This map is one of a series of global maps that show where projected habitat loss and climate change are expected to drive the need for future reserves to prevent biodiversity loss. In the face of impending global change, some regions in the world are more in need of having lands protected than others. This map shows regions of the world, color-ranked by how much area is projected to change by 2100 in relation to how much area is currently protected, ('Conservation Risk'). Many of the tropical, but not temperate regions with greatest risk, (red), are also of highest conservation value, as indicated by their higher number of globally unique amphibians, birds, mammals and reptiles. High change-protection ratio and much unique biodiversity combine to create a high conservation need. The map is the end result of a research study headed by Walter Jetz, assistant professor of biological sciences at the University of California, San Diego. Jetz and his research team found that many of the regions that face the greatest habitat change, in relation to the amount of land currently protected--like Indonesia and Madagascar--are in globally threatened and endemic species-rich, developing tropical nations that have the fewest resources for conservation. On the other hand, many of the temperate regions of the planet that already have an expansive network of reserves are in countries like Austria, Germany and Switzerland, with the greatest financial resources for conservation efforts, but with comparatively less biodiversity under threat. The study, which was funded by the National Science Foundation, provides a guide for conservationists to the areas of our planet where conservation investments would have the most impact in the future, thus limiting extinctions and damage to ecosystems caused by rapid, human-driven climate change and poor land-use.
