world’s amphibians, birds and mammals. Yet these assessments lack explicit reference to widely available, remotely-sensed data that can sensibly inform a species’ risk of extinction. Our first goal is to add additional quantitative data to the existing standardised process that IUCN employs. Secondly, we ask: do our results suggest species of concern—those at considerably greater risk than hitherto appreciated? Thirdly, these assessments are not only important on a species-by-species basis. By combining distributions of species of concern, we map conservation priorities. We ask to what degree these areas are currently protected and how might knowledge from remote sensing modify the priorities? Finally, we develop a quick and simple method to identify and modify the priority setting in a landscape where natural habitats are disappearing rapidly and so where conventional species’ assessments might be too slow to respond. Tropical, mainland Southeast Asia is under exceptional threat, yet relatively poorly known. Here, additional quantitative measures may be particularly helpful. This region contains over 122, 183, and 214 endemic mammals, birds, and amphibians, respectively, of which the IUCN considers 37, 21, and 37 threatened. When corrected for the amount of remaining natural habitats within the known elevation preferences of species, the average sizes of species ranges shrink to <40% of their published ranges. Some 79 mammal, 49 bird, and 184 amphibian ranges are <20,000km2—an area at which IUCN considers most other species to be threatened. Moreover, these species are not better protected by the existing network of protected areas than are species that IUCN accepts as threatened. Simply, there appear to be considerably more species at risk than hitherto appreciated. Furthermore, incorporating remote sensing data showing where habitat loss is prevalent changes the locations of conservation priorities.

世界自然保护联盟红色名录（IUCN Red List）已完成全球绝大多数两栖类、鸟类与哺乳类动物的全球分布评估，但此类评估未明确引用可有效辅助评估物种灭绝风险的通用遥感(remote-sensed)数据。本研究的首要目标是为IUCN现行的标准化评估流程补充更多定量数据。其次，我们旨在探究：本研究结果是否提示存在亟需关注的物种——即那些灭绝风险远高于此前认知的类群？此外，这类评估并非仅在单一物种层面具有重要价值。通过整合亟需关注物种的分布范围，我们可以绘制保护优先级区域。我们希望明确当前这些区域的保护覆盖程度，以及遥感相关知识将如何改变保护优先级的设定。最终，我们开发出一种快速简便的方法，用于在自然栖息地快速消失、传统物种评估难以及时响应的景观中，识别并调整保护优先级设置。东南亚大陆热带地区正面临异常严峻的栖息地威胁，但其相关研究却相对匮乏。在此类区域中，补充定量评估手段或许尤为有效。该区域分别拥有超过122种、183种及214种特有哺乳类、鸟类与两栖类动物，其中IUCN将其中37种、21种及37种列为受威胁物种。若依据物种已知的海拔偏好范围内现存自然栖息地的占比进行校正，物种分布范围的平均面积将缩减至已公布范围的40%以下。约有79种哺乳类、49种鸟类及184种两栖类的分布范围不足20000平方千米——这一面积阈值正是IUCN认定多数其他物种受威胁的标准。此外，相较于IUCN认定的受威胁物种，这些物种并未得到现有保护地网络的更好保护。简言之，面临灭绝风险的物种数量远多于此前的认知。进一步结合显示栖息地流失高发区域的遥感数据，将改变保护优先级的空间分布格局。