Global Protected Areas as refuges for amphibians and reptiles under climate change
Climate change now looms as one of the greatest threats to global biodiversity. The development of global-scale analyses aimed to identify sensitive species and important geographic regions for determining the most effective conservation actions of biodiversity worldwide. Protected Areas (PAs) – geographic regions legally designated for the protection of biodiversity and cultural resources – play an essential role in maintaining global biodiversity, underpinning conservation programs worldwide to mitigate the different impacts, including climate change. PAs are very important for protecting amphibians and reptiles around the world, and their effectiveness of protecting the global herpetofauna from climate change has been evaluated in some regions and groups but with significant limitations that have prevented a comprehensive global assessment of the role of PAs across these taxonomic groups worldwide. To fill the existing gaps, we provided a comprehensive, global assessment of the effectiveness of Protected Areas (PAs) in conserving reptiles and amphibians currently and in the face of future climate change over the course of the ongoing century.
