Identifying biodiversity hotspots over time: stability, sampling bias, and conservation implications

Sánchez-Fernández, David ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1766-0761; Jiménez-Jiménez, Alba; Fox, Richard ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6992-3522; Dennis, Roger L.H.; Lobo, Jorge M. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3152-4769. 2025 Identifying biodiversity hotspots over time: stability, sampling bias, and conservation implications. Global Ecology and Conservation, 59, e03586. 8, pp. 10.1016/j.gecco.2025.e03586

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Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gecco.2025.e03586

Abstract/Summary

The conservation of biodiversity is a major challenge facing society. In order to design effective conservation strategies, we must be able to identify the areas in which biodiversity is concentrated (i.e., biodiversity hotspots). However, observed patterns of species richness are often heavily biased by sampling effort, undermining the reliability of hotspot detection. Therefore, it is important to understand how the location of identified hotspots varies over time as knowledge about the identity and distribution of species increases. Using what is likely the most comprehensive insect database in the world (the butterflies of Great Britain), we examine the survey effort achieved over time, estimating the degree of congruence in the identification of butterfly biodiversity hotspots at different time intervals. This congruence is low over much of the 215-year period studied, remaining so for hotspots based on a rarity metric even after 1980, when the inventories were already relatively complete. The location of hotspots based on species richness has been more stable in recent decades, reflecting one the more complete sampling coverage in these years. These results highlight the risk of misidentifying biodiversity hotspots based on inadequate data and point to the need for greater sampling effort for insects to improve inventories before identifying and proposing areas for conservation. This study has significant implications for biodiversity conservation, as it provides insights into the usefulness of identifying priority areas based on incomplete inventories, such as those we currently have worldwide.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	10.1016/j.gecco.2025.e03586
UKCEH and CEH Sections/Science Areas:	Unaffiliated
ISSN:	2351-9894
Additional Information. Not used in RCUK Gateway to Research.:	Open Access paper - full text available via Official URL link.
Additional Keywords:	protected areas, species richness, rarity, Lepidoptera, Great Britain, conservation, completeness
NORA Subject Terms:	Ecology and Environment Data and Information
Date made live:	24 Apr 2025 08:32 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/539302

Item Type:

Publication - Article

Digital Object Identifier (DOI):

10.1016/j.gecco.2025.e03586

UKCEH and CEH Sections/Science Areas:

Unaffiliated

ISSN:

2351-9894

Additional Information. Not used in RCUK Gateway to Research.:

Open Access paper - full text available via Official URL link.

Additional Keywords:

protected areas, species richness, rarity, Lepidoptera, Great Britain, conservation, completeness