Prioritisation of Mexican lowland rain forests for conservation using modelled geographic distributions of birds

SummaryMexican humid lowland tropical forests have seen extensive perturbation and deforestation in recent decades, and, as such, effective conservation planning is crucial. We developed ecological niche models and predicted geographic distributions for 89 species of birds ecologically restricted to Mexican rain forests, and used heuristic complementarity algorithms to identify priority areas for conservation. Our results focused on a single contiguous region of northern Chiapas as a key area – all species except three were predicted to co-occur in this area, which is made up of three highly complementary sub-areas. The relationship between this area and existing protected areas was explored, and concrete recommendations made for modification of existing protected areas.